And his voice? Ahh, tanginang boses yan! He has all of Dave Matthews’s broken-manness, all of George Michael’s scintillating-ness, and Bono’s God-ness—all rolled into one! And that unique rasp in his voice that grates and scrapes through your gut has the power to drive you nuts and drive you to laughter and tears all in one go. I have one final word to describe his voice: PRIMAL. Listen to his longing sound in Alison, or hear him lament in All This Useless Beauty. Or listen to him at his very best, wailing in This House is Empty Now, or screaming in God Give Me Strength (both from his collaboration with Bacharach, Painted From Memory a.k.a. the best album of the last 10 years).
Top 5 Patay-Gutom-sa-Videoke Friends 5. Mula sa Heights barkada ko, si Efren Prieto . Pasok si Efren dahil siya lang ang straight guy na kilala kong kayang-kayang patusin ang mga kanta nina Mariah Carey at Whitney Houston (Question: Pasok ba sa kategoryang ito si Jed Madela? Hmm.)! Sa taas at ganda ng boses niya, pwedeng-pwede kaming mag-duet na kanya ang female parts. Pinakanaaalala ko yung minsang nag-videoke ang Heightsers sa Annapolis at nag-duet kami ng Guilty nina Barry Gibb at Barbra Streisand, hayun, kuhang-kuha niya ang range ni Barbra. Epoy, videoke tayo ulit soon! Honorable Mention from Heights: ang tone-deaf pero pasaway sa pagkanta na si Ernan Muñoz.