It’s more fun in the Philippines. Especially when over 26,000 fans headed to SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds on 24 June 2016 for the MTV Music Evolution Manila 2016. The second edition of the concert featured performances by OneRepublic, Far East Movement, Bebe Rexha, Apink, Gary V featuring Gab Valenciano, James Reid and Nadine Lustre.
It was raining before the concert started and that did not deter fans from moving to the dance beats. MTV VJs Alan Wong, Hanli Hoefer, Yassi Pressman and Andre Paras hosted the event.
Filipino Pop Star Gary V opened his act to the beat of a Kulintang, a traditional Filipino instrument. He was backed by rising percussions he performed the song “Babalik Ka Rin”. His son Gab joined him on stage. He also performed his other big hits such as “Shake It Off”, “Arise” (remix version and “Sa Yaweh ang Sayaw” back by The Maneuvers dancers.
The popular Filipino young power couple James Reid and Nadine Lustre opened with a duet including Nadine’s “Bonfire” and James’ “Huwag Ka Nang Humirit”. Other songs performed included “Randomatic” and “Bonfire”, “Me and You” and “Paligoy-ligoy”. JaDine closed the set with a medley of favourites “Bahala Na” and “Hanap-Hanap” and their love team’s hit song “No Erase” fromt he sound track of their first movie together, Diary ng Panget.
Bebe Rexha performed her hits including “Take Me Home” as well as “The Monster”, “Hey Mama” and “Me, Myself & I”. The crowd sang and danced along to “No Broken Hearts” which ended her set.
You can almost feel the excitement of the locals whenever anything remotely related to APINK was mentioned during the concert, be it a tv commercial, a poster or even just a mention of their name. Filipinos are huge fans of Kpop. In fact during the press conference, I noticed the room clear out immediately after the end of the Q&A session with APINK. So you could imagine the pandemonium when Park Cho-rong, Yoon Bo Mi, Jeong Eun-ji, Son Na Eun, Kim Nam Joo and Oh Ha Young appeared on the stage at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds, the crowd went wild! Dressed in matching sailor-themed outfits, the six girls performed their top hits including “Remember”, “Mr. Chu” and “Luv”. They also moved in sync with two other songs “Attracted to You” and “No No No” alongside a massive Pinoy audience.
Far East Movement kicked off the set with their top hits including tracks like “Push”, “G6”, “Bang It To the Curb” and “When The Funk Drop”.The audience also sang along to “Rocketeer”.
The final act for the night was OneRepublic. The group opened their set with “Love Runs Out”. Here for the second time, OneRepublic performed “Secrets”, “Apologize” on piano and cello, “Counting Stars” and a new single “Wherever I go”. The night closed with “If I Lose Myself” followed by fireworks and confetti.
The concert was recorded live for global telecast under the MTV World Stage global series. It will reach over three quarters of a billion households in over 160 countries.
MTV Music Evolution: Manila Asia Special premieres on MTV on Tuesday, 19 July at 7pm (TH/WIB), 8pm (PH/SG) and 9pm (MY).
Repeat airings of MTV Music Evolution Manila 2016 are on:
- Tuesday, 19 July at 11pm (TH/WIB)
- Wednesday, 20 July at 12am (PH/SG), 1am (MY)
- Thursday, 21 July at 10.30am (TH/WIB), 11.30am (PH/SG) and 12.30pm (MY)
- Saturday, 23 July at 1.30pm (TH/WIB), 2.30pm (PH/SG) and 3.30pm (MY)
- Sunday, 24 July at 7pm (TH/WIB), 8pm (PH/SG) and 9pm (MY)
- Monday, 25 July at 1pm (TH/WIB), 2pm (PH/SG) and 3pm (MY)
