For UAAP Season 89 opening treat, FEU turns its eyes to Super Bowl

A grand fireworks display highlighted last season’s opening put up by Season 88 host UST. —UAAP MEDIA

You’d think that after University of Santo Tomas put on quite the opening show for last season’s UAAP, the España-based school would be the standard everyone else in the league would match.

This year’s host, however, is aiming to rival a bigger franchise.

Far Eastern U athletic director Mark Molina, the UAAP Season 89 president, told journalists the school will stage an opening ceremony on Saturday that would be as talked-about as the celebrated Super Bowl halftime show of the National Football League in the United States.

“Palag,” Molina said, using a term that people use to denote, among other things, the ability of something to hold its own when compared to much better alternatives.

The confidence stems from the two celebrities headlining FEU’s opening party. Popular noontime show host and comedian Vice Ganda and rapper Gloc-9 have pledged to not just perform but contribute their creative input to the show, which will be held at Mall of Asia Arena.

“We were overwhelmed with the kind of support [they gave], how they embraced being part of the show,” Molina said.

“Vice said she’ll aim for the level of a Super Bowl halftime show,” he added. “I’ve seen [the rehearsals] and Vice really did it. We were also surprised that she came up with a show like that.”

“It’s going to be fantastic.”

The NFL showcase has been a premier and lavish intersection of sports and entertainment, with top pop artists vying to star in the spectacle.

Last year, UST wowed everyone with the pomp and pageantry of its opening ceremony, which thoroughly defied tradition and redefined the way curtains are lifted off UAAP seasons.

This Season 89, which FEU will host, will carry the theme “For Everyone, UAAP.”

“When you talk about the UAAP, you always see the basketball players, the volleyball players, but we don’t see the people who made them successful,” Molina explained.

“Everyone in the community is very important; that’s why we have successful teams: teachers, students, drivers, the cooks in the canteen. All of them are an important part of the FEU and UAAP communities. That’s why we chose that theme.”