“Beloved: Belle” lives up to its title as Belle Mariano proves how much she is well-lovedby her fans and how she loves her supporters in return by gifting them a concert night offun, electric, heartwarming, nostalgic and even kilig-inducing musical performances.

In a YouTube interview, Belle once shared to ABS-CBN news anchor Karen Davila thatas a kid, she’s used to taking the family event spotlight because she loves entertainingand performing. This time around, Belle turns that childhood fantasy and memory intoan absolute reality by taking on the centerstage at New Frontier Theater as a solo artist.

The excitement was palpable when the countdown to the opening began and thescreaming fans signaled the atmosphere for the whole night. Belle entered the stage,resplendent in a pink gown, serenading the audience with the song “Sigurado,” offDonBelle’s massive hit TV series He’s Into Her. Then she transformed her gown into ashimmering pink pantsuit to get everyone dancing to her cover of Dua Lipa’s “Levitating.”

During the opening spiels, the venue was filled with loud “Belle Mariano! Belle Mariano!”fanchants that Belle had to take the moment in and jokingly commented that the fansshould stop or else she would already cry at the beginning of the concert.

From her sophomore album, Belle performed acoustic versions of her sentimental andmoody songs “Road Trip” and “Session Road” and went on to introduce her collaboratorCesca onstage to sing “Pansamantala” together. The concert was also an opportunity forBelle to share the stage with Trisha Denise, fellow artist and collaborator she admires,and perform a duet for the song “Running Out of Time.”

To fans’ delight, Belle maximized her vocals’ emotional range by singing a hugotmedley singing her version of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Driver’s License,” The Script’s “The ManWho Can’t Be Moved” and Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want to Wait.” The young actress-singeralso treated the crowd with classics like “Time After Time” and “Dancing Queen.”

Among the highlights of the concert was when special guest Darren Espanto and Belleelectrified the set with their version of the Sam Concepcion-Tippy Dos Santos OPM hit“Dati” complete with jaw-dropping dance break showcasing Belle’s superb dancing skillstoo.

Belle also managed to wow and add another surprise to fans by showing up with aguitar onstage to intro and perform her song Rise. Truly, this self-confessed Taylor Swiftfan is living her dream.Final moments of the concert saw Belle singing “Somber and Solemn,” one of the songsshe co-wrote and produced for her latest album.

The night may have been all about Belle but Donny Pangilinan, one half of thephenomenal #DonBelle tandem, was in attendance to show his all-out support for hisbeloved partner. Earlier at the concert, Belle jokingly gifted Donny with the popular toylato-lato as a so-called souvenir of the night. As Belle marks the concert finale withSelena Gomez’s empowering female anthem “Who Says,” Donny was seen in theaudience cheering her on, standing up and encouraging the crowd to hype her up andsing and dance along to the song. He later went onstage to congratulate the actress-singer with flowers and to tell her how proud he is of her.

Belle ended the night with an encore performance of Walk the Moon’s “Shut Up andDance” bringing everyone dancing and making a massive dance floor out of the NewFrontier Theater.

To cap it all off: it’s been a wonder-filled night of music, talent and awesomeperformances for Belle Mariano who successfully made her debut as a live solo concertartist. It was an even more wild night for DonBelle fans who witnessed how Donnywillingly and supportively took a step back to be in the audience to just watch Belleshine on her own. Belle is truly beloved in every sense of that word.

Photography by Pat Buenaobra

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