MANILA, Philippines?Sheena Easton told a funny story in the early part of her pre-Valentine concert, ?For Your Love Only,? Thursday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

Recalling her first stint in Las Vegas at the height of her ?sexy diva? fame in the 1980s, the Scottish singer-songwriter related: ?A couple of fans went up to me and asked, ?Are you gonna sing ?Physical? and ?Xanadu???

As the audience cracked up, Easton ? making references to Olivia Newton John, Madonna and her peers ? continued: ?The problem was, we all looked alike then ? ? Most probably, she meant most dance-pop records at the time sounded the same.

Connection

Somehow, that anecdote posed a disturbing connection with the Big Dome gig. Attendance was very low. Either people had a hard time remembering who Easton was, or only a few of those who did cared to watch her perform. (An hour before show time, scalpers were selling tickets at half price.)

That didn?t seem to bother her. Opening with a bouncy R&B number, Easton, looking matronly at 49, looked ready to hang loose with a good-sounding band to boot: David Hart (guitar); Earl Campbell (drums); Eric Tewalt (sax, flute); Jeff Zinn (bass); Joe Spraker (keyboards); and Philip Ingram (percussion, vocals).

By the second song, ?Almost Over You,? one of her big hits, and which she introduced as a ?completely true story,? Easton was baring sad episodes of her personal life. Her voice, which used to be chocolaty-sweet, now had rough edges like Bonnie Tyler?s.

Maybe she was just hoarse from lack of sleep (she?s an insomniac, she said). But she unleashed enough lung power in the next several tunes. She sounded great in a cover of ?I Say a Little Prayer? ? one of a couple of songs in a homage to Burt Bacharach.

Best moments

Some of the show?s best moments occurred when Easton reprised her ?83 cover of Bob Seger?s ?We?ve Got Tonight? ? a duet with Kenny Rogers whose vocal parts were ably performed by Easton?s percussionist Philip Ingram. The latter, a brother of James Ingram, poured out ample doses of soul singing that made the night more interesting, notably in another duet with Easton, a Bacharach medley.

Easton herself pulled out surprises: first, in a couple of jazz numbers, ?Someone To Watch Over Me? and ?The Nearness of You? (both from her ?No Strings? album), in which she totally diverted from her pop persona; second, in a dramatic rendition of a Janis Ian original, where again she unburdened a personal hurt: ?I live alone forever now ... ?

Those are the songs that aptly captured Easton?s artistic strengths at present. When she started singing her biggest hits, one felt uneasy watching her going through the motions of ?Strut,? ?Modern Girl? and ?Morning Train.? The high notes in the latter?s bridge proved quite difficult for her to reach.

Fortunately, she never tired walking onstage from end to end, the better to mask difficulty in dancing along to her music.