JaDine opens Kaogma Festival 2017

By Jane Marie Tria Santelices PILI, Camarines Sur --- “One for the books,” this was Gov. Migz Villafuerte’s declaration posted on his Instagram (IG) account a day after the record crowd poured in at the Freedom Sports Stadium on Saturday night, May 20, 2017, and were entertained to a rockin’ opening show featuring the phenomenal and sought-after showbiz tandem – James Reid and Nadine Lustre – or simply monickered as JaDine along with other named Viva artists like Bret Jackson, Ronnie Liang, Chad Kinis, Pop Girls, and G-Force dancers Ish and Ram with Nikki Minaj Kalokalike fronting the show and acting as program host. In fact, in the same IG account, the governor, obviously overwhelmed with the huge audience turnout, even commented that “the hottest love team opens the hottest festival in the world!” Not only did the excited crowd witness JaDine’s outstanding concert performance but they were also treated to a rollickin’ dance number from Gov. Migz himself as he officially opened the night’s event. In his short enthusiastic message, he explained that Kaogma means “happiness overload” and that his constituents will enjoy an audio-visual feast of events in the next 8 days of the said festival. This array of sensory treats is a sort of thanksgiving by the provincial government for all the blessings despite the devastation of the recent Typhoon Nina that hit Camarines Sur on Christmas Day in 2016. A festive parade of all the events for Kaogma Festival like the Cultural Street Dancers, Senior Citizen’s Night, The Big V Singers, Miss Kaogma 2017 Candidates, Dance Revolution Crews, Bikini Summit Contestants, MotoCross Riders, 4x4 Challengers, Practical Shooters, Boxers, and Wakeboarders ensued as the happiness meter measured the level of happiness all around the sports complex with thousands of people from all over the province with quite a good number of visitors who came from Albay, Camarines Norte, Sorsogon, and even some coming from Metro Manila as well. The fantastic opening presentation concluded with a 5-minute fireworks display that elicited “oohhhsss and aaahhhsss” from the awed spectators! After a short interval, the night’s awaited spectacle happened: first to perform were the all-girl group aptly called “Pop Girls” who proceeded to tickle the sensations especially of the male audience with their feisty and frenetic song and dance numbers. Crooner Ronnie Liang soon followed and catered his performance to the female audience with a willing volunteer who got up on stage which raised anew the level of excitement. Next to perform were the G-Force Dancers Ish and Ram who danced and grooved to current and popular hip hop music which set the tone of “kilig” with which another hip hop artist Bret Jackson segued into with his own brand of music that the young people in the audience easily related to climaxing to his cover of Coldplay’s “Yellow” which ended with a slight technical glitch which actually heightened the anticipation and exciting mood that prevailed that night. To calm everyone, comedian Chad Kinis performed next and his act got everyone in stitches with his funny jokes and sharp, witty repartees. He even got a volunteer from the audience who gamely joined his funny antics on stage that got the spectators laughing hard and in good vibes. This quirky interval became the perfect foil as the heat and fervor further escalated with teenage girls screaming as the main act was introduced with current showbiz heartthrob James Reid coming out with a lively, energetic number – even inserting his famous endorsement line “energy, energy gap” - that surely roused the crowd into a frenzy! The hotness continued when he himself introduced the sultry Nadine Lustre on stage as “my partner in crime, my love team, my girlfriend” which raised the “kilig” meter into overload and raced heartbeats into overdrive! The sexy actress who is known for her edgy fashion sense did not disappoint the audience as her Outfit of the Night (OOTN) was quite on point soliciting admiration from the fashion conscious teeners in the crowd! She sang and grooved to upbeat, cult favorite numbers supported by great visuals flashed on LED walls which she herself produced and edited that further tickled the fancy of the audience who swayed and sashayed along with her as well. In a short intermission, the JaDine tandem had a lively exchange with OJD Master Chad Kinis which they called as OJD Challenge in which he asked James and Nadine to reenact a popular scene wherein they meet and James carries Nadine in his arms and they turn in circles as the audience shrieked in delight to their hearts’ gusto! When the audience settled a bit, they then sang a medley of their most popular duets which the ecstatic crowd could not contain but sing along to their catchy lyrics and enigmatic music. The night’s show certainly ended on a very high note indeed! These millennial stars, Team Real JaDine, brought to Camarines Sur their unique brand of “kilig” machine that has titillated not only local but also international audiences which is truly world-class and surely befits a world-class province like Camarines Sur, too. MMEC