Jul 24 2008
Gilbert Arenas in Manila, Philippines

Gilbert Arenas Speaks on Beyonce’s Philippine Star Power + Berlin’s Cab Swag

Gilbert Arenas is the NBA’s top blogger. In his latest post Agent Zero talks about his overseas trip this summer to promote NBA Europe Live and some Adidas spots. He went to five different cities, one of them was the site of today’s top story.. Berlin, Germany.

Gilbert..

    What was funny about Berlin is
  • It’s a very clean city (that’s not the funny part, but it is a very clean city)
  • The funny part is, their cabs were Beamers [and Benzes]. Mercedes Benz cabs in Berlin, Germany So, NBA players, if you driver a Beamer, your swag is questionable because if you go to Berlin, that’s just a cab.

Another city was Manila, Philippines where Arenas discovered how Beyonce gets treated.

“They put me in a cape at one of my last events in Manila. It was at one of their biggest malls and they were predicting it was going to be crowded. I mean, crowded to me is a Saturday afternoon at the mall where you have to wait in line for 10 minutes to pay for your jeans. Their crowded was probably four or five thousand people in the mall.

Gilbert Arenas in Manila, Philippines - taken by Mike Lao

It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and I’ve seen crazy fans all over the world. It was like Golden State against the Dallas Mavericks with Game 3 back in Oakland. It was that type of atmosphere in the mall.

I was stunned. They made me feel like an NBA star.

On top of everything else in Manila, I stayed at the best hotel I’ve ever stayed at – The Peninsula. I was in the mack daddy “El Presidente” suite and was like the Fresh Prince with Geoffrey – I had a live-in butler.

One more note on Manila, just so you guys can get a picture of what kind of people they are and how much they adore and love entertainers and the NBA.

Beyonce arrives in Manila

Beyonce in Manila Philippines

Think about this: If you’ve ever been to a Beyonce concert, or anybody’s concert in the states really, if they sell out an arena it will be 20,000 fans. Last year in Beyonce’s hometown, Houston, she pulled in 12,000 people to her show. D.C. was her biggest sell, she put 18,000 people in the seats.

Meanwhile, she was in Manila for two days to do two concerts and she had 85,000 people, two nights straight. She couldn’t even do it in the arena, she had to do it on the lawn.

Like, “Everybody, y’all just get in the grass, I’m going to perform.”

That’s how the people are out there.”


☼ What's Your Opinion? ☼

1 ahern Sat, Jul 26, 2008 - 4:21 am

The 85,000 people comment is unfounded. If Beyonce did 1 show in the US every 5 years…I guarantee there would be A LOT more than 85K people. When she does 150 cities a year, yeah, its gonna be 20K.

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