Surprises, one hair-raising fan at Toni Gonzaga’s anniversary concert
'Thank God for the blower'
It was Toni Gonzaga’s night, hands down.
But if there was one unintended surprise at the concert of the so-called “Ultimate Multimedia Star," it would have to be the industrial-strength electric fan mounted on the stage Friday (October 3) at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The powerful gust on that fan did wonders in achieving the windswept Beyoncé look for the 30-year-old performer. And it was no less than Toni herself who quickly realized the effect it made.
“Thank God for the blower,” she quipped quickly after her 10-minute opening act. “May igaganda pa pala ‘ko.”
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The repertoire
But it was her sister Alex who opposed the fan late in the concert when they shared the stage for a showdown.
As promised, Toni began the concert with an original: "This Love Is Like," one of 10 tracks included in her latest album “Celestine.” However, a cover of “Clarity” by Zedd followed immediately.
Toni also sang Jumbo de Belen’s “Kahit Na,” an entry in last year’s Himig Handog P-Pop Love Songs which she interpreted.
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No-show Papa P
Fans who filled the almost-full capacity Arena went crazy when the box-office star paid tribute to her blockbuster film “Starting over Again.”
However, Sir Marco (Piolo Pascual's character in the movie) was surprisingly absent when Ginny (Toni’s character) sang the theme song, which was originally done by Lani Misalucha.
Despite Piolo being a no-show, Toni went on singing “Say Something” by American pop duo A Great World, and picked Paolo Onesa of “The Voice of the Philippines” from among the crowd to sing her leading man’s part.
Toni concluded the emotionally-charged segment with Jason Mraz’s “I Won’t Give Up." while the camera panned occasionally on her real-life sweetheart Paul Soriano seated in the audience.
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K-Pop meets ‘Boom Panes’
Toni pushed her limits when she pulled off various segments of the concert with less singing and more dancing—thanks mainly to G-Force.
One of these included a stretch of songs, including her version of 2NE1’s “I Am the Best,” followed by “Boom Panes” with no less than the “Boom Panes” hitmaker himself, Vice Ganda.
Richard “Sir Chief” Yap emerged from backstage and sang Eraserheads’ “Ang Huling El Bimbo” right after Vice.
Toni also did a Demi Lovato with “Neon Lights” in the latter part of the show.
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Gonzaga vs. Gonzaga
Although their segment was fully promoted and therefore raised expectations, Toni and Alex’s showdown was still surprisingly entertaining.
Their duet of Celine Dion hit “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” mashed up with Iggy Azalea's “Fancy” received a thunderous response from the audience who noticeably awaited the number.
The show turned serious when Toni was joined by the Payatas Voice Choir. They sang the Christian hymn “Amazing Grace,” which Toni said was one of her early favorites back in grade school.
She then went into Beyoncé’s “I Was Here.”
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Her trademark songs
But, of course, Toni’s popular song “We Belong” was also a crowd favorite. The singer said the said single was memorable because it was her first under Star Records back in 2006.
She capped the night with “Catch Me I’m Falling,” the song most famously associated with her and said it was a “must-sing.”
The biggest surprise of the night, however, was the crowd’s generally underwhelming reception, a head-scratcher considering the audience was made up mostly of diehard Toni Gonzaga fans who paid thousands just to see their idol in concert.
PHOTOS: Scenes from the concert
STORY: Toni Gonzaga’s sweet revenge: from loser to star
