Sitting at a public piano in a shopping mall, Emilio Piano was ready to surprise shoppers with an unexpected collaboration. Emilio had already attracted a small group of listeners with their phones out, filming his performance. He launched into his next number, ‘Apologize’ by OneRepublic, but before long, listeners were no longer filming him; they had turned their phones to face a nearby staircase. To everyone’s amazement, lead singer of OneRepublic, Ryan Tedder, appeared to sing with Emilio.
Ryan proceeded to give an arena-worthy performance in the mall. When Music Man fans hear his performance, they will be blown away by his live vocals, which are even more impressive than on the original track. One of the most powerful moments of the performance is when the audience begins to sing with him, turning the moment into a massive impromptu singalong that prompted one online viewer to comment, “It brought tears to my eyes listening to everyone sing with him.”
I was very moved to see everyone coming together to sing. It made the whole experience even more moving to watch, especially as emotional expressions crossed the crowd members’ faces when they heard Ryan sing. Videos like this have been the target of backlash, with viewers calling out the staged nature of the performances. Watching this, I have to wonder whether it truly matters. While the performance is clearly pre-arranged, the emotions it sparks in its listeners are authentic.
Emilio and Ryan’s emotional mall performance was not entirely out of the blue. Emilio had come together with OneRepublic to write an entirely new song, ‘Need Your Love’. Music Man fans will definitely want to go and watch their performance of the song live in Madrid, where Emilio joined OneRepublic at one of their shows. It’s incredible to see how at ease Emilio is. Whether he’s performing in a mall or in a massive arena with one of the biggest bands on the planet, he always delivers.
Collaborations like this offer us the unique opportunity to see artists outside of their usual performance environments. Ryan Tedder performing in a local mall for a tiny group of people is a magical moment that those listeners will treasure forever. Equally, it was very special to see Emilio take a step out of his usual public performance spaces and share his talent from a stage in an enormous concert venue. Either way, these two artists delivered impeccable performances that fans will enjoy returning to time and time again.