50,000 paid to see Beyonce

In a country where money has to be doled out for crowds to hear politicians speak or for protests to be mounted, over 50,000 people paid – from P600 to P20,000 – to watch pop sensation Beyonce in her first-ever Philippine concert Wednesday night, setting a record in local musical history.

Under a clear star-lit sky, Beyonce drew in as many people as there were stars in the sky to the Fort Bonifacio open field in Taguig City for her one-night only concert.

Southeast Asian royalty and showbiz blue-bloods mingled with over 50,000 Beyonce fans for what has become the most-well attended concert of a foreign artist produced by MTV Philippines, the country’s biggest concert promoter.

Wednesday’s concert, dubbed “The Beyonce Experience,” was presented by telecommunications giant Globe, which set up giant luminous balloons on the open field for that festive look.

Man and nature seemed to have conspired for the much-awaited concert, which was unmarred by rain  — despite days of rain preceding the concert — and security mishaps.

“It was a perfect night,” said one businessman who accompanied his teenaged children to the concert.

From the moment the curtains rose on the 26-year-old Beyonce, clad in a clinging sequined gown whose skirt she later yanked off, to the time she bid the audience adieu, fans were feverishly clapping and swaying on top of their monobloc seats in what seemed part Mardi Gras, part EDSA rally and club party rolled into one.

At one point, the sexy-singer was wearing just thongs under a see-through wrap.

The audience went wild with such Beyonce hits as Crazy in Love, Irreplaceable, Cater to You, Beautiful Liar, Check on It, Ring the Alarm, Survivor and Independent Woman.

Beyonce was accompanied by an all-female band. She did not return to the stage for an encore after the two-hour concert.

Among those in the audience were Brunei Crown Prince al-Muhtadee Billah and his entourage of 14, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, Taguig Mayor Freddie Tinga and wife Kaye, movie and TV stars Kris Aquino and husband James Yap, Gretchen Barretto and daughter Dominique, Ruffa Gutierrez, Julianna Palermo, Diana Zubiri, Anne Curtis, Iza Calzado, Rufa Mae Quinto, Erik Santos, Sarah Geronimo, Janno Gibbs, Toni Gonzaga, Donita Rose, among many others.

Also seen were the leading lights of the newspaper world — STAR president Miguel Belmonte and editor-in-chief Isaac Belmonte; STAR director and People Asia president Kevin Belmonte; and the Philippine Daily Inquirer chairman Marixi Prieto and husband Alex; publisher Isagani Yambot and columnist Tessa Prieto-Valdes.

Despite the huge turnout, crowd control was impressive and the presence of security forces was obvious, but not obtrusive. 

MTV big boss Francis Lumen, who was also behind the jampacked Josh Groban concert at the PICC just a month ago, said concerts like Groban’s and Beyonce’s are the best advertisement that Manila is a safe place to be, with appreciative audiences to boot.