MANILA, Philippines - With its multitude of Filipino fans all pumped up to finally see in the flesh the world’s hottest all-female pop and R&B group Fifth Harmony in its upcoming April 5 concert at the Mall of Asia Arena, the fab American quartet is equally ecstatic to “meet and connect on a personal level” with its Pinoy followers.
“You guys in the Philippines are so amazing when it comes to music, you are so talented,” declared member Dinah Jane Hansen, who talked to The STAR in a phone interview for the group’s ongoing 7/27 Tour currently hitting Asia, with special guest Filharmonic, an all-male Fil-Am crooners from Los Angeles.
“I know that your food is great, that’s also No. 1,” continued the 19-year-old Dinah, a native of Santa Ana, California, “We’re going to eat a lot on our first night there. I know that people there are so loving and so down to earth so I just can’t wait to see and meet the people there and experience it for myself. It’s gonna be great and I will tell them ‘mahal kita.’”
The globally successful 7/27 Tour kicked off in the summer of 2016 giving fans across the world a chance to experience the exceptional live performance of the group’s multiplatinum summer anthem Work from Home, along with the platinum single All in My Head (Flex) and That’s My Girl, among others.
Dinah said the pop powerhouse group — also composed of Ally Brooke, Normani Kordei and Lauren Jauregui — is committed to give the Filipino Harmonizers an intense music experience they will never forget.
“You can expect a lot of fun,” assured Dinah. “Feel free to sing with us, scream, jump, dance...do whatever you want to live in the moment. It’s gonna be a lot of fun. We just can’t wait to come there.”
Despite last year’s departure of member Camila Cabello, Fifth Harmony continues to slay the hit charts as it reaps one music award after another. Early this year, the four girls bagged the People’s Choice Favorite Group award, which they have won two years in a row and got stellar reviews for their performance at the awards night.
Writes Sasha Geffen of MTV News: “For its first-ever performance without Camila Cabello, Fifth Harmony took on Work From Home without missing a beat. Even though Camila used to sing the song’s first line, the remaining four members of the group came up with a creative workaround at People’s Choice Awards. They all harmonized on the lyric — and then paused for dramatic effect, as you do when you’re bouncing back from the sudden departure of a member. Turns out these four can harmonize just fine on their own.”
Asked about the group’s enormous success and staying power since winning the second season of The X-Factor USA in 2012, Dinah said the girls never rest on their laurels.
“We hardly rest because we’ve been working a lot on our albums and concerts,” she said. “We’ve been fully involved in making our music and to be personally involved is what we really asked for.
“We are so grateful we are given the chance and the freedom to do what we want, what we want to create, what’s on our mind, and that’s honestly what we asked for in the beginning of our career,” Dinah added.
Fifth Harmony has sold millions of albums worldwide plus over seven million digital songs and earned close to two billion on-demand streams in the US alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The group boasts over eight million followers on Instagram, nearly four million on Twitter and close to eight million fans on Facebook.
Corina Rose Mance, an engineering student at the Technological University of the Philippines, said she has saved enough money, along with some friends, to catch the concert as a reward for her hard work in school.
“I know all their songs since their debut single Miss Movin’ On,” Corina told The STAR. “I love them because they are not only talented and beautiful, they’re also feisty and empowered. And their music is superb.”
(For tickets and other info, visit www.mallofasia-arena.com.)