Paolo Valenciano speaks about struggles on staging online concerts

Romar Fernando

September 11, 2020

• 

  Photo Credit: Paolo Valenciano Facebook Page

  Paolo Valenciano has shared his experiences about numerous struggles about staging online concerts, September 1, Tuesday.

  “It’s like learning to ride a bicycle again,” is how Valenciano described it in an interview at World Vision, a international humanitarian organization. He has worked for seven virtual shows amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

  “It’s a new industry. And the mindset of people [on the internet] isn’t the same as those who are watching at a live venue or on television. You have to keep them engaged,” he explained. Adding the internet connection issues, “Once the connection drops, the production staff loses communication with the artists, who ends up doing whatever on screen.”

  “We prepare for every single show, but we can’t help but run into problems. We take note of the issue, so that we can avoid it in the next show. Then, a new one arises,” Valenciano said. “Script writing is quite difficult, because you can’t let the artist stray from the message or randomly chat up the viewers,” he added.

  “We’re living in the weirdest times. The entertainment industry has stopped for now. So, a lot of us went through an existential crisis, being nonessential workers,” he said. This leads them to support fellow entertainers as better sense of purpose and direction.

• COMMENTS