Akon made the hearts of the Araneta Coliseum security personnel race by turning the whole venue into a mosh pit, hurling himself into the crowd at least five times last Oct. 23 during his Manila concert.

The singer began the show in a dark suit which he gradually peeled off. By the time he jumped into the welcoming arms of his fans, Akon was already half naked.

It was a vindicating moment for Akon whose latest concert in Manila was rumored to have had poor ticket sales, hence, its postponement from a July date. Indeed, from the moment the singer appeared onstage, he had the crowd out of their seats and on their feet.

Akon sang all his hip hop/R&B hit songs that have swept the U.S. and the rest of the world. His performance in Manila proved that its one thing to listen to songs on the radio, and another to actually experience the music being performed live.

In between songs, Akon delivered spiels that made the men laugh and the women, swoon.

“If ever you have any trouble telling your girl what you want to do but you don’t want to sound disrespectful, let me give you a code word for tonight: Akon. Once you say that, she’ll know what it means,” is a line of many similar ones that he used to introduced many of his songs.

Some of these were “I’m So Paid,” “Freedom,” “Smack That,” “We Takin Over,” “Shakedown,” “Natural Born Hustla,” “Beautiful,” and the rousing “Right Now (Na na na na).” As a bonus, Akon sang the reggae hit, “Ghetto,” which was one of the few slow jams ditties he performed that night.

Since most of Akon’s songs feature collaborations with rappers or other singers, the live arrangements were specifically for the portions of Akon’s vocals. This way he was able to sing more of them and also quicken the pace.

Indeed, his works with the most popular artists nowadays were saved for the finale. After “Right Now,” he followed it up with the Lady Gaga’s monster hit “Just Dance,” which he produced. He ended the night with his hit collaboration with Gwen Stefani namely “Sweet Escape.”

Billy Crawford gave a good account of himself as the country’s premiere R&B act. He showed off his dance skills while singing his international hit songs, “Trackin” and “Bright Lights.”

He also paid tribute to the late Michael Jackson by singing “Rock with You” and “Human Nature.” His vocal skills were at its prime during his emotional performance of John Legend’s “Ordinary People.”