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Review: Jay-R and Kyla's musical 'love team' still going strong

Article (news)

Leah C. Salterio

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Jay-R and Kyla reunite in " Back="" in="" the="" concert="" at="" New="" Frontier="" Theater.="" Denise="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/09/05/20230905-jay-r-kyla.jpg"/><figcaption>Jay-R and Kyla reunite in &#x27;Back in Time&#x27; the concert at the New Frontier Theater. Denise Viña</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA -- There are love teams for television and the big screen. But a girl and a guy in a musical partnership lasting for two decades is kind of rare. That’s the partnership established by top R&amp;B artists Jay-R and Kyla.Since they previously met in a TV show, they became inseparable onstage, churning out vocal musical collaborations, performances and concerts.“Back in Time” is an R&amp;B ballad Jay-R penned back in 2008. Last weekend, he teamed up with Kyla anew to stage “Back in Time” the concert at the New Frontier Theater.Starting with a mash-up of “Closer,” &quot;Love Like This” and “Fantasy,” Jay-R and Kyla were both perky that immediately became contagious to their audience.Both blazing in red attire, they rendered “Back in Time,” from where the concert’s title was derived. They both knew the song back in 2008, when Jay-R composed it. They rendered it a number of times, but never got a chance to previously record it and rendered it live.They greeted their audience, some of whom flew in from General Santos City, Singapore, Thailand and Dubai (United Arab Emirates).Then came Jay-R’s solo spot that allowed him to render his hits – “Kung Mahal Mo Siya,” “Bakit Pa Ba?,” “Parachute” – as well as his reimagined piece of The Carpenters’ “Superstar” and his newest single, “Blessed.”Kyla followed with her spot numbers like “With You I’m Born Again” and Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love,” followed by her stratospheric rendition of “On the Wings of Love,” “Making Me Crazy” and her reimagined version of Michael Pangilinan’s “Hanggang Ngayon.”She also came out with her versions of Alicia Keys’ “My Boo,” Rihanna’s “Hate That I Love You” and Lara Fabian’s “Broken Vow.”Most of the songs were beautifully rearranged to suit Jay-R and Kyla’s R&amp;B style. No wonder, they got the enviable titles as “King and Queen of R&amp;B.”The two artists have mutual admiration for each other’s talent. Not to mention that they’ve also been friends for two decades. Even if they are both married – Jay-R with Mica Javier and Kyla with cager Rich Alvarez.Admittedly, Jay-R and Kyla both have “magical chemistry” once they start singing and when they mount the stage.The concert was interrupted not just once, but by two special moments to give way to marriage proposals of two couples in the audience. Both guys got the ladies’ nods so expect their respective altar dates any time soon.In the audience that night were Vice Ganda, Darren Espanto, Erik Santos, Kris Lawrence, Denise Laurel, KZ Tandingan.“When Vice told me baka daw manood siya ng concert namin, I didn’t believe her,” said Kyla, her distinct laughter reverberating in the theater. “But thank you [Vice] for being here.”Then came their much-applauded duets where their voices really soared – “Close To You,” “Say That You Love Me” and “Let the Love Begin.”The R&amp;B artists capped their performance with “This Is How We Do It” and “Hey, Mr. DJ.”Jay-R expressed his desire to produce and take the “Back in Time” concert with Kyla to the US (Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas and San Francisco).Other producers will hopefully see the shows and the two artists can even go to Canada, UAE and Australia.

Admittedly, Jay-R and Kyla both have 'magical chemistry' once they start singing onstage.