Erik Santos: A decade of soul and power

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s Prince of Pop Erik Santos jumped on the bandwagon recently at the PICC Plenary Hall as he staged InTENSe: A Decade With The Prince Of Pop in celebration of his 10 years in the music industry. Another astounding concert produced by Cornerstone Concerts and under the direction of  Johnny Manahan and musical direction of Homer Flores, the night was fully defined by soul and power through renditions of his remarkable hits.

The show opened with an amazing shadow play by Pilipinas’ Got Talent’s El Gamma Penumbra. Accompanied by instrumentals of some of Erik’s hits, the shadow theater group interpreted Erik’s journey from his amateur singing competition days up to his present triumph. The performance then revealed the Prince of Pop and formally opened the set with a medley of R. Kelly’s I Believe I Can Fly and Nicki Minaj’s Fly.

An emotional Erik rendered a song titled Magpahanggang Wakas which he dedicated to his parents. Showing his flexibility as an artist, he nailed a slow version of Britney Spears’ Oops I Did It Again with G-Force doing lyrical routines on the background.
Famous musicals and Les Miserables medley were the other important spots of the night. Big songs like On My Own and I Dream A Dream were the Earth-shaking fillers of the medley which showcased how wide Erik’s range is and proved that he could take on songs out of the pop box.

The 10th anniversary show wouldn’t have been complete without Erik doing teleserye and movie theme songs. He did a medley of John Lloyd Cruz-Bea Alonzo movies’ theme songs such as I Miss You Like Crazy, Now That I Have You and I’ll Never Go. Before the chorus part of each song, scenes from the movies were played on the video wall. The catch was, Erik played all the John Lloyd parts which he taped with Bea just for the concert.

Special guests and off-cam friends, Regine Velasquez, Pops Fernandez, Yeng Constantino, Angeline Quinto and Ai-Ai de las Alas added piquancy to the show. Erik delivered a feel-good moment with Pops  through Christina Perri’s A Thousand Years. Keeping the audience on a high, Ai-Ai and Erik danced the night away in a funny and sexy Blurred Lines/Where Have You Been number.

The most heart-popping surprise of the night was when Erik’s ex-girlfriend Rufa Mae Quinto appeared and personally congratulated him. Rufa Mae cracked jokes about their past romance that left the audience laughing their heads off.
The concert was not just about Erik’s big hits and melting ballads. He also proved he’s got the moves, too, as he grooved to an evolution of dance, ranging from ’70s to the present. The Prince of Pop wrapped up the concert with two big songs including A Song For You which started everything for Erik.