By Zsarlene B. Chua, Reporter
DUBBED AS the country’s “Concert King” and with a career that has spanned more than a quarter of a century, Martin Nievera is the newest “and only” celebrity endorser of the integrated casino resort, Solaire, according to a company executive.
“It wasn’t really about the timing – it was because we decided we wanted somebody speaking for Solaire and being out in the market and when we huddled up together and talked about who would be perfect [for the role] and there was no one else but Martin [Nievera]. He was the only man on the list,” Cyrus Sherafat, SVP for casino marketing at Solaire Resort and Casino, told the media during a press conference on August 18.
The endorsement deal, which will span two years, will have Mr. Nievera perform at the Solaire as its resident artist.
“Of course, performing is something he does best… so we will certainly have many performances in the Theater and in more intimate ones Eclipse,” Mr. Sherafat said.
Mr. Nievera has previously performed various sold-out shows at the Theatre in Solaire, the most recent being Martin Home at the Theatre in Solaire in 2015, and is hoping to continue performing in the venue like it’s his own “home theater” and invite some of his friends to do the same.
Other plans for Mr. Nievera include holding private dinners with the casino’s VIPs and a cook-off against the resort-casino’s head chef, Michael Dinges.
“This is a singer’s dream,” said Mr. Nievera of his new roles as the “bigmouth of the casino,” before adding that the best part of having the job was he was directed to be himself.
And this vivacious personality of his showed through the casino-resort’s newest theme song, “Follow the Sun,” which he co-wrote with The CompanY’s Moy Ortiz. The accompanying video shows Mr. Nievera walking down the halls of the hotels in his bathrobe and swimming in the pool with his suit on.
“He’s a very funny guy and he likes to entertain the crowd and engages with people. Our customers get to do a lot [in the property] but it’s not every day they get to spend some time with Martin,” said Mr. Sherafat.
The property’s entertainment director, Audie Gemora, commented during the press conference that Mr. Nievera is a perfect fit for the only Filipino-owned integrated resort in the country, and since Solaire has focused on promoting not only Broadway performances but also Filipino icons, it follows that they should have someone like Mr. Nievera to represent them.
“We want to establish ourselves as the center of entertainment and to do that we’re bringing all the [Filipino musical] icons [even] as far back as Sylvia La Torre – a singer from the 1930s, would you believe [it]?” he said, before adding they want to open Solaire for the younger Filipino artists and would want to develop their own artists and acts soon.
