A man who needs no invitation to get his freak on, Maluma is forcefully waggling to Corazón, from current album FAME. His biceps strain the sleeves of his black suit, and his keening voice is made for this kind of steel-drum-accented romanticism. Glancing backward at the primarily female crowd, he finds several thousand phones recording his ascent to the upper tiers of heart-throbdom.

We’re two songs in, but Maluma isn’t pacing himself for the long pop-reggaeton haul to come. He’s hitting it hard from the off, with the conviction of an artist who knows that he’s arrived at exactly the right moment. A year after his small-scale UK debut, Medellín-born Juan Luis Londoño is in England’s capital for another one-off, but this time as the face of Latin pop – a now-global genre whose march into the mainstream owes a fair bit to his own wildly catchy billion-stream hits, from Felices Los 4 to El Perdedor.

The last, about lovers separated due to anti-Latino racism, he sings smoochily to a girl plucked from the crowd. It’s in Spanish, as are almost all of tonight’s songs, but singing in a language other than English is no longer an impediment to success – and, at any rate, he flirts with her in fluent English. His potent brew of handsome, alert face and rich, swooping tenor is ultimately too much for her. She clamps herself to him.

Later, he flies around the arena on a cherry-picker so the balconies can get a look for themselves. Drawing breath before the reggaeton bubbler El Prestamo, he says: “I sing from my heart, soul, spirit.” And it’s true: looks and swag have their place tonight, but spirit and talent underpin this flashy, racy offering.