Dancing the night away

Dance the night away, live your life and stay young on the floor. – On The Floor, Jennifer Lopez

The cold breeze of the upcoming Christmas season was not enough to bring the temperature down inside the SM Mall of Asia Arena last Monday night when international superstar Jennifer Lopez, commonly referred to as JLo, performed sexy and sizzling numbers one after the other for her highly-anticipated Dance Again World Tour.

The crowd was instantly on their feet — not to mention their cellphones, cameras, tablets, iPhone and iPads up in the air — the minute JLo’s dancers came up to perform in a Broadway-like manner her song Never Give Up. Wearing a white ensemble of skin-tight catsuit with feather skirt and hat, JLo emerged through the cheers of the jubilant crowd. JLo later ripped off the skirt revealing the entire nude catsuit, singing Get Right, and officially starting the concert. Taking a cue from the fashionable artist that is JLo, most of the concert attendees like models Raya Mananquil, Isabel Roces, Georgina Wilson, Isabelle Daza and Anne Curtis came in their sexy and fashionable outfits. Anton San Diego, lawyer Mike Toledo and Richard Gomez were also looking dapper in their suits.

JLo then performed her hits from early 2000s like Love Don’t Cost a Thing and Waiting for Tonight, where JLo performed in a moving platform. Jay-R, who was one of the opening acts, was seen singing and humming along. Other opening acts included Mica Javier, Philippine Allstars and G-Force dance crews.

Somewhere in between, JLo shouted “Mahal Kita” to the delight of the excited crowd. She even grabbed one camera from the audience and took a picture of herself. Whoever owns that camera will definitely treasure that picture.

Next, a makeshift boxing scene was created onstage, where JLo, who started out as a backup dancer, related how she would stand up and fight back. Wearing shimmering pants and cropped top, which allowed her to show her very toned abs, JLo performed Goin’ In. JLo also shared to the jam-packed arena her desire to stay grounded and remember her “Bronx” roots before putting on a jacket and cap and burst into a hiphop medley of I’m Real, All I Have and Jenny from the Block, which made Kathy Huang bust out her hiphop moves to the amusement of her husband Mike.

A video intermission of JLo and her boyfriend Casper Smart was then shown, which made the concert a definite date night for couples like Donnie Tantoco and wife Crickette, Chot and Cherry Reyes, Divine Lee and Victor Basa, and Sen. Bong Revilla and wife Lani. Afterwards, after she changed to a sparkly blue mini-dress, JLo performed Hold It Don’t Drop It, before slowing down and singing an acoustic version of If You Had My Love, where she picked a lucky fan from the crowd to sing with her. Continuing with more heartwarming performance was JLo singing Until It Beats No More, while a slideshow of her twins from her previous marriage to Marc Anthony was shown.

The concert was back to high energy when JLo came out to play the congo in a pantsuit before taking it off to reveal a sexy red dress and performed crowd  favorites Let’s Get Loud and On The Floor, which brought Italian Ambassador Luca Fornari and his wife Silvana and the rest of the audience dancing. Other guests who enjoyed the concert included Susan Joven, Virgie Ramos, Sofia Zobel, Pops Fernandez, Jayelle’s Roselle Rebano, Hi-Definiton Radio Inc.’s Francis Lumen, Anton Huang, STAR’s Marichu Villanueva and Lucien Dy Tioco, Senators Peter and Pia Cayetano, McDonald’s George Yang, Santa Rosa, Laguna Mayor Arlene Arcillas, Sharon Cuneta, Suzette Hahn-Lopez, Las Piñas City Rep. Mark Villar with sister Camille and PeopleAsia’s Monica Tiosejo.

Finishing off the concert, JLo performed her current hit Dance Again wearing a gold sheer dress. She was later joined by her boyfriend Casper, which brought more cheers from the crowd.

The concert was definitely a night of high-energy music and performances. Jennifer Lopez, indeed, proved her star power, and why she’s able to make people dance again...and again.

(The Dance Again World Tour was presented by Vista Land, Hi-Definition Radio Inc. and Music Management International.)