Sergio Mendes soon at the Big Dome

After the SRO concerts at the Araneta Coliseum of foreign acts like The Lettermen, The Zombies and Andy Williams, and those of local artists like Sharon Cuneta and Regine Velasquez/Ogie Alcasid, guess who’s next. Pat Boone? Right, but that will be first week of April yet. On March 18 (mark that on your calendar), Sergio Mendes will take centerstage, so you better have your dancing shoes ready because it’s going to be one big party.

A Funfare source said that it was Jorge Araneta himself who invited Mendes to hold a show here when they met in November last year in the US where Jorge and wife, Madame Stella Marquez-Araneta, were on a holiday. Thank you, Jorge, for giving us another chance to watch Mendes.

In that show, entitled Sergio Mendes & Brasil 2006: A Celebration of His Timeless Hits, Mendes and his band will serenade an expected full-house audience with such enduring hits as Mas Que Nada, Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight, Killing Me Softly with His Song, Hey Look at the Sun, I Won’t Last a Day Without You, I Can See Clearly Now, The Waters of March, The Look of Love, Waiting For Love and many more.

Like The Lettermen and Andy Williams, Mendes is walang kupas. He figured prominently at a recent Grammy Awards, besting upstarts in the field.

For the sake of the new generation of music-lovers, here’s a backgrounder on Mendes:

He was born in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and started taking piano lessons as a child, switching from classic to jazz. Starting out as a professional musician just as bossa nova was emerging. Mendes embraced the hybrid of jazz and Latin music, and was soon appearing alongside Jobim and Gilberto at Rio clubs.

Leading a group called the Bossa Nova Trio, Mendes toured Europe in 1963, playing at numerous jazz festivals. With the huge interest in bossa nova in the US, Mendes moved to New York in 1964 and worked with Art Farmer, Bud Shank, vocalist Wanda de Sah, Jobim and others on bossa nova recordings.

Still in the ’60s, Mendes toured many countries with different groups before rounding up Brasil 66 with whom he made records and very successful tours. The album Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66 sold more than one million copies, with Jorge Ben’s Mas Que Nada hitting the top of the charts in North America. Mendes did his first long tour with Frank Sinatra in 1967, performing in several cities in the US. He performed for the first time at the White House in 1971, invited by then President Richard Nixon during the state visit of then Prince Juan Carlos of Spain. Mendes was awarded a Grammy for his record Brasileiro in 1993.

(Note: For ticket inquiries, call 911-5555.)

Maximo Oliveros wins 3 awards at Berlin fest

Auraeus Solito’s Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros (The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros) won three awards at the Berlin International Film Festival which ended the other night – the Grand Prix of the Kinder Filmfest (the same award won by Maryo J. delos Reyes’ Magnifico in 2004); the Teddy-Best Feature Film (a "gay prize" also won by Carlitos Siguion-Reyna’s Ang Lalake sa Buhay ni Selya in 1998), "for its joyous and convincing portrayal of a queer boy (played by Nathan Lopez) living in an environment of acceptance and tolerance;" and Best Picture from the international jury (plus a special mention from the Children’s Jury).

The awards came just several days after Maximo won the NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) for Best Asian Film Award at the also just-concluded Rotterdam International Film Festival in The Netherlands. Last year, Maximo won the Jury Prize for Best Film and Best Production Design at Cinemalaya, Best Film at the Asian Festival of First Films, and Best Film at the Montreal World Cinema Film Festival.

Earlier this year, Maximo competed at the Sundance International Film Festival (a "first" for a Filipino film). It didn’t win any award but, according to direk Auraeus, "we got good reviews from Indiewire and Variety."

Another Pinoy in American Idol, but Carol didn’t make it

Yes, Carol Banawa did audition for the new edition of American Idol but, sob and sigh, she didn’t make it. Reader "Sheila" of New Jersey, USA, is asking Funfare if Carol is an American citizen (She’s not. – RFL) or if she has any existing contract (She has, as far as I know. – RFL) with any recording company. Sheila (who sent to Funfare a photo of Carol during the auditions) said that to qualify for AI, an applicant must be, among others, an American citizen and must not have any contract with a recording company.

But another Fil-Am has made it to the Final 24 and he’s none other than Jose "Sway" Penala whose mother, Cristina Galang Penala, is from the Philippines. Other Filipino talents who have made it to AI finals were Camille Velasco and Jasmine Trias (who finished third in 2004). Watch for the new edition of American Idol on Star World and ABC Channel 5.

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