The year-long 30th anniversary celebration of “ASAP” continues! And the party would never ever be complete without Concert King and OPM legend Martin Nievera, who has been part of the musical variety show ever since it was launched in 1995 and was among its pioneer hosts alongside Ariel Rivera, Dayanara Torres, and Pops Fernandez.

In this exclusive video, Martin got to share some of his most memorable experiences on “ASAP” over the past three decades, which he did by watching and reacting to his previous performances and subsequently sharing little trivia about each one of them. 

First off was one of his live performances of his well-loved song, “Ikaw Ang Lahat Sa Akin,” which happened in an episode post-pandemic. Assuming that people were excited at the time to sing their hearts out and sing along with the singers again after a couple of years of being prohibited to do so because of the deadly contagious virus, Martin said that it was his personal choice for his part in “The Greatest Showdown” segment. 

When quizzed if he ever expected “Ikaw Ang Lahat Sa Akin” to be one of his biggest hits, Martin said “no.” According to him, the song was born during one his vacations when he met singer Louie Heredia, who eventually became his friend and introduced him to Cecile Azarcon, one of the most prolific songwriters in the Philippine music scene. Martin pitched the song he composed for a significant girl at the time to her, who suggested to have it translated to Tagalog from English for she believed that it would sound better if written in our language. 

“I never thought that for one second that it would become the hit that it was,” Martin confessed. “It did legitimize me as, finally [and] really, a Filipino singer. And I really got in touch with my OPM self after that song.

Second was his performance of “Kahit Isang Saglit” with “Tawag ng Tanghalan” champions and ASAP New Gen Idols JM Yosures and Reiven Umali, whom he both praised for their flawless and heartfelt rendition of his iconic hit. When asked what piece of advice he could impart to the generation of singers, Martin simply reminded them that every song they perform must come from the heart and soul. 

The third one was his live duet of “Kahit Isang Saglit” with his ex-wife Pops Fernandez, wherein they could be seen being teased by their fellow OPM icons and real-life couple Regine Velasquez and Ogie Alcasid as they tried to bring them closer to one another. It might be initially an uncomfortable moment for both of them, yet they were still able to pull it off and deliver kilig and good vibes to their supporters. 

Being together for more than a decade, he surely had shared a lot of fun memories with Pops on and off the set, which he found impossible to enumerate or to at least pick out one. However, Martin would like to think that their musical show, “Penthouse Live!” which they both hosted in the 80’s, didn’t only bring them closer to each other but also became the catalyst for the formation of loveteams.

“After so many years of being very opposite as co-hosts, we, somehow, I think, with our rapport, with our banter, with her finishing my sentences, [and] with me finishing her sentences, I think those memories, those moments of professionalism, and the tandem that we were, somehow gave truth to the term loveteam,” he said.

But if there’s one memory of them that he wouldn’t want to recollect anymore, it would be that moment when he had to announce their separation, or the end of their marriage, not only to their colleagues, but to the whole world. It was him who initially considered quitting the show for good, yet it was Pops who pushed through with the plan and left, much to the shock of everyone.

“Now, 2025, we’re still together as friends, and we raised our children together. Pops did more of the raising than me because they live with her. And now we’re still the best of friends, and we still do shows and concerts together. We still, I believe, make such a great team onstage,” he conveyed.

For the past 30 years of watching “ASAP,” avid viewers out there are probably aware that whenever Kapamilya celebrities celebrate their birthdays on the program, expect that a special tribute or segment is dedicated for them. For his birthday celebration, he suggested to the showrunners to have everybody join him onstage as they sang one of his greatest hits, “You Are My Song” altogether. 

Of course, this feature wouldn’t be complete without including a live performance of his other greatest hit, none other than “Be My Lady”. It happened during “ASAP”’s tribute to esteemed composer-musician Vehnee Saturno, in which he was supposed to be not a part of since he had to fly overseas for a show. But for a reason he could no longer recall, his flight got delayed, which provided him ample time to go back to the studio and pay homage to Vehnee. 

Speaking of “lady,” we all know that there has been someone who makes Martin kilig for years now—his non-showbiz partner Anj del Rosario, whom he “hard launched” during the Valentine episode of “ASAP.” He was actually supposed to be paired up with Pops, who wasn’t able to make it that time due to a family emergency. Thus, in order to save the segment, he asked Anj, who was there to pick him up after the show to watch the concert of TJ Monterde, to which she eventually obliged even though she never sang in public. And for their theme song, the Concert King related that it’s “Palagi” by TJ Monterde.