Mariah mania in Manila
Mariah Carey was late. Her flight was delayed a few minutes and her concert, which supposedly was to start at 8 p.m., started 90 minutes after the publicized time actually. But I, and the thousands and thousands of Mariah maniacs forgave her. After all, Mariah Carey is Mariah Carey.
Mariah opened the Manila stop of her Charmbracelet tour with the infectious "Heartbreaker". She was wearing a silver bra top with matching micro-mini skirt and her signature stiletto heels. She came from the audience area where she was accompanied by numerous bodyguards that seemed to say that not only are they heart-breakers but bone-breakers as well if you'll do something bad. The crowd went wild when she shouted, "Hello, Manila!" By the time the opening strains of "Heartbreaker" was heard, everyone wasn't only on their feet - they stood on their monoblock chairs gyrating to the R&B beats of the song.
The next song was "Dreamlover". It was by this time people in the back were starting to complain that they couldn't see anything so the ushers and usherettes urged everyone to come down from their chairs and just sit down. Surprisingly, a lot of them cooperated except for a number up front at the R5,000 row. Apparently money really couldn't buy breeding.
Anyway, "Dreamlover" was a song from her third album and was very popular when it was released. But hearing it live for the first time made me want to rush home right after the concert to hear how good the song was, over and over again. After "Dreamlover", Mariah greeted the crowd and everyone was feeling ecstatic everytime the word Manila escapes from her lips. For her third song, Mariah sang "Through The Rain", which according to my friend is fast becoming a karaoke favorite (which will probably be in the league of "My Way" for the oldies and "My Heart Will Go On" for the ladies). She sang "Through The Rain" sitting on a couch and ended it with her signature birdlike shrill. Well I'm sure seeing her sing the song live would dampen the spirits of the thousands of wannabes who sing "Through the Rain" in the karaoke.
Her next song was another karaoke favorite: "My All" which is from "Butterfly", according to Mariah, her most favorite album of all time. The crowd really went wild hearing this song. It was a very stirring rendition and it was also at this time that the camera (there were giant screens on the sides of the stage) focused on her ring which was a diamond encrusted platinum (?) butterfly. And like a butterfly, at the end of the song, Mariah exited the stage for a metamorphosis. By the time she came back, she was wearing a very sexy long gown in matte gold and sang "Can't Take That Away From Me". She knelt at the high part of the song proving that she can reach those high notes even if she's in a precarious position.
But the transformation wasn't complete for Mariah! Apparently, the gown was just for one number because as soon as "Can't Take That Away From Me", she rushed backstage to change to her next outfit - a short blue dress with a slit til kingdom come! This time, she sang "Honey" (the video shown in the screens in between her costume change was the opening of "Honey"). "Ay! She changes her outfit per song!" shouted my friend.
Next song is one of her latest chartbusters: "I Know What You Want", collaboration with Busta Rhymes. The video again was shown onscreen and by the time Mariah's part came, she came charging onstage in a black tight fitting shirt and denim hot pants to sing her portion live - which was only a few stanzas actually. After that song, she left the stage again for another costume change. "Ay! This time, per half song is her costume change!" remarked my friend.
She came back wearing a black gown ("This is a new ensemble", she told the crowd) and sang "My Saving Grace", which for me was the best part of the concert. "My Saving Grace" is from her latest album Charmbracelet and this is the song she wrote after her much publicized physical breakdown. The performance was soulful indeed and after watching this, you know that right in front of you is a Mariah who's made it through the rain and has survived through a lot of trials and is still fabulous at that.
After this, she freestyled to introduce her bandmates and her back-up singers. It was done in a R&B beat and once in awhile, injected Manila during this number which made everyone again shout in delight. And during this part, she adlibbed that there was a bug onstage that's scaring her. This brought laughs from the audience and at this point, I imagined what if the bug went up her skirt!? That would have been fun but those thoughts were erased right away from my mind because she then introduced her back-up singers, which included Trey Lorenz, her collaborator in her hit remake "I'll Be There". As expected, they sang the Jackson 5 original. Trey did a solo number after which.
Mariah came back singing "Fantasy" wearing a green midriff shirt with the words Automatic Princess on it and tight pink shorts. She danced a little with chairs as her props. She probably knows she's no Madonna or Britney because this is the only number with any choreography featuring her. But her next number still dazzled the audience because it was an all-time favorite: "Always Be My Baby". She then sang "Make It Happen" and said goodbye to the audience.
As expected, her concert ending kinda abruptly was only a gimmick because one of Mariah's dancers came out and signaled to shout if we wanted more. Of course we wanted more and after awhile, Mariah came out in a beige ensemble which resembled an Oscar de la Renta collection. She sang "Without You" and even went down onstage. She then sang her debut single "Vision of Love" and capped the night with "Hero" which ended with a few strains from the song "Butterfly". It was a glorious ending - an ending which really bookended the concert.
It was a very impressive concert. Congratulations to Mariah and the producers East West Global Entertainment. At least there weren't any major mishaps during the concert. Even the weather seemed to have cooperated because it didn't rain during the show. I hope that this would be a signal to the promoters to bring more international artists as well as to continue to stage shows for our local talents as well.
Mariah, in a past interview said that in more ways than one, the "Charmbracelet World Tour" serves as her thanksgiving to her legions of fans, who never wavered their support for her, in spite of the ups and downs of her colorful career. "I am passionate about doing something more intimate for my fans", Mariah told the media. "I'm used to doing arena tours. But, this tour is about my music and my fans. It's my way of thanking them." Well, you're welcome Mariah. And thank you too for bringing your music to Manila. (The Manilla Bulletion Online)
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