Katy Perry sure put a whole lot of thought into mapping out her entire performance. Amidst the flamboyant chaos, there was plenty to take in, but what we loved best were her wacky themes.
1. Alien iridescence. Glow-in-the-dark tribal dancers got jiggy around her when she belted out ‘Roar’, her first song of the evening. Everything was luminous, from the band’s instruments to the tribal spears to her long locks and boobs. Vivid, kaleidoscopic visuals did pirouettes in the background as she climbed up a prism-shaped ladder and pumped her fist in the air for beat-driven versions of ‘Part of Me’ and ‘Wide Awake’. The non-stop strobe lights drove us crazy, like we were high on the dazzling colours penetrating every space in the stadium.
Photo: Aloysius Lim
2. Exotic Egyptian. Suddenly, we found ourselves in Egypt, surrounded by a backdrop of starry-skied pyramids, shimmering dancers, palm tree leaves and Perry emerging from the bottom of the stage perched on a giant golden horse. And it moved! In a sparkling headdress, she cracked her whip – of course, she had one – and the horse bowed to her. No points for guessing what song accompanied these antics (ahem, ‘Dark Horse’). As ‘Legendary Lovers’ came on next, two buff and well-oiled muscle men battled it out in a dance face-off over her, complete with lifts, splits and twirls in the air. Then mummified lady dancers with exaggerated curves fumbled all over the stage for ‘I Kissed a Girl’, making us wonder how comfy those butt pads were. But back to the point.
Photo: Aloysius Lim
3. Meow musical. Introducing this segment was a zany cat video set in ‘Kittywood’, followed by a tap dancing cat on stage. Were we watching a concert or some sort of theatrical performance? We wondered out loud for the umpteenth time. (Safe to say, her vocals were rather lacking). More cats appeared, executing high kicks and a slapstick routine. Perry stood out in hot pink leopard print for a jazzy version of ‘Hot N Cold’. The cat videos continued. We took our eyes off the stage for a mere moment and were taken aback to see her in a haute couture outfit with a giant bow on her shoulders. Catwalk!
Photo: Aloysius Lim
4. Acoustics and awkwardness. Things finally quieted down enough for Perry to make small talk about how she wished she spoke our language. Er, did she mean English? The same language she’d been singing in for the past hour? Then she discovered Singlish, but her attempt to learn it was a fail (‘how do you say hello in Singlish?’). All that aside, her vocal chops finally shone through on tracks like ‘The One That Got Away’ and ‘Unconditionally’, where she strummed a bedazzled guitar and glided around in a glittering gown with strategically placed sunflowers.
Photo: Aloysius Lim
5. Disco throwback. As a huge boom box materialized, the dance cam zoomed in on portions of the crowd. And everyone was having a blast – pregnant ladies, older men, teens in Katy Perry-inspired costumes, kid-toting mums, and even the sound guys were busting a move. Then came our favourite part: ginormous helium balloons in the shape of items like lipstick, champagne and a taco came floating out to the audience for ‘This is How We Do/Last Friday Night’. It was a teenage dream, alright. A huge colourful Hollywood sign! Confetti in the air! It’s party time! She sure saved the best for last. But wait, there was more. Time for ‘prism vision’. We donned our 3D glasses and instantly everything was all shades of psychedelic for ‘Firework’. Super trippy. That should be the only way to watch concerts, we decided. Totally prismatic.