Iris Long perford her latest song, "I, the Drear." Since she didn't bring her band to the Philippines, she sang using a minus one track.
Despite this, it didn't detract from her performance at all. Her skillful and soulful vocal prowess shone through causing goosebumps to everyone listening. Even the viewers at ho couldn't help but feel emotional and amazed while listening to her.
There was no live audience, but the studio wasn't any less quiet than a full house. The hosts, staff, and Iris' own companions served as a lively crowd, their loud cheers and applause heard during the live broadcast.
After the performance, Iris and the TV program, "It's Morning, Philippines", held a quick raffle contest for the viewers. They needed to send their answers through SMS or the show's social dia accounts.
Three questions needed to be answered.
Question #1: What is the na of the company Iris Long promoting in the Philippines?
Answer: Orchidia Philippines
Question #2: What is the na of Iris Long's Filipino best friend/assistant?
Answer: Dominic Chua
Question #3: What is the title of Iris Long's newest song?
Answer: "I, the Drear"
One hundred entries would be chosen. The winners would receive a small gift box and a voucher from Orchidia Philippines in addition to a signed photo book of Iris Long with a free download of her newest song, "I, the Drear".
Five minutes later, the show had already received tens of thousands of entries and the number was still growing. It was clear that the Black Stars were watching. Perhaps even those who weren't Black Stars joined in the fun after constantly seeing the foreign celebrity, Iris Long, on TV and hearing about her on the radio these past two days.
Iris and her team had already returned to her dressing room but hadn't left yet. They decided to wait until the program ended.
Just before the program ended, the one hundred winners were announced live on TV. The prizes would be sent directly by Orchidia Philippines and Iris Long to each of the winners.
Afterwards, Iris and her team spent a few more minutes chatting with all the hosts and the program staff, taking photos together and even signing autographs, before finally leaving.
"So far, so good," Iris said as she and her team rushed to her next work obligation.
"You were aweso, love," Jin Liwei told her.
She gave him a peck on his cheek which made him look like the cat that got the cream.
Dom was busy talking on the phone and coordinating with the people on the next live program.
After the phone call, he briefed Iris about what to expect. Although she already heard this beforehand, she still listened carefully.
"This is a long-ti noon variety show called 'Ready, Set, Lunch Party'," Dom explained. "It has been running even longer than 'It's Morning, Philippines'. Almost forty years. You're guesting in one of its current most popular segnts, 'Call of the Spotlight'. It's an amateur singing competition. Right now, it uses a showdown thod. Boss will be a surprise guest judge today helping to determine the daily winner. Since we'll still be in the Philippines by the end of the week, the show is also asking if you could also sit as a judge to choose the weekly winner."
Iris thought about it. "Can we still squeeze it into my schedule?"
"If you want it, I can make it happen for you, Boss," Dom said with confidence.
"Let's see the quality of the singing competition first," Iris said. "If the contestants are good, I'll accept. If not, let's just continue with our original schedule."
"Understood, Boss." Dom took note of it on his work tablet.
Jin Liwei squeezed his wife's hand, giving her his silent support. She smiled at him.
The traffic was horrendous, but their driver managed to arrive at the other TV station on ti. This ti, there was a special group of people who greeted Iris and her team in the building's lobby.
It was actually the TV station's president and other executives. Iris was surprised before feeling flattered. She, her husband, and her team greeted them back. The group followed the executive's lead while chatting.
The president and the executives escorted them to the "Ready, Set, Lunch Party" studio. Iris and her group saw several long lines of people outside.
"From Monday to Saturday, thousands of people line up from dawn just for the chance to join the live audience for free," the president explained. "It's because 'Ready, Set, Lunch Party' and its sponsors give out hundreds of thousands worth of prizes every single day. Sotis when the winners are lucky, the prizes might even be worth more than a million pesos."
"That's amazing," Iris said, making her more curious about the show's format.
Jin Liwei nodded, also interested in the show. He found it quite novel as it focused more on giving away prizes to regular people than on highlighting popular celebrities. From the sound of it, "Ready, Set, Lunch Party" used celebrities to make regular people happy and entertained rather than to milk regular people's money.
