It's raining muscle men with the Chippendales in Manila

While the heavens poured outside, it was raining abs, biceps, legs, thighs, and butts at the Chippendales’ "Ultimate Girls Night Out" concert at the Resorts World Manila on Thursday.

Even before the curtains opened, the audience was already in a frenzy, their high-pitched voices filling the Newport Theater. There were more women than gay men in attendance, most of them with their peers, and a handful of straight-looking men and couples. They seemed to belong to diverse age groups, but because the show was strictly for 21 years old and above, there were no children or teenagers in sight.



Although the show was late by more than 30 minutes due to the heavy rains and floods, the crowd didn't seem to mind, instantly going crazy when the US all-male dance group’s lone singer Bryan Cheatham started the show. The first dance number was quite disappointing, with the bad sound system and the lights going all over the place, but the ladies were easy to forgive the technical glitches, screaming at the top of their lungs as the Chippendales gyrated on stage.

The crowd went wild when Christina Aguilera’s “Dirrrrty” started playing, and the group strutted around in their construction worker outfits. All through the show, I lost count of the number of white tank tops the Chippendales effortlessly tore from their bodies and threw to the audience. Both gays and women put on their catfight faces to snatch the coveted undershirts.

One of the acts the audience raved about was called “Chipp Shot,” which allowed one lucky viewer to get the chance to be the male revue's dancing pole for the night. Three members of the audience chosen by the cast competed for the slot, each one performing some ‘sexy’ tasks to make the cut. The lighter side of the Chippendales shone in this segment, and boy, did they know how to make women laugh.

The guys were also very good at audience interaction, going down the aisles every so often to kiss, hug, and dance with the audience wearing only their skimpy boxers or briefs.

With the cavernous Newport Theater only about two-thirds full, Bryan asked the audience to fill up the seats in front and without any hesitation, my colleague and I scrambled to get near the front row along with the gushing fans.

Indeed, the show would have been better in a more intimate location. The flaws in the group choreography that were easy to spot on the sprawling stage would not have been as evident in a smaller venue, where the audience could focus on individual dancers, and have a closer look at their ripped bodies to boot.

Wearing their signature black bowtie and jeans, the Chippendales brought the house down with their last number to the tune of “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO, with the audience jumping to their feet and dancing with the boys.

After the show, members of the audience who were still not satisfied stayed on and lined up to get a picture with the men of the world-famous Chippendales. – YA, GMA News
 

Photos from the Chippendales Facebook page. Their last performance in the Philippines is on Saturday, June 15, at the Hotel Stotsenberg in Pampanga.