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All Access: Zendee meets Jason Mraz


I came in the middle of Zendee's live concert series at RX 93.1 the other night.  And there she was, inside the DJ's booth belting her usual "birit" songs. Of course she now looked very different from the person I met about a year ago when I first interviewed her. At that time she was "denim shorts and tees" girl, but now she's "glammed" up a little bit – fashionable loose shirt, slim jeans and six-inch heels, thanks to Warner Music Philippines. 
 
Soundwise, she was barely the "soulful" singer that we see her now. Back then, as I remember, she would hit every high note like a renegade belter, now she's learned to control her powerful voice. 
 
But some things never changed.  After her on-air concert, she immediately changed from that soulful diva back to a giggly kid. She thanked all the musicians and the radio peeps like a child. 
 
I offered to take her and her companions out to dinner as we were going down the Strata 2000 in Ortigas but when she saw the non-airconditioned canteen at the ground floor of the building where they serve lechon manok and street food, she begged me to just have our dinner there.
 
Tough but what can I do?
 
Over a simple dinner of lechon liempo and inihaw na bituka ng manok, she told me the story of how life-changing her last gig was. Just a couple of weeks back, she opened for Jason Mraz here in Manila.
 
Back when she sang in small bars in General Santos City, she would sing Mraz's duet "Lucky" and she would leave out the male part unsung and imagine Jason was singing it with her. Of course at that time it was almost impossible to even think that a duet with the Grammy award-winning singer would ever come true.
 
How did this dream come true? OK! Let’s draw the roadmap.
 
Most of us know how things pretty much started for this poor, unknown singer from the south, right? But if you don't, here's the background.
 
Not two years ago, she joined a singing contest in another TV station. She came to Manila hoping that she would make it to the finals but when she got booted out, she and her mom decided to linger here and look for a job. She felt that she could not face her GenSan friends and relatives if she did not have any good news to tell them. 
 
She did not have relatives in Manila. Her mom's bestfriend, who happens to be a fireman's wife, offered the fire station office as temporary shelter. So she and her mom stayed there at nights. In the daytime, she would wander in malls looking for work and whiling time away. In one of her lakwatsa days, she came upon a videoke stall where shoppers were allowed to try out their music machines. She took the mic and belted her lungs out, a bystander recorded and uploaded it on YouTube, and the rest, as they say, is history.
 
That YouTube video was her ticket to guest in the Ellen DeGeneres show.
 
Well, during that guesting, the managers of Christina Perri and Jason Mraz met up with her and wooed her to do front act for their artists if ever they would have a concert in Manila.
 
Guesting in The Ellen show was close to being unimaginable, what more being asked to do front act for two world-renowned artists. She said yes but kept it a closely-guarded secret.
 
She kept it a secret for months. "Ayoko nga, paano kung hindi matuloy, paano ko mae-explain?' she said.
 
Meeting Mraz
 
Then came her “dreaded” day – the day of the Jason Mraz concert. She was on time knowing that Mraz and his group were punctual. As she arrived at the Big Dome, her pulse raced when she saw the group already at the backstage. Boy, they were really on time. 
 
She tried to avoid Mraz but the singer actually went out of his way to meet Zendee.  “Iniiwasan ko nga kasi ayoko naman isipin nila na FC (note:  feeling close) ako. Pero siya pa ang nag-introduce sa sarili niya.  Sabi niya nga nagustuhan niya raw ang story ng buhay ko and natutuwa daw siya na ako ang nag-front act sa kanya.”
 
At the initial meeting, all Zendee did was to nod and say yes to whatever the singer said, “Puro lang ako yeah, yes, kasi nosebleed talaga, inglish-inglish. Tapos sabi ko pa sa kanya ‘I might have a stiff neck’ kasi he’s so tall and nakatingala ako sa kanya. Pero sobrang warm niya at sobrang bait niya.”
 
Mraz excused himself and headed to sound check but before leaving, he assured Zendee that they are going to have some time to rehearse their duet.
 
After a while, Mraz’s assistant called Zendee to his dressing room to practice.  For her, that is where the unimaginable started to sink in.  Sharing the same couch with Mraz while singing the song she used to sing – priceless! (see video courtesy of Zendee)
 
“Nakakatuwa siya kasi talagang tinutukan niya ako sa bawat note, kasi ginawa niyang parang reggae yung tunog.  Nahihiya pa ako nung una pero mararamdaman mo talagang mabait siya kaya naging ok na ako.”
 
“Sabi ko nahihiya ako pero sabi niya huwag daw akong mahiya kasi mas marami pa akong makaka-duet na international singer tulad niya.  Ang dapat na focus ko daw ay yung mga manonood sa gabing yun na mga kababayan ko.”
 
Zendee and Jason shared light moments.  The Grammy award-winning singer shared with her his humble beginnings as a singer.  He gave tips on how to sing songs, how to handle fame and he even signed her guitar.  “Pangarap ko talaga na international singers na nag-gitara ang mag-autograph ng guitar ko.  Kasi yung mga local artist naman natin ‘andito lang sila kaya mahahabol pa natin.  Nung si-nayn  niya yung gitara sobra talaga akong na-inspire.
 
For Zendee, the guitar that Mraz autographed has become one of her prized possessions.  She “explained” how the singer transformed his name into a drawing of a rising sun.
 
After the show, Jason congratulated her for a job well done.  It was a night that she will never forget.  This even tops the Ellen show guesting and when she did front act for Wilson Philipps last year.
 
Funny because after all these achievements, she would still go back home and be the little girl in her house. — GMA News
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