The president personally introduced Iris Long and Jin Liwei to the program's director. Several of the show's main hosts also greeted their group.
"This is our show's main star host, Master Beauty," the director took over in introducing everyone. "He is…I an she's also an executive producer, basically one of our bosses."
Everyone laughed.
"Hello, Iris. I'm Master Beauty. Welco to the Philippines and our show, 'Ready, Set, Lunch Party'!"
Iris returned the greeting.
Master Beauty was an overweight gay man cross-dressing as a flamboyant madam. His—ahem ahem—her outfit was over the top. She wore a big wig and thick drag queen makeup. Her voice, however, was deep as the ocean. The contrast was quite comical.
Nevertheless, as Iris shook Master Beauty's big hand and looked into the other person's eyes, she could see Master Beauty's quick wit and sincerity.
The sincere look was sothing that she had seen in the past couple of days while eting Filipinos. The Filipino people were really genuine in their desire to welco people into their country, communities, and even families. Their hospitality was on another level. It was sothing that Iris and Jin Liwei would always appreciate.
Iris chatted with Master Beauty who also introduced his co-hosts. As Iris wasn't familiar with the showbiz industry in the Philippines, she wasn't familiar with Filipino celebrities. Dom, however, had inford her beforehand that Master Beauty and the other main hosts of "Ready, Set, Lunch Party" were all famous in the Philippines.
Master Beauty was currently one of the top entertainers in the country. Her movies, mostly codies targeted at families, were almost always the highest-grossing films when they were released. She was even nicknad the Box Office King for several consecutive years including this year. It seed that she didn't mind not being able to take the title Box Office Queen and was quite happy with the title Box Office King instead.
Iris found herself having fun chatting with Master Beauty. She was like Dom, her verbal humour was very much on point.
Unfortunately, the director and the hosts needed to start preparing for the start of the show. It was also a live broadcast, so everything needed to be carefully arranged down to the last second. Nevertheless, Master Beauty was known for her masterful codic ad-libs, causing the show to dominate the noon-ti television ratings.
The TV station's president and executives also excused themselves. She hugged the huge bouquet of flowers and gift bag that they gave her. Since she hadn't expected to et them today, she hadn't prepared anything for them.
"Dom, please prepare so return gifts for the station president and the executives."
"Got it, Boss!" Dom whipped out his work tablet and took note of it.
A staff mber led her group to a reserved dressing room. On the way, they t so of the other hosts, mostly young, rising stars who wanted to promote themselves on a popular and much-loved TV program like "Ready, Set, Lunch Party." These younger hosts greeted Iris Long, looking like excited fans.
Of course, Iris accepted their requests for autographs and photos.
They only stopped when another staff mber warned them to get ready soon as the program was set to go live in five minutes.
Iris and her team finally reached her dressing room. They packed their own snacks and were originally planning to go straight to a restaurant for lunch after her guesting today, but surprisingly, the program had prepared boxed lunches for them.
And these weren't so ordinary boxed lunches either.
They were large, three-tiered, wooden bento boxes filled with a fusion of Filipino and Chinese dishes. Everything looked elegant and stylish. There were also drinks and desserts, in addition to other extra freebies most likely from the program's sponsors who knew that she was coming today.
"Wow, this is so fancy," Iris said while admiring the food. "Thank you very much!"
"You're very welco, Miss Iris," the staff mber said, smiling and blushing at the sa ti. "Those bento boxes were crafted by local artisans. Feel free to take them ho if you like them. Please also start getting ready. I'll call you again later when it's ti for you to join the judging panel. If you need anything else, please call any of our staff mbers. We're all happy to assist you. Please enjoy your stay here. On behalf of 'Ready, Set, Lunch Party', we thank you for coming today!"
After the staff mber left, Iris glanced at Dom.
"This show is giving an unbeatable first impression," she said. "I hope that the singers later will give my ears a treat. I'm looking forward to it."
Reviews
All reviews (0)