Sarah Geronimo’s Perfect 10 concert tour came to a close at Dubai’s World Trade Centre on Monday, fittingly showcasing the Filipina star’s evolution from pop singer to all-round performer. The concert officially concluded her world tour, which started in November last year.
UAE fans experienced first-hand Geronimio's vast repertoire through a set list that mixed old and new songs. The 2003 hit Sa Iyo was given a more upbeat arrangement to make it sound fresh and danceable. Geronimo's performance of the 2013 single Ikot-Ikot, undoubtedly one of her strongest tracks, received the biggest cheers from the audience and highlighted her powerful vocals while standing testament to how far she has taken her brand of pop music.
As expected, Geronimo dished out old favourites such as How Could You Say You Love Me and the Celine Dion classics It's All Coming Back to Me Now and To Love You More (it won Geronimo the top prize in the 2003 singing competition Star For A Night).
Geronimo also gave fans a taste of her new sound with two lively numbers from her new album – Perfectly Imperfect and Kilometro, both dance-pop tracks with an R&B feel.
Her rendition of Radiohead's Creep meshed with Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit was the only jarring note of the night; both songs are tricky to perform as straight-out ballads, although they did showcase Geronimo's impressive range.
She closed out the show with a stirring take on the Switchfoot original Only Hope (popularised by Mandy Moore), and her own composition, Make Me Yours. She also paid homage to one of her biggest idols, Shirley Bassey, with a powerful rendition of The Greatest Performance of My Life.
The evening, which also featured guest artists Ronnie Liang and Top Suzara, ended on a high note with an encore featuring Rihanna's dance tune, We Found Love.
“Hopefully, this won’t be the last time that I’ll be performing here,” she shouted out to the excited crowd at the end of the night.
artslife@thenational.ae
