Cuneta gives Filipino music the boost

When famed Filipino singer Sharon Cuneta took the stage last Friday night at Dubai Tennis Stadium, most of the audience was Filipino.

Obviously.

The singer and actress performed in front of a backdrop that screened her movie clips from Manila and most of her biggest hits were sung in Tagalog.

But Cuneta still took the chance to invite any of the non-Pacific islanders lurking in the back of the stadium to come visit her home country.

"Go to the Philippines," she said near the end of her show. "Give us a chance, and we will take care of you. Just don't walk around at night with your cell phone in hand."

This prompted almost every gushing fan to scream, take a picture of Cuneta with a mobile phone, and then scream some more.

The excitement was expected.

Dubai was the last stop on Cuneta's international Mega-Tour 2005, and the show marked the first time Cuneta had ever performed in the Middle East.

The star ages well, but there is no guarantee that she will keep performing far into the future. She has, after all, been releasing albums for almost 30 years.

She sang duets on stage with Erick Santos, the young boy-toy who recently won the Star in a Million Contest - the Filipino version of American Idol.

Santos is young and slick. Middle-aged women put his face on posters and screamed when he glided around the stage.

But in the end, Cuneta, albeit gracefully, reminded everyone in the crowd of what Filipino music was, and what it should be today.