The Beyoncé Experience. Live in Taguig! (To be exact.)

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What's with the Taguig crap? A few months back Christina Aguilera went Back to Basics Live in Taguig. Now it's Beyoncé taking her Experience World Tour Live in Taguig.

Why the sudden stress on geographical accuracy with (of all places) Taguig? The Black Eyed Peas and Babyface concerts weren't "Live in Cubao". Passengers landing in NAIA aren't greeted with "Welcome to Parañaque." And The Peninsula, Hotel Intercontinental and Mandarin Oriental aren't branded "Makati". What makes Taguig so pompously special?

Well, is there doubt in anybody's mind that this Taguig thing was rammed down Chritina's and Beyoncé 's vocal cords by the Honorables in City Government, who obviously think getting top billing is the way to being famous, rather than the other way around. Forget working on being known for good governance, superior health care or, ahurm, effective flood control. The quickest way for these people to see their city's name up there in lights is, literally, to put the city's name up there in lights.

Is it working? Is Taguig world-famous yet? Is it getting top mileage from the prominent exposure it gave itself? Not by a long shot. In the past two weeks, there have been two Associated Press articles on Beyoncé (here and here) and Taguig is prominently not mentioned. And good luck getting a shout out from her at the concert: although Beyoncé can't spell Manila, she sure as hell can say it -- and yell it out -- much easier than that freakin' place she's never even heard of but oddly shares top billing with.