Marc Anthony charms Toronto

TORONTO--If you ever thought that "Beautiful Maria" of "Mambo Kings" fame was a beautiful song, you haven't heard anything until you hear Marc Anthony sing a ballad.

Romantic, funny, charming, entertaining and exuding charisma from every single pore in his body, the Latin star gave an excellent performance Monday night at Massey Hall. A Hispanic true to his nature, he appeared on stage a few minutes later than scheduled, but as soon as he showed up, the mixed crowd enjoyed what to me was one of the best performances I have ever seen in my whole life.

This adorable flaquito little thing, so skinny that as the show progresses you're afraid he might break anytime, is a lot more than lungs and feet.

That voice: Oh, my God!, that amazing voice!! In many occasions he's told the story of how he sang for his father's friends as a child. Once, his aunt heard him sing and she was so moved and impressed that she started to cry. I don't blame her -- hearing Marc Anthony sing "Hasta Ayer" is more that anyone with any shred of feelings can take.

And it's not his voice alone. He is funny, witty, captivating and although I adore him, I wouldn't go so far as to say that he's very blessed in the looks department, but he makes up for that with the tons of charisma and zest he possesses.

And what a gentleman this guy is! At the concert, he would actually signal the audience to give him a few minutes to greet and kiss every girl that came up to the stage. Not only that, but when one of the male audience members came up to the stage to offer a rose to a backup singer, and she wouldn't come down because she was too shy, Marc Anthony actually brought the girl down so that the guy could give her the rose and get a kiss in return. They stole the show for a couple of minutes and Marc Anthony, with that humbleness he's so well-known for just said: "That was so cool". Singing superstars have huge egos, you say? Not this guy!

Was it all perfect? If you're sitting in the first row, everyone, and I mean everyone, is going to start dancing right in front of you. Either you get up and dance too, or you're going to miss the whole show. Latin rhythms are so inviting, that anyone of Hispanic descent can describe to you the actual physical sensation of how your feet literally itch if you listen to something danceable and you feel the life-threatening need to get up and dance! - And if you don't get up and dance, the singer who's on stage will actually instigate the crowd by saying something along the lines of: "Come on, everybody, get up and dance!", which is exactly what Marc Anthony did Monday night.

There was, of course, the usual polite crowd, accustomed to listening to a concert from their seats, some of people got very pissed off at the fact that people in front of them would not let them see the show, because they would not sit down!. And no matter how many ushers and managers they complained to, these people just would not stop dancing! I'm not sore, though. I forgive them. After all, it's Marc Anthony and at least I was blessed with the chance to hear that beautiful, raspy, melodic, romantic and masculine voice from my fourth row seat.

His performance was not only amazing, but not just anyone can make hundreds of people of an audience at a sold-out concert feel as if you're singing around a fire on a beach with your best buddies: the concert had such a cozy and comfortable feeling that this was exactly how it felt. To tell you the truth, I only knew a couple of his songs before I went to this concert. I knew he was a very good singer and I liked his music. Now? I'm the biggest fan Marc Anthony has! His charisma, sense of humour, his charm and the ability he has to win you over not only with his music, but also with his irresistible personality have made me become an overnight convert to this rising Latin sensation.

The writer of this review enjoyed the concert so much she had to review it. If you'd like to submit a review of a concert you've seen to AllPop, just e-mail us!