Decentralizing anew entertainment

Bringing entertainment from Manila to the regions has been going in for the longest time.

It is a practice that shows the cooperation between the imperial Manila and the host local unit in the provinces.

It thrives because the encouragement of sharing talents is a personal and a national concern.

It doesn’t ruin the potential of provincial or countryside singers or actors or dancers or any artists for that matter.

It even bolters the confidence and influence of the regional artists in the promotion and enhancement of homegrown talents.

Balladeer and hotelier Aristeo Demavivas, better known as Aris Demavivas (the singer who popularized the now classical tune “So Lucky in My Life,” the derivative of the cult song “Balatkayo” by Anthony Castelo in the emergence of the so-called concept Original.Pilipino Music–OPM—in the 70s) subscribes to this business and artistic notion.

Aris believes the principle of the Amazing Diva Armie Zuniga who said that, “hindi naman po ibig sabihin na kumukuha ka ng mga talento mula sa Maynila para dalhin sa probinsiya ay pinapatay mo na ang mga pangarap at tsansa ng mga kababayan natin sa mga liblib na lugar (It doesn’t mean to say that if we import talents from Manila to perform in the provinces is you are killing the dreams and chances of our compatriots in the remotest places).”

As a pop artist, Demavivas started his singing stint in his beloved Iloilo City.

As a young lad, he was a pride of the Ilonggos who shared his singing voice with the rest of his kababayans.

When he went to Manila to further his academic studies, music was a weapon he brought along to the city.

And he honed his art when he was discovered by impresario Joey Cruz of the iconic bar El Bodegon in Ermita, Manila where other newbies in the local Tin Pan Alley like Tirso Cruz III, Marco Sison, to name only a few, were rigidly ained.

Demavivas’ knowledge in music from Iloilo was enhanced by the Manila music education both tutorial and empirical.

Gradually, ;later, Aris also shared and has been sharing his musical ingenuity to his regional city folks who had and still have artistic potential.

It was, and still is symbiosis or give-and-take principle.

That is why even if he is busier in the management of Iloilo Gateway Hotel and Suites in Iloilo City, he still encourages and shares his ten-cent worth of advice to budding talents in his turf.

He makes them comfortable, important and inspired by giving them breaks or slots to sing in the music lounge of the hotel.

Emphatically, he orients and motivates these upstarts about their contributions to the development of regional arts such as music and the potential of bringing them to a wider audience by the help of self-reliance or encouragement of agents.

As is, as a manager, Aris is tied up to a lot of activities but he always sees to it to wish them the best of luck.

Meanwhile, aside from business opportunities, options and sharing of artistic merits, Demavivas imports performers from Manila to distribute their awesome prowess to the guests as well as the locals who can benefit from the bravado and professionalism of the popularity of the mainstream.

Look at what Aris did when he got jazz icons from Manila, namely, Jeannie Tiongco, Henry Katindig and Rey Ynfante, singer, pianist and guitarist, respectively, to collectively regal the hotel crowd on December 4, 5, 6 and 7, 2025 with the wonders of their music.

It is a symbiotic arrangement again.

It is decentralizing entertainment anew.

Jazz aficionados and emerging ones can learn from Jeannie, Henry and Rey’s techniques.

It is distributing high caliber artists properly to the various areas in the country to achieve common causes of sharing the beauty of music to inspire for a better life.

Jeannie, of course, is the progeny of the late well-decorated singer Emil Tiongco of the famous Tiongco Brothers and Henry is the son of the great pianist and saxophonist Eddie Katindig while Rey is a scion of artists.

Artists should not only be static in Manila for they must go out into the fields as much as regional counterparts ought to explore imperial Manila.

That’s how the cookie crumbles.