THE CITIZEN ON MARS

I was just reading Abaniko’s take about blogging hit-rich topics like Pinoy Big Brother or about the Big “S” Word—you know, those topics with keywords that could double your search engine referrals overnight—and I never thought that I’d come to this point of being in the same quandary as Abaniko so soon. Not that I am too queasy about being called a blog slut (please excuse my language this time), I have no problem with blogs that blog about PBB and similar subject matters, for all the while, those must have been their area of expertise and that they were already blogging about them long before they knew that those topics can actually do magic on their hit counters. Well, some just do it for the money…er…for the hits. But that is just how it is in the blogosphere

To blog or not to blog.

I was watching the results show of American Idol just hours ago and something or someone in that show made me want to blog about American Idol, or somewhere near it, and certainly Ameriacan Idol is one of those hit-rich topics that I have referred to above. Kenny Rogers was in the show, just like Barry Manilow was there about a week ago. I could pass on the guy who sang Copacobana but I just couldn’t let pass Mr. Kenny Rogers, the guy who sang “Through The Years”, and the man who is not only a famed crooner but also a kind of food culture icon because of his very tasty charcoal-roasted chicken formula.

Once when I was eating the famous chicken with my boss some years ago in Manila, we had a lengthy dialogue about the special kind of wood that should be used in order that Kenny Rogers’ chicken would taste as it should be. I argued that the wood issue might just have been simply a ruse in order to mislead would-be competitors, as I stressed that they might just have been using the local bakawans, which I know personally as excellent for roasting fish. The boss said that he was sure that they were imported from America. So I said that suddenly it is sad to note that this country, where trees grow almost everywhere, finally became a firewood importer when Kenny Rogers Chicken finally hit town. The boss said that sadly, it is the case. As painful as exporting our iron and ore and then importing them back as sedans and SUVs.

But it’s not about the chicken. I mean, where have Kenny Rogers been to all these years, the guy whose love songs get repeated on the radio like the number of stars above. We are all aware of course that the guy who sang “Lady” and “Through The Years” just disappeared from the limelight some years ago, like a mirage in the desert. Perhaps, all Kenny Rogers fans could blame the famous chicken formula for making him so rich that he didn’t have to sing another single note to feed himself. But now he’s back and he has some nifty fresh music to sell, and one of ‘em he sang in the beginning part of the American Idol show tonight. And the song was good, like Garth Brooks good, although it wasn’t as heartrending as, say, “Crazy” or as catchy a tune like “Islands In The Streams”.

So you must be wondering now if I am a big Kenny Rogers fan, that I make a big fuzz about his unexpected resurrection. Well, not too big. Maybe, a medium fan. Or small-medium. But not big. Anyone who knows me may be snickering a bit about this. Me, who goes as far-off as Metallica and as eccentric as Billy Holiday and Chet Atkins. But you know, Kenny Rogers songs always remind me of good childhood memories. When I was a giddy and gangly child of about nine or ten years old, I always hear “Through The Years” on the radio and which my girl cousins Rosemawati and Badz always sang loudly from the Jingle songhits I had bought for two-pesos and twenty-five centavos on downtown sidewalks. And I sang it too, mostly when I am by my lonesome. Weird, eh? Well, at that time, I’d rather not be caught singing some cheesy old people love song. Aunts and old cousins always tease you for that. Gee, the kid knows how to sing.

But hey, who says a Kenny Roger love song is such a bad thing. Raise your right hand. Even now, it makes my heart full of glee whenever I hear “Crazy” and “Islands In The Streams” on some throwback radio shows; and once again, I can relive my happy playing days as a child, when we were so worry-free, carefree and do not have to work in order to eat food.

So there he was, Kenny Rogers back from the grave. And he was on American Idol.

This soliloquy on Mr. Rogers by the way reminds me of the Swedish band Abba and their famous emblemic song “Chiquitita”. I was in Silliman University as a freshman student so many years ago and at that time, I was so crazy about nifty bands like U2, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith and Guns N’ Roses. Then a classmate from high school, Tony R, suddenly started singing “Chiquitita” on one occasion and his cousin Dondon suddenly belched, “Hey, what’s with you singing an Abba song?” and Dondon laughed so hard and I did too for fun’s sake (I didn’t really meant to be rude that time. Just going with the flow of things). But Tony took it so badly that he gave us an ultra-cold shoulder right after then. We had never realized then that Abba was his favorite band. He was so teed off and he was telling us how Abba was so important to him that he has every record of them. We apologized to him of course. But every time we try to kid him around, we always song “Chiquitita” while he is somewhere near and somehow, he gets so affected. That way, I’ve learned that it is not ideal to make light out of somebody else’s musical preference. Just like realizing that singing “My Way” on dingy karaoke joints is sometimes an invitation for homicide or physical injury.

But hey, don’t be mistaken; for me, Abba’s music is legendary and so sugary that you could make chiffon cake out of it. It just that when we were so young; we tried too hard to be so cool.

Say what you want; but for me, Kenny Rogers love songs are way too cool.