GOMEZ. Reciprocated her fans’ perfervid adulation. SMART MUSIC LIVE
Every performer has his or her own strengths and weaknesses—and Selena Gomez knows what hers are.
This was apparent when we braved the heavy weekend traffic last July 31 and accepted the invitation of Smart Music Live to watch the 24-year-old former Disney star’s “Revival” concert at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Selena knows only too well that her “limitations” don’t allow her to sing just any song she wants—because not everybody has the versatility of Ariana Grande, the vocal heft of Sia, the octave-breaching range of Celine Dion, the head-turning theatricality of Idina Menzel or the melasma-generating excesses of Mariah Carey.
To demonstrate: We had a grand time listening to the most recent albums of Gomez (“Revival”) and her fellow Disney alumna, Demi Lovato (“Confident”).
But, while Demi can sing circles around wispy Selena, if asked to choose between the two albums, we’d readily pick the former, because Demi occasionally tends to “overwhelm” listeners with her in-your-face singing style and pounding “birit.”
On the other hand, Selena’s warm and sassily alluring songs are tailor-fit for her performing reach and range—which were what made her July 31 concert a blast!
How does one not root for her when she revisits “Who Says,” and reveals how painfully insecure she was the first time she sang the song eight years ago—at age 16?
‘Rave party’ vibe
It didn’t hurt that Gomez had gorgeously designed lights and giant screens behind her that “magnified” the urgency, excitement and the thumping “rave party” vibe generated by the merrymaking onstage.
(The visually delectable and quickly paced show was made more eventful by the crowd-pleasing openers—“Starlight” and the covers of Little Mix’s “Secret Love Song” and Fall Out Boy’s “Centuries”—performed by front-liner Darren Espanto.)
Wearing leather pants and a figure-fitting black top that revealed her toned navel for much of the show, lovely Selena rendered songs that her predominantly teen followers could groove to and sing along with:
It was hard not to get won over by the finger-snapping sizzle of “Hands to Myself,” the incantation-like dissonance of “Nobody,” the slinky “Kill ‘Em With Kindness,” the Lynchian smolder of Lesley Gore’s 1963 emancipation ditty, “You Don’t Own Me,” and Selena’s
revealing confessionals, “Same Old Love” and “The Heart Wants What It Wants.”
She was “vocally vulnerable” when she “thematically” veered off-course, particularly in “Transfiguration,” a “worship” cover from Hillsong that has kept her grounded through the years.
She may not have the best pipes in the biz, but she’s wise enough to choose songs that “conceal the negative,” accentuate the positive—and showcase her strengths in a flattering light!
The baby-faced songstress knew how to turn on the charm—especially when she fielded her “throwback” ditties (“I Want You To Know”) and dance tunes (“Come & Get It”) as she reciprocated her fans’ perfervid adulation.
Selena couldn’t control herself from giggling when her adoring audience would sing along with her at the top of their lungs. So, we knew that she meant it when she said she’d come back sooner than later—and sealed her promise with a warm declaration of love for each of her Filipino fans: “Mahal kita!”