Rico Blanco tinupad ang ‘anniversary wish’ ni Jonathan Manalo

Jonathan Manalo at Rico Blanco

‘UNEXPECTED collaboration” ang terminong ginamit ng ABS-CBN music creative director na si Jonathan Manalo tungkol sa pakikipag-sanib pwersa sa kanila ng music icon na si Rico Blanco para sa bagong areglo ng “Pinoy Tayo” na unang kinanta ng Orange and Lemons noong 2005.

Kuwento ni Jonathan sa isinagawang zoom mediacon nila ni Rico, “Sobrang dream come true ito kasi I just took may chances.

“Nu’ng nagkakausap kami ni sir Rico, actually marami kaming ibang project na pinag-uusapan at the same time iniisip ko na rin ‘yung anniversary ko, my anniversary project and naka-line up na siya and hindi niya alam na ‘yung time na ‘yun nandoon na ‘yung pangalan niya for ‘Pinoy Ako.’

“(Iniisip ko) Paano ko kaya tataymingan si sir Rico? I cannot reveal yet the line-up (songs) pero it’s a stellar line-up, sobrang mga friends ko sa industry at nilu-look up ko sa industry.  And ‘yun nga dream ko si sir Rico for Pinoy Tayo pero kailangan medyo maganda ‘yung timing ko kasi magkaiba kami ng ginagalawan.

“Kasi ako po ‘yung mundo ko, si sir Rico rockstar ‘yan so hindi mo iisipin na automatic. Mas madali kapag Gary V and Jonathan Manalo mas madaling imadyinin, di ba? Na pareho n’yong ginagalawan na space.

“Pero sir Rico, sobrang idol ko siya at gusto kong mangyari.  Nu’ng one phone call bring out ko sa kanya sabi ko, ‘sir meron akong 20th anniversary project and nagkakasama kami sa maraming activities, sa music camps, sa industry activities pero never working together on a project.

“So feeling ko perfect timing ang 20th ko for us finally to work together and feeling ko sir kaya n’yong i-reimagine ‘yung Pinoy Ako.

“Na-stop ng konti tapos sabi niya, ‘okay ‘yan ah? Pero hindi muna ako mag-oo ha pag-iisipan ko pero support ako diyan’ sabi niya.

“During nu’ng pinag-iisipan niya, (isip ko), ‘sana, sana’ tapos a few days after sinabi niya ‘game ako meron na akong idea on how I would reimagine it, how I will do it.  Sobrang dream come true talaga.  Hindi ko ini-expect na mag-yes si sir Rico but I took may chances,” masayang kuwento ni Jonathan.

Ang reaksyon naman ni Rico, “To me, initially to do a project of Jonathan anniversary collection game agad ako. Tapos ‘anong song?’ Nu’ng sinabi niya ‘yung song sabi ko ‘teka lang’ it’s such an honor to that song for me it’s what it’s stand for.  It’s so well-loved and I had to check muna kung anong maibibigay ko.”

Dagdag pa, “Nu’ng sinabi kong babalikan kita Jonathan, nandito ako sa piano ko, sa gitara ko, binabali-baliktad ko ‘yung (tono) kasi kung uulitin ko lang baka that’s not why he got me, baka he wants me to be me like put more of me and like I said there’s nothing wrong with the original.

“He (Jonathan) asked me to interpret it so I put all the small elements to hear from my song from Awit ng Kabataan, there’s a little bit of ‘Yugto’, there’s a little bit of that song, little bit of this song kind to put everything in this song.

“So nu’ng nabuo na ‘yung ideya sa head ko, umoo na ako kay Jonathan, hindi ko alam na ‘yung deadline pala ay mapapa-aga.  Isip ko mga next year pa, ‘yun pala next week na,” natawang sabi ni Rico.

Sumakto pa raw dahil may season 10 ang “PBB”, “Puwedeng ma-launch itong song with PBB kasi alam naman natin na ‘yung song nagsimula naman talaga sa PBB and what a co-incidence na I’m celebrating may 20 years then it’s PBB’s 10th anniversary and ready na kami ni sir Rico with this new version of Pinoy Ako which is now PInoy Tayo,” masayang sabi pa ni Jonathan.

Samantala, para sa mga nagnanais maging “Pinoy Big Brother Kumunity Season 10” housemate, maaari nang mag-audition ang may edad 20 hanggang 40 taon bilang adult housemates hanggang Sept. 30.