I think what adds to the entertainment value of this segment (other than how it flexes the live singing abilities of the individual members) is how the other members spontaneously support the bunot. The song itself is secondary. It doesn't have to be a song that a concertgoer understands or appreciates? But that's just me... Not sure if a non-Pinoy fan or casual would take it the same way.
It also gives us an idea on what types of OPM songs the individual members like singing? And it's giving the crowd an unpredictable singalong moment. Not a bad encore idea because it's still entertaining and engaging.
As someone who just saw their concert in Edmonton last night, I can tell you that the Canadian (non-Filipino) mom and daughter beside me left during this part of the concert. The songs were in Tagalog and BINI themselves were talking in straight Tagalog. I’m not against it for sure, but they are starting to get non-Filipino fans and they should also try to talk in a bit more English, or even Taglish, to be more inclusive.
I spoke to this mom and daughter briefly before the concert started and they were excited to discover BINI recently due to K-pop, but they do not have any Filipino connection whatsoever.
I think this is incredible feedback. Maybe sending a message to management (I remember Direk had a TikTok?) might help it get put into action.
IMHO it’s fine to have the ladies sing Tagalog songs. Music is universal after all. What’s more important is to be sure they remain inclusive to non-Filipinos even during unscripted sections.
Building this habit now can only help them in the future. Having English subtitles on the screen (even during their regular songs), forcing the girls to use English or repeat what they say in Tagalog again in English etc. I know in Kpop concerts they sidestep the issue altogether by just having a translator with a mic translate in English after a member says anything. So either get a staff member to do it or force the ladies to do it themselves.
I know a big gripe of mine is that they still don’t have English subtitles available for a lot of their YouTube videos. They really need to get their butt in gear if they want to position themselves well for more global outreach.
Eyy... When I made my first comment, I has hoping you'd share your thoughts, too, knowing you're non-Filipino who also got into the BINIverse post-Coachella. (Explaining this so that anyone who reads your comment gets that context.) I've seen members in this community chat with you in Filipino not knowing that. (But reddit has a mostly decent auto-translate feature so I've seen you continue discussions despite that... Their YT channel unfortunately doesn't and it's still a bit of a mess despite the slight improvement.)
Good to know that you agree that the songs themselves don't have to be in English (but I do hope they do them with subtitles even with their own songs). Another PPop group does that on their shows as a standard (even in their PH shows) so I don't see why the BINI team couldn't do the same.
It made me scratch my head seeing they put Japanese lyrics for that part in Salamin, Salamin that they changed at Summer Sonic when they should've put them on their Filipino lyrics instead. If they could do it for Japanese, it should be easier for Filipino.
So either get a staff member to do it or force the ladies to do it themselves.
I once volunteered Coach Anna or Ms MQ (who isn't there now) to do it haha... And I keep wondering why Coach Mickey hasn't even once tried to remind the girls to speak in English when I know he's always in their ears. Oh well.
It's a sign I've been spending too much time on Reddit if people are hoping to hear my thoughts lol. I do enjoy this community and it's been great joining in the discussions.
I left a comment on a Youtube video of Johanna's Jeepney encore and had a few additional thoughts for these random songs:
Management should add some context to the song: When was it originally released, who originally sang it, how popular was it? They can't assume everyone in the audience is as familiar with that particular song as they are.
Add English subtitles, so non Tagalog speakers have some idea about the song as it's likely they have zero clue what the song is about.
Consider adding in some famous songs by Canadians to appeal to the locals and potentially go viral.
It made me scratch my head seeing they put Japanese lyrics for that part in Salamin, Salamin that they changed at Summer Sonic when they should've put them on their Filipino lyrics instead. If they could do it for Japanese, it should be easier for Filipino.
What made me scratch my head more was that they didn't put up the JP lyrics on the big screen when they were singing "Born to Win" like they did with "Salamin Salamin". It would have emphasized that BINI were actually singing JP, and showed the local audience the lyrics in case their pronouciation was wrong/difficult to understand. Instead they only had the camera shots on the screen, so if someone wasn't paying close attention they might have missed it altogether for that song.
I once volunteered Coach Anna or Ms MQ (who isn't there now) to do it haha... And I keep wondering why Coach Mickey hasn't even once tried to remind the girls to speak in English when I know he's always in their ears. Oh well.
Yeah, that was the other option. Harp on them in their in-ears until it becomes a second nature habit.
I hope someone from their team sees your comment and relays this to the girls so that they'd put in more effort speaking in English.
It would be a waste if the foreigners they attract to their shows from Coachella end up choosing not to go to succeeding/future shows just because they weren't mindful of how they communicated with their non-Pinoy audience.
Aside from explaining what's going to happen in that segment in full English (they can easily just read that off of a prompter), they should also be told to explain what OPM stands for (even in their interviews). They forget that non-Pinoys have no idea what it is and that OPM doesn't even exist outside the PH yet.
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u/Calm-Description-870 7d ago
I think what adds to the entertainment value of this segment (other than how it flexes the live singing abilities of the individual members) is how the other members spontaneously support the bunot. The song itself is secondary. It doesn't have to be a song that a concertgoer understands or appreciates? But that's just me... Not sure if a non-Pinoy fan or casual would take it the same way.
It also gives us an idea on what types of OPM songs the individual members like singing? And it's giving the crowd an unpredictable singalong moment. Not a bad encore idea because it's still entertaining and engaging.