On Saturday, Journalist Raissa Robles expressed her honest thoughts about the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games opening ceremony held at the Philippine Arena.
The first thing she criticized is the choreography of the dancers who performed at the said event, saying that the government should hire a better artist and choreographer.
She described the performance as like watching a carnival in the province.
“We have very good choreographers – Steve Villaruz, Edna Vida, Nonoy Ftoilan. They could have been tapped for the #SeaGamesOpening Pucha. Parang nanunuod ka lang ng perya sa probinsiya nito. Why did they not use some of our ballet dancers??????” Robles twitted.
Robles pointed out that the moves of the artist who performed the Sarimanok dance at the opening ceremony is not native.
“My Gahd. Im not criticizing the Sarimanok, but the dance moves the dancer was making. Those moves are not native. Those are ballet moves. If you are going to use ballet moves, you should get THE BEST dancers,” Robles explained.
The second thing she criticized is the performance of the theater artist Robert Sena, saying that the one who performed the song “Kay Ganda ng Pilipinas” should be Leah Salonga.
“Parang hindi bagay na si Robert Sena ang umawit ng kay ganda ng pilipinas. Ito kaya yung dapat nasi Lea Salonga? Sana kinuha nila baritone na lang,” Robles said.
She then said that other artist like Regine Velasquez, Jessica Sanchez, KZ Tandingan or Jake Zyrus could replace Sena to sing the said song.
“Singers who could have sung in place of robert sena – regine velasquez, jessica sanchez, kz tandingan, charice (or has she changed her name?),” she said.
When a netizen asked Robles if ballet is the national dance of the country, she asked back if artist Apl.De.Ap is a Filipino.
“Pilipino ba si Apl di Ap?” Robles asked.
She then pointed out that not all the artists performed at the opening ceremony and the songs they sang are not a native in the Philippines.
“Hindi Pinoy si Apl de Ap. Amerikano na sya. Pinoy pop – yung kinanta na Kay Ganda ng Lahing Pilipino – hindi native yan. Ginaya sa Amerika. Gaya ng ballet, banyaga pero nilagyan ng mga Pinoy elements. I’ve seen very good ballet dances w Phil. native dance movements,” she said.
Robles also said that she has experience in reviewing stage shows to ensure the netizens that she knows what she’s saying on Twitter.
“Hijo, I used to do reviews of stage shows. And I was the stage manager of the stage play where Imee Marcos was the main actor. An adaptation of Animal Farm. And i took up scriptwriting under Orlando Nadres (w a grade of 1) and natl artist Amelia Bonifacio (also grade of 1),” she claimed.
The journalist said that she’s expecting more things on the SEA Games opening.
“Look. Go ahead and be proud of #SEAGames2019 opening. But I expected more, after all that hype. And the Filipino talent that’s available. I expected the best, best, best,” she remarked.
