Inquirer News Service

"ANAK" by Freddie Aguilar. "Tomorrow" from "Annie," the Broadway hit. And maybe "On My Own" from "Les Miserables," another Broadway landmark.

Filipina international star Lea Salonga will sing these select numbers, her "personal choices," as visiting US President George W. Bush dines in Malacañang on Oct. 18, a source close to the singer-actress told the Inquirer Monday.

Responding to earlier protests by a party-list group against Salonga's appearance at the state dinner, the source noted that the songs were "positive and non-political."

The singer's mother Ligaya said her daughter was hardly concerned about the opposition of Bayan Muna Representative Crispin Beltran.

"Lea is going, not because of politics, but to sing for the two presidents," said Mrs. Salonga. "She has sung for Philippine presidents before-Ferdinand Marcos, Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos. She has always been invited to perform in Malacañang, and she has always obliged."

It will also be the third time for Lea to perform for an American president. The first was in 1991, for the older President George Bush in Washington, and the second in 1994, for Bill Clinton in Boston.

The original "Miss Saigon" -- for which role she won the Sir Lawrence Olivier Award in London and the Tony Award in New York -- has likewise sung for Queen Elizabeth II of England, and for former US First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton during the 1997 Women's Forum of the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation in Manila.

Lea will be accompanied on Saturday by the Manila Philharmonic Strings. She is expected to arrive in Manila on Oct. 16 from Los Angeles, California, where she is currently based.

14/10/2003

Bron : Inq7.net

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