2 Worlds, One Turtle

Where do I begin.

Let's start with my life as a singer at EK.

  I don't get paid much but I do love the fact that they're the ones who provide transpo, food, and costumes. Also, everyone's great to work with. During the entire 2-day preparations, I thought my fellow singers would have a problem with harmonization but we pretty much adjusted well to each other's melody (and if we were an actual group maybe we can kick Glee's ass lol).

 Though we'll be performing the same songs every weekend, each show feels different for us. There are moments we feel like we could've done a lot better, there were moments we feel our energy needs to gel more together, there are moments that are just fabulous. Sometimes the sound techs would occasionally fail us (I dunno why) so we try our best to have a sound check and run-through of our songs before the actual show.

Let me talk about my 5 fellow singers:

King. He's 17, and probably the most talkative among us. He can just talk and crack jokes for hours. He brings a K-Pop vibe to the group and one of the fangirl favorites. Well, he was suppose to go to Korea and be part of this all-guy K-Pop group but local management (ahem GMA ahem) had him under contract, thus he couldn't go. He's joined singing contests on TV (none that I've watched lol) but he has a good balladeer voice. He calls me "ate" and sometimes "babe" for the troll of it. I can't keep up with his energy sometimes that I just wave him off when he's feeling extra-hyper.

Gadget. She's 17 and we call her "bunso" because she's quite small. Sweet little girl with a big voice. She and King have been friends since their younger singing contest years together. She gets a little too excited about McDonald's french fries and other foods. She's been an EK performer before and I think she's also under management with a local TV network. Not sure which though.

Earl. She's 24 and has been a professional dancer ever since she graduated from high school. She's worked as a singer-dancer at Universal Studios Singapore and Hong Kong Disneyland. She went back working at EK as a form of "vacation." When we found out her exes are mostly foreigners, we cracked up when Josh said she's Dora The Explorer. ("Canadian! Australian! American!")

Josh. A.k.a. Superman (because, well, he does look like a very young version of Superman). He's 17. Also a crowd favorite. He has really pretty green-hazel-ish eyes. He's half-Hungarian, half-everything. Will pursue his acting career after he graduates from high school around March. He and King decided that they'll be Jacob and Edward and then I'm Bella. Thus, the comedic pseudo-fights over me that happens every after show. I like stepping on his shoes.



Rexie. He's 23 and is part of an up-and-coming boy band. I crush him trolololol. Born and raised in the states, and then went to Philippines to pursue his singing career. Has a very pop voice. His Tagalog is twanged with his American accent. Personally, I think he's the most down-to-earth among the group. He looooves milk tea but is holding it off until he gets his six packs. I troll him by poking his stomach and exclaiming "milk tea!!"


***********************************************

  As much as I enjoy working with these awesome people, I feel like there's only so much I can do to relate with them. Their topics often circulate around a.) themselves, b.)showbiz and c.)showbiz politics. I still am able to join their conversations but it's just not...mentally stimulating. Usually these showbiz politics start off with one of them going "oh I don't wanna make kwento because (insert excuse here)" and they end up blabbing about the whole thing anyway. It's not a bad thing overall because most of us are quite aware with what's happening in the showbiz world but jeezus, can we all talk about something more meaningful.

I thought maybe conjuring up a "showbiz" persona of me could help but it's just not me. Sometimes I give up and just plug my earphones in and listen to music. Then one of the performers (from another musical group) told King she finds it awkward that I don't talk to her when she sits next to me in our EK service van. As much as I'm tempted to say "bitch please, it ain't all about you", I've concluded that there's just a gap between us that I can't fill no matter what I do. Plus, talking in Tagalog all the time is extra effort for me. It just sucks that I have this innate need to talk to people on a deeper level and I can't seem to get there with most people in my group. I've told Godmother about this already: I feel bipolar-ish.

 I like my new friends because they're from a world that I have yet to integrate myself in and we all are in pursuit of a musical career (maybe except Superman, coz he says he prefers acting), with nearly similar struggles and challenges in our line of work, and it's nice to talk about certain things I'm not familiar with. At the same time, it makes me miss the llama lords because I can be weird, say potato and meow and they won't even bat an eyelash. Plus, they don't find my silence weird or offensive. And they're probably the only ones I can talk about socially relevant things like religion, politics, feminism, literature, etc.

But I suppose it's unfair to make these comparisons because different people will always have different priorities. Yet I believe that people should have a responsibility to know certain things and have a stand. It drives me a bit crazy knowing that I will say something of my interest and people around me don't even have a vague idea of what I'm talking about.

Maybe I should give it time.


P.S.
King's friend, who has a role in this local horror movie, invited me to her movie premiere. Date is yet to be set though I'm not sure how I feel about it. Show up, dress nice. Sure. Watch a B-grade horror movie? Oh God.