MANILA, Philippines - Mandy Moore chatted a lot and stopped the music at one point to let fans ask questions during her one-night concert last week at Eastwood City.

Between songs, Moore kept talking about the changes in her life and her efforts to write material that reflected this period. In fact, she sang most of them, all of which were contained in her 2007 album, ?Wild Hope.?

Some of the songs were about moving on from a broken relationship (?Looking Forward to Looking Back?), in which Moore?s enunciation had an affected slur?the kind normally heard from rock singers.

Other numbers, like ?Extraordinary? (the album?s promotional single), seemed to express a resolve to be taken seriously: ?And now I?m ready ? to be extraordinary.?

Two years ago, Moore was said to have commented on her early work with ill feelings. She noted that although she believed her first recording was appropriate for her age, she felt it ?sucked? and that her first albums were ?just awful.?

Refund

Moore also said she ?would give a refund to everyone who bought my first two albums? if she could?which she did, during a radio interview in which the show?s co-host (who had seen her comments) asked her about it.

At the Eastwood gig, it was apparent that Moore wanted to be looked upon as a singer-songwriter who could be one of the boys, like perhaps Linda Ronstadt in the 1970s. Right on the first song, Moore was playing air guitar as a two-man backup provided an acoustic rock sound.

Later Moore actually played her own guitar in a country-tinged track about quirky character traits, which segued into an early hit, ?I Wanna Be With You.?

Gossip

It was at this point that Moore momentarily stopped and asked anyone to step forward to chat some more. Expectedly, the questions tackled what the fans loved to gossip about (?Are you still friends with Andy Roddick??), which Moore answered with a hint of regret: ?We just had a chat online ? we?re still friends, though we can?t really be the kind of friends you?d expect because we?re no longer dating.?

One of the highlights of the show was a cover of Joni Mitchell?s ?Help Me,? part of the lineup in Moore?s 2003 all-remakes album, ?Coverage??which incidentally was her biggest-selling record to date. (?Help Me? also happened to be Mitchell?s biggest hit from her classic 1974 album ?Court and Spark.?) Before singing it, Moore talked about Mitchell as an artist who ?inspired me immensely ? I have tried to emulate her and put her on a pedestal ? ?

Connection

Listening to the song, a very affecting confessional of troubled love set to folk and jazz strains, we understood the connection Moore must have felt.

Another cover, Cat Stevens? ?Moon Shadow? (also from ?Coverage?), reflected her earnest desire to be able to write songs with strong imagery in a folk-rock vein. The spare music from a keyboardist who switched from electric to baby grand piano and a Fil-Am guitarist bolstered it throughout the show, even as the lyrics in her current work could use a little more improvement.

Hearing Moore sing sad songs, and in one more cover, a slow, acoustic version of Rihanna?s ?Umbrella,? we were convinced she has a bright future in the adult-contemporary rock field.

Eastwood City?s Central Plaza is reportedly being prepared to host other upcoming concerts. For Moore?s show, it was expanded, blocked off with wooden walls and refurbished with twin levels to accommodate a 2,000-seating capacity. The only drawback: the beams from the roof that tended to block one?s view, including a few trees. But more than that, perhaps management should turn off the lights so as not to spoil the atmosphere of a good performance.