Yesterday, my high school classmate Mels gave me a link to a Summer Nights video from the 1978 hit Grease starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. While Mels says Grease is one of her favorite musicals, I say the movie reminds me of five years ago when I turned 18 (Yes, I’m already 23. So what’s it to ya?).
For other debutantes, celebrating their 18th birthday (the once-in-a-lifetime debut party which is commonly celebrated by women in the Philippines) means formal gathering, formal wear, and formal programme. I, on the other hand, had a slightly different one. My family, my friends and I wanted my 18th birthday to be unique so we decided not to have the usual extravagant celebration (plus, we didn’t have the budget for something as bongga as that :confused:). The party had a 70’s theme. We made everyone wear 70’s clothes and sport 70’s hairdos (Well, not everyone. Most of my high school classmates were, as expected, timid and a bit non-participative).
Instead of doing the usual entourage and Waltz thing, the so-called Cotillion de Honor dance (where I was included) was to the tune of You’re The One That I Want (also a Grease soundtrack). Then my all-girls barkada performed a special dance number based on the Footloose OST — which is actually an 80’s thing.
I wish I had some photos to post here, but unfortunately they are all back home (hindi pa masyadong uso ang DigiCam nun!) and the videos taken then are a bit screwed up. The “professional” photographer/videographer we hired, apparently, was not so professional. Go figure.
The Pinoy “John Travolta” and “Olivia Newton-John”
The best thing about the party happened towards the ending. Without my knowledge, my friends, my older brothers, my cousins, and my brothers’ friends had an “MTV” prepared for me. It turns out they’ve been practicing for days before my birthday to surprise me. They suddenly walked up front and rendered their lip-sync version of Summer Nights. My brother Jec played John Travolta, my best friend Ann played Olivia Newton-John, and the rest acted as their peers. It was so hilarious! The video below would give you an idea of how they did their rendition. It wasn’t exactly the same, but it was just as fun. It was definitely the most exciting birthday party I had. :)
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