Our baby is going places!

The headline for the weekend, as far as residents of Bacolod City were concerned, was the glorious triumph of the city’s MassKara dancers in the popular ABS-CBN competition “It’s Showtime!” that had been staged for several weeks now, with entries from towns and cities all over the country participating, Bacolod’s entry had been lucky, after making it in the daily, weekly and monthly tilts and getting into the list of finalists. These were the ones who showed their wares in Saturday’s grand finals.

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For a while, however, Bacoleños held their breaths when some technical glitzes took place and the show from Bacolod could not be shown nationwide, like those from Luzon and other parts of the country. Together with some DAILY STAR people, we went to the Government Center where we saw woeful faces of those who were braving the heat of the early afternoon sun, just to show support to the performers. I understand the volume of the crowd was taken into consideration in the evaluation.

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We were told that there was something seriously wrong with the satellite stuff, as well as the “remote”, and not being very conversant with such terminology, we decided to go home to make our vigil on TV. And, thankfully, everything was fixed at about 2 p.m. (the show was supposed to start at noon), and, as they say in showbiz lingo, “The show went on”. Sighs of relief again, and some heartstopping moments when the judges were doing their spiels.

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Earlier, we had heard that the Bacolod City Government would spring a surprise but hadn’t any idea what it was to be. But we joined the gasps of wonderment and awe that the entire crowd at the Government Center grounds – which, by the way provided a very magical setting for the show here – heaved when a low flying helicopter appeared, hovering over the gushing water from the lagoon fountain, to drop multi-colored confetti on the crowds. Wow! Thank you, Congressman Albee, for the air support! And that was the surprise!

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Even the judges were overwhelmed, and they did not pull their punches in expressing their reactions. We appreciated very much the comments of some nurses from the Makati Medical Center who, when interviewed by one of the hosts, Kim Atienza, said Bacolod’s entry was truly “world class” and a great boost to tourism, and that the MassKara music and choreography showed that young people still appreciate traditional art like this. Bright kids, they proved to be.

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But we admit to being biased, so that we were all on edge when the final results were being announced. We really appreciate the promoters of the competition for not dragging out the announcement with inanities or suspenseful ploys. When the complete set of Number Tens came out on their slates, we again gasped in relief. But we were also very proud that the supposed runners-up, even if only one grand prize was awarded, were all Negrenses – La Castellana for its Bailes de Luces and Dumaguete for its Dumaguete’s Pride. It was a grand day for Negros, indeed.

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But the Grand Champion’s recognition from the nationwide contest, was not exactly a first for Bacolod’s MassKara. A few years ago, it was made the grand finals performer in Shanghai, China’s Grand Prix where it performed against such famous entries as the traditional Tournament of Roses float from Pasadera, California, and others from various countries in Europe. I learned later that while the other competitors in the Shanghai parade were spectacular, it was the MassKara beat that got the spectators also dancing in the streets.

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Then it was also invited to the Lunar festival of Andong South Korea where it won honors in the International Mask Dance and also won in the Midosuji festival in Japan where it was champion in the Foreign category… By the way, Filipino callers, especially from Negrenses in the U.S. and all over the world, burned the wires Saturday and yesterday, all expressing their pride and happiness at the result of “It’s Showtime” that they watched on international TV. Believe it or not, some were even crying, both because of pride, and the homesickness the MassKara scenes brought them. Ask Buddai Piccio and the De Asis family…Ah, you are going places, MassKara baby!*

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