Cheers went up from the audience as Amber Lawrence's band played the first few notes of Taylor Swift's Love Story at Camp Evangelista in Northern Mindanao last month.
Filipinos rushed in to join Australian soldiers on the dancefloor as the award-winning country music singer started belting out the classic tune.
"I love singing that song," Lawrence said. "I don't think there has been a time where it hasn't worked live. We find the young men love it."
Lawrence was there as part of the Forces Entertainment Tour, playing for Aussie troops who recently finished training with the Philippine Army.
"From the first note, the Aussies were down the front, they weren't sitting back, arms crossed, waiting for us to impress them," Lawrence said.
"When we saw them come to the dance floor, our energy lifted."
Lawrence's children's song Big Mack Truck proved a recurring hit with the Aussie crowd, having been requested on her past three Forces Entertainment Tours.
"I love getting the troops up on stage to sing that," she said.
"Especially when you go around the room and talk to them before the show. You find out the guys who want to sing a bit of karaoke."
'It's part of the Australian way to have that bit of banter and paying someone out.'
The audience of mostly sappers let out a cheer when Lawrence inserted, "OK, so you're a combat engineer", into the Shania Twain classic That Don't Impress Me Much.
"It's part of the Australian way to have that bit of banter and paying someone out," she said.
"You also find the most well-groomed guy in the audience, you point him out and make a joke of his clean-cut appearance."
During another performance that night, the Philippine Army's 4th Infantry Division band called Lawrence on stage to sing Comeback Queens and Super Hero.
"They learnt them exactly as per the recording," she said. "It was an honour that they'd gone to so much trouble to learn two of my original songs."
It was Lawrence's fifth performance for Australian personnel. Her first was in East Timor in 2008. She has also performed in Egypt, Afghanistan and the UK.
"It's an amazing adventure," she said.
"It's a privilege. I can't believe we've been able to see parts of the world and met all of the amazing men and women.
"We're all living our comfortable lives back in Australia but we can get an insight into what our troops do."
