MANILA, Philippines?Ne-Yo appeared onstage Saturday night at the SM Mall of Asia open-air grounds as if he were magically coming out of the dark.

There was a long break after two support acts. When Ne-Yo finally emerged from the shadows, just as the restless crowd was chanting his name, it was clear that the platinum-selling R&B star was indeed back for another romantic date with Manila.

As the stage lights came on, the hoots and cries from the audience surged to a crescendo. Above the din, snippets of the 30-year-old singer-songwriter?s opening spiels about love, his music and Michael Jackson broke through like fragmented sound bytes. Then the opening bars of ?Because of You? played on and girls from the crowd shrieked like crazy, almost overwhelming the song?s snappy intro. Ne-Yo?s backing band ably shifted tempo from mechanical techno to chic-like cadence for the rest of the tune.

He followed it up with ?When You?re Mad? and the audience gamely sang along to its achingly emotional lyrics. The next high point was ?Miss Independent,? an ecstatically melodic ear candy from his latest album ?Year of the Gentleman? that had couples swooning and kissing openly while the lone wolves swayed in place to its simple catchy beat.

While the band played the opening chords to ?Single,? Ne-Yo asked who among the ladies in the audience were without their significant other. Thousands of hands were raised and The Gentleman pleased the lonely ones by promising to be their boyfriend for the evening. Admittedly influenced by the smartly dressed, lover-man image that Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. cultivated as members of the Rat Pack, Ne-Yo proceeded to throw red roses each time he moved to the edge of the stage.

Waxing sentimental

Midway through the set, he waxed sentimental in ?So Sick,? which failed to earn sing-along points probably because its repressed anger did not sit well with the love-peace-and-understanding mood that night.

At one point, he played the happy-go-lucky romantic fool and broke into a comedy skit with his dancers during the instrumental break in ?Addicted.?

Still, the little drama revolving around missed chances at love and marriage in ?Fade into the Background? had the Grammy-nominated artist ending the song like a hopeless drunk. The performance was quite uninspired, but the excited lovers in the audience didn?t mind.

Throughout the show, another major influence, Michael Jackson circa ?Off the Wall,? echoed through Ne-Yo?s one-hour stand before 5,000 adoring fans and new converts to his kind of suave R&B. The Jackson factor figured prominently in Ne-Yo?s ballads as well as the reworked Moonwalk he executed a couple of times.

An agile band, which included a brass section, also helped keep the music fiery and fluid. The eight-piece back-up even got a share of the spotlight when it played a few instrumental versions of Jackson?s greatest hits while the show?s star took a short break.

Ne-Yo encored with his most recent and best hit, ?Closer,? which elicited the night?s most deafening cheers. It drew five minutes of snappy sing-along and rhythmic jams that must have kept ringing on everyone?s ears on the way home.

Before the final fadeout, Ne-Yo brought out a cake in celebration of his drummer?s birthday.

Earlier, the five-member sexy divas called Eurasia started the concert rolling with their mish-mash of club favorites. Rivermaya then rocked the cobwebs off its discography with a repertoire of hits that had the crowd happily singing karaoke-style.