“Even If” by 2Be3 (2000)

I wonder how many people remember “Even If,” which was an FM radio favorite in the early 2000s.

I can’t remember when was the first time I heard the song “Even If” by the French boyband 2Be3. What I could remember is that it’s the most memorable song I could remember from the first song magazine (popularly called “songhits” in the Philippines) my sister bought in January 2002.

It was the first ever songhits in the house. I got to read it weeks or months later; and in it I read the lyrics to tracks by Britney Spears, Bon Jovi, and 2Be3, among others. The song by 2Be3? “Even If.”

2Be3 (Image from Discogs)

Not much is written about 2Be3 and their discography on Wikipedia and the internet, in general, aside from track listings and lyrics to the songs “Excuse My French” and “Even If.” (By the way, I have the lyrics to “Excuse My French” in the songhits a former classmate gave to me on a Saturday sometime during the third quarter of 2002. The songhits’ album feature was “Celebrity” by NSYNC.)

“Even If” is track no.2 on the group’s 2001 album Excuse My French, which didn’t chart in their home country. The song, which didn’t also chart, was released in 2000.

Image from Sens Critique

2Be3 was never as popular as Boyzone, Backstreet Boys, Westlife, and A1. But “Even If” was a moderate hit in the Philippines, and it was covered by Sam Concepcion for his first album in 2007. (Sam Concepcion was the winner of a singing reality show, Little Big Star, in April 2006. Jake Zyrus, formerly Charice Pempengco, placed third in that competition.) His version of “Even If” was more popular than the original in the Philippines; I bet it’s the only version most Filipino listeners have ever heard of and not the original by 2Be3.

Image from Discogs

As of this writing, I recall one Saturday afternoon in 2002. While waiting for my turn at the barbershop, I decided to check out what’s playing on the MYX channel at a nearby bakery-restaurant. It was the music video of “Even If” by 2Be3.

One of the members, Filip Nikolic, passed away eleven years ago. His Wikipedia entry said he appeared in the movie Simon Sez with Dennis Rodman in 1999. I remember watching the said movie during one Saturday morning in October 2002; later that day, my sister, returning home from her visit to friends, told us Paul Marazzi left A1. 

How could he leave A1? It was just weeks A1 appeared on a popular noontime variety TV show and performed “Make It Good” and “One Last Song.”

What memories!

Thank you, 2Be3, for “Even If.” It will always be one of my most memorable songs of all time.