Thousands attend Marian, Dingdong free concert

Marian in bed. Dingdong gyrating his hips. Their playful banter we all love. Explosive dance numbers. A sweet serenade. A celebrity duet. Tear jerking moments. And everything sealed with a kiss. It was a visual treat for fans as Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes gave thanks via a free birthday concert last August 27 at the Araneta Coliseum. It’s a good thing the Big Dome was packed; it would’ve been a shame to have missed such a fantastic extravaganza! The mood The stage had two rooms: Dingdong’s and Marian’s. As it turned out, these were actually dressing rooms where cameras inside gave the audience a peek at what was happening in between performance numbers. The event, albeit free, was heavily sponsored with creative presentations of the duo’s endorsements. A handful of the performances and “commercial breaks," for instance, incorporated product plugs of My Phone, Sunsilk, Touch Mobile (TM) and Hapee Toothpaste. Each number was unique, although most had a tongue-in-cheek quality to them. The chairs and bleachers were filled with screaming fans, some holding up glow sticks, balloons, or tarpaulins that promoted their fan group. The show was superb, and part of what made it worthwhile was experiencing the joy of Marian and Dingdong’s supporters as they jumped, clapped, and shouted, “I love you, Mariaaaan! I love you Dingdooong!" Hot, hot, hot! S.O.P.’s La Diva members Aicelle Santos and Maricris Garcia together with Pinoy Idol’s Mae Flores opened the event at 9p.m. Their powerful song number set the mood for the grand entrance of Marian and Dingdong, who literally drove onto the stage in a silver luxury convertible. Fans went wild during their first dance number, where the pair donned glittery apparel that matched the song that La Diva provided: “Shine like a star, shining so bright like the star that you are." And they shone, indeed. Marian and Dingdong both had solo numbers aside from their performances together. Dingdong danced the tango with Iza Calzado, Sunshine Dizon, Yasmien Kurdi and Bianca King, while he grooved to something more upbeat with Diana Zubiri and Iwa Moto. Marian, on the other hand, was serenaded by Kapuso leading men Mark Anthony Fernandez, Paolo Contis, Hayden Kho, Alfred Vargas, Marvin Agustin and birthday boy Mr. Ogie Alcasid. The men sang Filipino love songs such as “Harana," “Ikaw ang Aking Mahal," “Prinsesa," “Ang Aking Awitin," “Akin ka na lang" and “Kung Sakali." Marian had two sizzling hot numbers: her Sunsilk-sponsored performance where she danced to tunes from her Universal Records Album, and her slow number with Jay-R, where she wore sexy lingerie. The costume changes were impressive, especially for her “Chiquita," “Walk Like an Egyptian" and “So Sexy" performances. From a pink floral salsa dress, the dancers stripped her down to a pink sheath and added on an Egyptian headdress. On the third dance “So Sexy," Marian performed with Sexbomb member Rochelle Pangilinan and dance instructor and host Regine Tolentino. For this performance, Marian got stripped yet again, to reveal a see-through, plunging, and short glitter concoction that showed curves not even people at her FHM performance had seen! Her collaboration with Jay-R was equally hot. While Jay-R sang “Love Won’t Let Me Wait," Marian, who was in her lingerie, did an interpretative dance with sultry movements. Dingdong also had his share of wows from the crowd, of course. He was suave and dapper as he sang “Crazy Little Thing Called Love" in a white suit, which gave a nostalgic feel to the night. He also traced his dancing roots via a high-impact dance performance sponsored by TM. Artists who had solo stints in the event were Jay-R, Aicelle Santos, and Maricris Garcia. Ms. Regine Velasquez did not disappoint with her rendition of “Ikaw" together with the Las Piñas Boys Choir. As a tribute to MariMar, which skyrocketed Marian and Dingdong’s careers as a loveteam, Regine sang the theme song from the soap, “Mahal Kita," with the choir providing back up vocals. In the middle of the song, Marian and Dingdong came out and slow danced onstage. At the song’s last note, the choir boys set some doves free, and Dingdong and Marian sealed everything with a sweet kiss. A way back into love Marian and Dingdong also sang their favorite songs, and hearing Marian’s voice was a pleasant surprise to everyone. According to them, they personally chose their favorite songs, such as “Way Back into Love," “Umbrella," “Bubbly" and “Always Be My Baby." After the song numbers, all the celebrity guests reentered the stage with a giant cake for the duo, and everyone joined in singing “Happy Birthday." Marian also got a surprise that night—her father who resides in Madrid, Spain, gave her a recorded message which her auntie (who also lives in Spain) translated for everyone. Marian burst in tears, obviously happy to hear her father’s voice. She explained afterwards, “Marami sa inyo ang hindi alam ang kwento ng buhay ko. Miss na miss ko na papa ko, kaya ganito na lang naging reaksiyon ko." Marian has not seen her father in five years, and she is very vocal in saying that she’d want to meet him again soon. “Kukunin ko na ang pagkakataon para sa lahat ng sumuporta sa akin, simula noong nagumpisa ako," she addressed the crowd. “At lahat ng nagmamahal sa akin, mahal ko kayo!" When it was Dingdong’s turn to give thanks, he said, “Ngayong gabi, ako’y namamangha sa ipinakita niyo sa amin dito sa stage na ito. Tonight, ako ang pinakamalaking fan ninyong lahat. Ako ang naging audience sa ipinakita niyong suporta sa akin. My participation in this industry has been so exciting. But never did I have this great opportunity of receiving blessings one after the other. At ang pinakamalaking blessing sa lahat ay kayo. I love what I’m doing, and I love who I’m doing it for." Just when everyone thought the night was over, MariMar’s Corazon (Manilyn Reynes) ran to the stage with Fulgoso the dog! Suddenly, Marian was MariMar again, and Dingdong was Sergio. In a quick tribute to their characters, the trio exchanged dialogues, much to the crowd’s delight. Soon, the MariMar theme song played, and everyone onstage danced to the beat of the drums—the perfect way to cap off the night. - iGMA.tv