The first time I saw Lani Misalucha perform on stage she was paired with Earl Turner, the master entertainer and singer with the strong, booming voice that screamed from the Shimmer Showroom's rafters.
I was, frankly, disappointed because Lani appeared over matched. She was tentative, listless and seemingly awed by her partner on stage. It was not the Lani that I had heard so much about, the Lani who had made the Society of Seven such a big hit in Las Vegas for the better part of two years, the Lani who had a long resume of triumphs in the Philippines and in many cities of the U.S.
The Society of Seven has long gone back to Honolulu and now features ex-Idol star Jasmine Trias as female soloist, and Lani Misalucha must confront her future on a Las Vegas stage that she has longed for so long to hog.
The experimental partnership with Earl Turner obviously did not work out and the Las Vegas Hilton management has obviously decided that Lani is the draw. Nearly half of the Earl-Lani audiences, after all, were Filipino and it was plain to everyone that if Lani had a solo act, the Filipinos would continue to come. The same could not be said about Earl Turner, who has very little support from the African-American community, whose attention is rightfully directed at many other African-American entertainers.
When the curtains rose last Tuesday, October 13 at Shimmer Showroom in the Las Vegas Hilton, it immediately became obvious that the Lani show was a huge improvement over the Turner-Misalucha "Voices" show. There were two dancing babes, a dancing magician, two background voices - one of whom was Lani's kid sister and look-alike - and a loud and forceful five-piece band.
Lani's introduction and entry was queenly, and it was obvious from the start who the Boss was. There was none of the tentative, the feeling-out maneuvers that Lani had been forced to do when she seemingly revolved around the world of Earl Turner.
And then she sang. This was not a petite, shy, deferential Filipina. She was the voice of Broadway, of Las Vegas in late night, of Italian opera. She was a strong voice, a coquettish voice, a rhythm and blues and a jazz voice. She was the voice of past platinum records.
Her Tina Turner impression was both comical and convincing. She was right on with her Britney Spears impression. She displayed the full range of her talents with her other impressions, especially her Celine Dion.
I sat there in awe as I recollected that hers was the voice that Las Vegans had voted second only to Celine Dion's as the 2008 female voice of the year and that the staff of the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper had voted as female voice of the year, ahead of Celine Dion.
Imagine the pride I felt knowing that a Filipina female singer had been voted by the staff of Nevada's number one newspaper as the best female vocalist in 2008 - ahead of all the other internationally-acclaimed songstresses who had performed in Las Vegas last year.
This year, with Celine Dion's run in Mandalay Bay a recent memory, Lani Misalucha should by rights be the number one female singer in Las Vegas. This would be a monumental coup, considering that Marie Osmond has an extended run with her brother, and Bette Midler has her own a long-term gig.
I sat in awe as I tossed in my mind the possibility that Lani could actually record the old songs she sang last Tuesday. She never sings an old song the way the original artists sang them, she sings them much better. Her renditions are flawlessly different, not exact copies.
She always sings the operatic song "Nessum Dorma" in her performances, and it is obvious that if she had concentrated on opera instead of pop and rhythm and blues, she would be right up there with the Pavarottis. I would pay to hear her perform with Adrea Bocelli .
I wondered how good Charice Pempengco would become over the years as I listened to Lani's version of "Listen." Charice sings that song with passion and conviction, Lani sings it with romantic allure. I could not help connect the two performers, with Lani representing the present and Charice promising to be the glorious future.
Yes, the future for Filipino songstresses in Las Vegas - the entertainment capital of the world - is bright, and Charice promises to make it even brighter.
If we Filipinos can have a Manny Pacquiao as the pound for pound king of boxing, we certainly can have - if we don't as yet - a Filipina as the best pound for pound female singer in the world. Charice, being a shorter and lighter Filipina than Lani, would be hands down the best pound for pound female singer in the world in a few years.
