Martin: I’ve never met a more dedicated man than Gary.

The first time I met Gary it was like going to a new school in another country where it was almost magical to find one out of the many students to have so much in common with. We had the same likes and dislikes in cars, music, singers and girls.

I remember going to his house sharing dreams about becoming big stars one day not knowing that we would be pitted against each other somewhere down the road. Those were good and innocent days. Then the harmony between us seemed unbreakable until the day the business that has been so very good to us both made us rivals.

In many ways I think I have gotten as far as I have, thanks to Gary. Just like McDonald’s should thank Jollibee, I thank Gary for those days. They were not fun at the time, but competition never is unless you win. But for Gary and I, it was never winning or losing. It was ALWAYS about how we play the gig. I think I can speak for Gary when I say, for us there is no show too big or too small. We live and breathe when we are on stage and this will forever be our common bond that keeps us together no matter how they try to pull us apart.

The first time I saw Gary perform on Penthouse Live I knew without a doubt he would be a huge star…I hate it when I am right.

* * *

Gary for me is a perfectionist almost to a fault. What is good enough for most is a work in progress for Mr. Pure Energy. His work ethics is like no other. If he doesn’t have a full grasp of every detail of every song he studies, sings, writes or dances to, for Gary it’s a failure. I only know one other person who had this same quality about him and that is Michael Jackson.

Not too many people know this, but Gary is a crazy, funny guy. I think everyone thinks a spiritual man like Gary has to always be serious, but even Jesus has a sense of humor. Look at me.

I have cracked up at many Gary jokes and sometimes, like on A.S.A.P. where he has grown into a great TV host, he even surprises himself with how witty he can be, going from one subject to another and or breaking for commercials. He always tells me that he is more comfortable with me there, but I feel he doesn’t need me to be his fall guy, he has a little Jim Carrey already in him.

In all my life I have never met a more dedicated man not just to his craft but to his family and to his God. In that order, too. I think I admire this most about Gary and if I could be half as dedicated and committed to even one of the many things he is dedicated and committed to, I think I would have turned out to be an OK person both on and off stage. When I grow up I wanna be just like Gary Valenciano.

Is there really no rivalry after all? Is the “war” between them a product of the public’s imagination, woven with a magic wand by their fans? Or are the “protagonists” pretending there’s none when actually one exists but which they casually try to shrug off?

“It was something that we are aware of,” Gary admitted, “because we really look over each other’s shoulders and see what each of us is doing. He seems to be always one step ahead of me. Were we ever affected by that ‘rivalry’? Maybe we were...in the beginning. There are times when I know that he’s feeling bad about something and then I just kind of step in and ask, ‘Hey, what’s wrong?’ But we’ve never gotten into an argument, you know, ‘Pare, hindi naman puedeng ganoon, eh...’ Nothing like that.”

Said Martin, “It wasn’t an Ateneo-La Salle type of rivalry but our fans seem to take it seriously. We started out as friends, then we became rivals, then we became brothers. In a nutshell, that’s the whole concept of the show. If we read anything about each other, we would call each other up and ask, ‘Pare, sinabi mo ba talaga ‘yon?’ Gary is right: We never went beyond that, we never fought.”

To find out the truth and nothing but, read the lips of Martin Nievera and Gary Valenciano and decipher their body language during their first major concert together titled As 1 at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Open Grounds on Sept. 19, a production of Starmedia Entertainment Inc., Big Mouth Productions International (Martin’s side) and Manila Genesis Entertainment & Management Inc. (Gary’s side). For ticket inquiries, call Ticketnet at 911-5555 and Ticketworld at 891-9999.

There will be equal exposure, with both artists singing equal numbers of solo songs and, you guessed it, the spiels will be balanced between them (although it’s up to them to adlib if they want to). Martin is doing Gary’s songs and vice-versa. But in the billing, Martin’s name comes first. Seniority, you know. Martin has been in the business for 26 years and Gary, 25 years.

Except for their children (Gary’s are with wife Angeli Pangilinan and Martin’s, with ex-wife Pops Fernandez, plus one with ex[?]-girlfriend Katrina Ojeda), there will be no guest performers, although they don’t discount the possibility that there might be “impromptu” special participation by whoever stars in the audience is willing to do so.

They have a lot of things in common...love of music, for one, and they both have sisters named Gina...and a lot more things they don’t have in common, such as: Martin is hypertensive and Gary is diabetic; Martin is kenkoy and Gary is serious and spiritual; Martin is neat and organized and Gary is, well, not really; and Martin is, according to rumors, between loves while Gary is happily married.

Perhaps without their knowing it, the competition started the very first time they performed in the same event, at the Miriam College.

Recalled Gary, “Martin sang ahead of me and I told myself, ‘Okey lang. I’ll watch what he does.’ Lo and behold, he sang the very same song I was going to sing, Somewhere Down The Road. Martin sang with an arrangement done by Homer Flores and I sang with a minus one I bought at Uni-mart.”

Said Martin, “I didn’t even know that Gary was there. Hahahaha!”

And somewhere down the road, they became rivals pitted against each other by their respective camps, trying hard to outdo each other on the concert scene — Concert King vs Pure Energy.

Until Sept. 19, Martin and Gary avoided doing a big concert together even if, of late, they have been doing bit parts in each other’s concerts and on the ABS-CBN Sunday show A.S.A.P. which they co-host (Martin in an irregular basis) .

What Martin song is Gary’s favorite?

“Be My Lady,” said Gary without a second thought. “I like that song so much that in the album we’re doing, titled As 1 like our concert, I’m singing that song together with other Martin songs like Ikaw Ang Lahat Sa Akin, How Can I and You Are My Song...Gary Valenciano style.”

And what Gary song is Martin’s favorite?

“Sana Maulit Muli,” said Martin. “I just love that song. It’s one of the Gary songs I’m doing for our album, also including Take Me Out Of The Dark, Reaching Out and Hang On...Martin Nievera style.”

And two originals besides — As 1 written by Martin’s sister Gina and Together which is a Japanese song translated by Martin into English.

It’s about time they did a concert together, isn’t it?

“If not now, when?” said Martin.

(E-mail reactions at rickylo@phil-star.net.ph or at entphils-tar@yahoo.com)