For some time, boy bands were the kings du jour of the music scene, not only here in the Philippines, but worldwide as well. Some were wildly successful, like the Backstreet Boys and some had moderate success and we can say that Blue, A1 and 98 Degrees fall into that category. Last Saturday night, the three bands performed in Manila once again, reliving those glory days of their heyday.
Well, it was not the whole 98 Degrees who was here, but just Jeff Timmons - arguably the most handsome among the group. However, his performance that night has so much to be desired. Vocally, he can be essential to 98 Degrees since he can make the background harmonies, but as a solo artist, he lacks the power and the capability to hit the high notes. This was made strikingly clear when he had to do a duet with South Border, who was his band tonight. They did a popular South Border song, and clearly, the vocalist from the local band was far more superior than Jeff. Tsk, tsk! He made it all up though in the looks department as he looked certifiably sexy in his dark blue t-shirt where he strategically unbuttoned almost half of it, to show off his ample muscular chest. My friend did not like it though and thought he had man boobs!
To anyone who watched the show last Saturday, it was clearly A1's show! They came vocally prepared and they had a proper set list which ran for an hour, wisely putting some of their lesser hits into medleys while fully singing the most popular ones like "Like A Rose" and the new songs from their latest album. Two of the three guys were especially cute, the lead singer, who drew a lot of oohhs and aahhs whenever his face was in focus by the camera. He just has incredibly beautiful eyes! As for the keyboardist, he had his own set of fans, I included, and he does look like the young Paul McCartney. My seatmates to the left really enjoyed their set and they would wave their hands and sing their hearts out to almost all of their songs!
As for Blue, well, the band has to vocalize properly before coming out - or maybe it has really been a long time since they sang together, since they did sound a bit off key in many of their songs tonight. Even Lee could not hit the high notes - a fact made more palpable when he had to stop singing at some point in a song I already forget, maybe because he was afraid he would not hit the high note. Even the handsome one in the group, Duncan, sounded pitchy in many of the songs and they just did not blend too well. Oh well, I guess not having a real band with them and just pre-recorded music did not allow them to hear the songs properly, thus all those missed notes. Anyhow, like Jeff Timmons, their sexy looks helped assuage their singing, and just like what my friend said, they still look as young as they were 10 years ago!
All in all, I really enjoyed the show! I missed having a hot, handsome, sexy man sing to me! Katy Perry and Lady Gaga are interesting to watch but they are not half as sexy as the guys we watched last Saturday night!
