Singing with Noel Cabangon by Camile Kamioka

                Being part of Ideas that matter is a great honor, I was really amazed and amused at the same time, of the sudden promotion I had to be part of the organizing team.  The events I’m part of that we held were very fun and overwhelming, it really made me happy that all our efforts and hardwork had paid off. Our events had popular and phenomenal speakers like Atty. Thursday Alciso who is the General Manager of FILSCAP, One of the best composer and singer in the Philippines, Mr. Noel CaBangon, and the award-winning Mr. Elvin Villar.

                February 28, 2014 is the date the three guest speakers had their talk, and among the 3 speakers, I had to say that, the most memorable experience I had was with Mr. Noel Cabangon, it is not only because he is very popular and one of the prides of our country, the reason why it’s very unforgettable for me is when I was able to sing with him, had a duet with him! It was actually unexpected, because our plan was, I was supposed to had an intermission then invite him to the stage to sing for the audience but there was a sudden change in the program flow, I was a bit disappointed when I knew I won’t be singing anymore, but then things turne around for me, our professor Gil Velez, asked Noel to sing a duet with me! I was really nervous when he brought that up, and I don’t know what to do, it was mixed emotions, I don’t know if I want to sing with him or not because I may ruin the duet and disappoint him but then, I just thought not every one is given an opportunity to sing with him, so grabbed it anyway, and I know it will give me such fulfillment in life and that will be something I can be proud of, after all he is “The” Noel Cabangon! Sir Noel and I sang “Tuwing umuulan at kapiling ka” it is one of his recent music videos and one of the songs I really like because I always sing it back when I was a child. Although I sing it a lot back then, I haven’t memorized it at all haha, so I we had to play the karaoke without its music because Sir Noel will be playing the guitar for our duet. He was really nice because it’s just fine with him even though I haven’t memorize the song and even though he had to find the right chords for my pitch he did not mind it at all.  Honestly, I can’t explain how happy I was that day, how happy I was during the performance I had with him, good thing my nervousness was slowly getting out of me while singing with him, maybe it was because of he seemed very nice and his aura is so welcoming. ­­­­I really love the fact that I was the first ever to have a duet with him in CFAD! Or maybe in UST! I was really honored and it gave me great pleasure to be able to sing with him. Another reason why it became the most memorable, was because I was given the chance to make the token for him, I saw that he wasn’t really expecting it, he was surprised and happy receiving the gift I made for him. The acknowledgement he gave me was far beyond I expected it, he did a “beso” with me, a hand shake and said congratulations, those simple words gave me a feeling of something I really can’t explain. I was really touched that before he left, he remembered me and said my name, it really gave me such happiness I cannot contain, I did not expect that he will remember me, and know my name, it really made my day and  the experienced made me somehow fufilled.

As soon as I got home, I told it to my mom right away, and as expected she was very happy for me, and she was very proud that I was able to sing with Sir Noel, and we became giddy that night, I am indeed glad that I wasn’t the only one happy for me, but the people around me, and those who made it happen. I  am so grateful with Ideas that matter, because without it, I wouldn’t be able to sing with Mr. Noel Cabangon, and I also thank God for letting me be part of Ideas that matter and making one of my dreams to come true, to sing with one of the most influential persons in our country.