Jed recreates iconic voices in style

MANILA, Philippines – For the cynics, watching intimate concerts by talents regularly seen on popular TV networks sounds a bit impractical. Why pay for it and brave the Friday traffic when you can see them on surround-sound TV for free on Sunday afternoons?  

Noted WYCOPA (World Championships of Performing Arts) champ and balladeer Jed Madela, whose face definitely “sounds familiar,” proved he could deliver a facet of himself not usually viewed on the boobtube. 

And did he in style, competently mimicking voices of iconic singers to the delight of last Friday’s (Aug. 19) crowd at the Music Museum in Greenhills, San Juan City. 

With numbers that kept him more often vocally stretched out and sweating, Jed paid tribute to diva Celine Dion for the second leg of The Iconic Concert Series produced by Dreamstar Events Management and Calvin Chua, and directed by Marvin Caldito. 

Yet, the segment where he spontaneously sang in the style of other singers’ voices somehow stole the thunder from the show’s main theme. Why not, he did so much justice to the vocal and body language impersonations that it is the very reason why many applauded. 

“Pakipatay lang po ang mga cellphone, o kung ire-record niyo ito, ’wag nyo po sya ita-tag,” Jed jokingly told the crowd, referring to his Lea Salonga takeaway. 

Of course, there was something comical about him intently staring somewhere and “seeing something we don’t see” (as Jed would like to put it) like Lea does. But his singing of I Still Believe from the Miss Saigon fame was “plakado,” a musical term pertaining to proper covering of a song. And before we forget, Jed’s a male voice.

He may be trying to make people laugh by exaggerating the distinct moves of artists he mimics. But when he sings like them, he creates the impression he’s there giving salute. Even Lea herself would have clapped. 

The fact Jed can sing like others in a way a good actor loses himself in certain characters makes it a special gift outclassing those forever attached to only one impersonation. His list, too, is a gang of bonafide legends here and abroad: Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Elvis Presley, Regine Valasquez, Lani Misalucha and anyone he can think of right on the spot.

He related, “You are iconic if people want to become you, and what you do make you remarkable.”

The Iconic Concert Series, a spin-off from his Star Music album Iconic and to which Jed is involved hands-on, is living up to its title by paying tribute to real icons, not just singers with titles given overnight. Last summer, he took on Mariah Carey songs. Then last Friday, he announced he’s paying tribute to Madonna for the next leg come Oct. 21, same venue. 

Jed took note of Celine as expert to interpreting songs about love and heartaches to which emotional Filipinos easily relate to. He wanted to have a big boat prop placed on stage while singing My Heart Will Go On. In true dramatic sense, his voice had that power to bring up Titanic, at least in the mind, especially once he raised the key for the last chorus. 

He and guest Denise Laurel, stunning in her red outfit, passed up as Jack and Rose singing a duet and “keeping the music playing.” That they’re comfortable being with each other turned it into a good watch. 

Later in the show, Jed performed with WYCOPA product act 5th Gen, staying true to his aim “to pay it forward” his success to new acts. Violinist Jake Juleous Gacang, who recently won multiple awards at WYCOPA, also front-acted. It mattered a lot to the classically-trained musician performing modern hits that he’s part of Jed’s show. Expressing his thought about why Jed and other Filipinos excel at WYCOPA, he said, “There’s something natural when you see a Filipino perform. You know he does it from the heart.” 

Chatting with the press a few days before singing Celine, Jed revealed how much attention to detail he deals with in staging a show with a challenging concept. He noted, “The hardest part of putting this show together was making sure it doesn’t come across as forced and staged.”  

Surely, Jed thrives in letting things flow as nature intends. When he mused that Jaya, Janno Gibbs and Jessa Zaragoza sing in the same way and mimicked all of them to nodding heads, and then he realized that Zsa Zsa Padilla is another candidate to the pool, singing Hiram impromptu, he reacted as if he discovered a new invention to change the world. 

Those who saw Jed for the first time live and not on TV may have concluded they witnessed not just a singer vocally copying icons. But someone brewing into an icon himself.