My Ten Favorite Concerts of 2011

Well, Richard Marx's show last Friday was the last concert I'll be watching this year, so it's now time to unveil my ten favorite concerts or live gigs of 2011 -

#1 Kylie Minogue - Aphrodite Tour

#2 David Foster, Michael Bolton, Charice, Ashanti, Philip Bailey, Russell Watson

#3 Poom Prommachart Performs Rach at the Cultural Center of the Philippines

#4 David Archuleta

#5  Owl City

#6  Taylor Swift Speak Now Tour

#7  Switchfoot Hello Hurricane Tour

#8  Eevee, Ajka, Letter Day Story Mayric's Gig

#9  Pitbull

#10  Richard Marx

Well, I did not watch Bruno Mars since, at that time, I didn't quite like his music yet, but I am slowly warming up to him.  Ditto to The Script since the concert was sold out!  I also did not watch Miley Cyrus since I was not sure about how good her setlist was.  Ditto for The Black Eyed Peas and Libera since they both went head on with David Foster.

Otherwise, the other shows that quite didn't make it to the list above are Mike Posner, Train, Go West, Howard Jones, Human League, Belinda Carlisle, Westlife, Sugarfree, Maroon 5, Justin Bieber and Lee Deewyze.

Concert Review: David Foster and His Friends Dish out Real Entertainment

David Foster is not only a great producer, he also knows how to entertain a crowd - and he's not even a singer!  This is already my second time to see him.  The first time was July 2010, when he came here to Manila with Charice, Natalie Cole, Peter Cetera and some tenors - and it was a sold-out show!

Well, his second time around here was just as entertaining!  Russell Watson came out first and he certainly blew the audience away with his fantastic voice!  He is not yet very popular here in the Philippines but I know he's very popular in the UK. With him as the opening act, it ensured that everyone was in for a treat!  Russell's rendition of Nessun Dorma and Volaresimply blew everyone away!

Ashanti came in next. It's also my second time to see her as she came here earlier in this decade.  I didn't know that she had a beautiful voice!  I mean, all that layering of the vocals in most of her R&B songs just took away the real power of her voice. Tonight, she displayed it with gusto as she dealt with the high notes of Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You. She also did a short performance of her own hits.

Philip Bailey was next and he had the crowd on his feet since the songs he and David picked for this show are some of local bar-dom's favorites - September is one of them.  Philip sang in falsetto most of the time, and although it didn't come out as powerful, maybe because of his age, his performance was also entertaining!

As a form of side entertainment, it has always been David's penchant for getting audience members to sing!  Last year, Pilita Corrales and Randy Santiago gamely sang for everyone. This year, Martin Nievera was there plus a host of very brave local singer-wannabees who were not afraid to sing in front of 11,000 people!

I really enjoyed the show for the beautiful voices, the relaxed pacing and David's wit and charm.  It was like he just ushered you into his living room and asked all these fantastic people to sing for you!  He said he'll be coming again next year.  You bet I'll be there!