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Martin Nievera talks about his dream interview

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Stephanie Rose Manhit

Push Team

“Probably my last,” joked Martin Nievera, as he recalled his stint as one of TV Patrol’s Star Patrollers.In his many years in showbiz, it was the first time Martin ever tried his hand at news reporting. He was joined by Concert Queen Pops Fernandez, with whom he just had a successful 40th anniversary concert titled Always &amp; Forever last February 7, 2025 at the Mall of Asia Arena. <div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/music/2025/2/7/martin-nievera-talks-about-pops-fernandez-pops-is-my-always-and-forever-favorite-teammate-1526">READ: Martin Nievera talks about Pops Fernandez: ‘Pops is my always and forever favorite teammate’</a></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/music/2025/2/8/concert-review-martin-and-pops-remain-unbeatable-onstage-1259">READ: Concert review: Martin and Pops remain unbeatable onstage</a></div>“It was very exciting. I think MJ Felipe might lose his job, now that they’ve seen me as a Star Patroller,” he quipped. “I just learned after TV Patrol that I don’t know what I’m doing.”“The Tagalog part, I have to work on a lot. To read Tagalog from a teleprompter, in character of a legitimate reporter, is very, very hard,” he admitted.Because of this experience, Martin admitted he has added respect for the hard work that newscasters put in. “I have learned to respect those on TV Patrol. I have a bigger respect now for people on the field, people behind the camera, people in front of the camera doing the news and reporting to us the most important things.”While newscasting is an entirely new landscape for Martin, being on talk shows is right up his alley. It can be recalled how Martin had Martin After Dark from 1988 to 1998, and also Martin Late At Night in 2013.“The tastebuds of the people, their tolerance for question after question and digging into the soul of our guests — you can see that on social media. Before I can even ask that guest the question, you know the answer already,” he observed. “So, we have to find a different way to get people interested. Maybe shorter questions, shorter shows, more cliffhanger questions than the more obvious questions, more interesting things, more podcast-type questions, behind-the-scenes — those might be more advantageous for the kind of hosting that I do.”Today, Martin still hosts Long Story Short (LSS): The Martin Nievera Show on ANC, where he aims to show the lighter side of celebrities, business leaders, and public officials. “I try to find the lighter side, I want to be the happy side of news,” he shares.Asked who his dream interviewee would be, he named several renowned singers. “If I could speak to anyone and just talk about nothing, just shoot the breeze, it would probable be someone who I can learn from. Maybe someone in my field, like David Foster or Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Michael Bublé — someone in the business who I’ve always admired and have always wanted to ask questions as a fan,” he mused. “Now that’s a good interview: a fan asking his idol.”

Martin Nievera shares his renewed respect for news reporters and his thoughts on how he approaches his own talk show.

Martin Nievera shares his renewed respect for news reporters and his thoughts on how he approaches his own talk show.