" There's a part of me I can't get back/A little girl grew up too fast," she sang. Her voice soared on "Warrior," in which she detailed the ways in which her frayed paternal relationship and childhood trauma produced her personal demons. Indeed, the most compelling part of her show is when she sits at her piano to sing "Father," which she wrote after the death of her dad, from whom she was estranged throughout her life as he struggled with schizophrenia and addiction. She's been candid about the struggles that came with her young fame: an eating disorder, self-harm, and cocaine addiction. At just 25 years old, Lovato has been in the entertainment industry for a decade and a half. She's adept at putting together a pop spectacle, and perhaps that shouldn't be too surprising.
"Go tell your mother!" Lovato screamed, changing the song's lyrics to encourage her young LGBTQ fans to come out to their parents. You could almost hear the Good Friday prayers from the parents in the audience waiting for an end to their three long minutes of torture during Lovato's racy ode to bi-curiosity, 2015's "Cool for the Summer." One of the women in her dance troupe spent a fair amount of time thrashing her hair around in circles as she mimed performing sex acts on the singer while other backup dancers paired up in the background, representing every kind of sexual relationship. She even brought a rotating bed, where she strummed along to "Lonely" on an acoustic guitar before crawling on the sheets and being joined by two muscular backup dancers. It's been difficult for any pop star to elicit shock from audiences since Madonna put self-love on display on her 1990 Blond Ambition Tour, but damn it, Lovato tried. But if you strip back the flashing strobe lights, gyrating backup dancers, and sequined leotards, Lovato outperforms most of her contemporaries. She does all of this just as well as the rest of them. That's not to say that she doesn't play the teasing-vixen role onstage or that she sticks to schmaltzy balladry over slick earworm radio hits. Photo by George Martinez Lovato's undeniable vocal talent sets her apart from most of the ever-expanding field of women who have led mainstream music over the past decade. It was a surprising way to open a pop concert, foregoing the usual pomp for an understated entrance that drew attention to her vocals. Lovato emerged from beneath the stage to open the show with "You Don't Do It for Me Anymore," the heartbreaker confessional off her latest album, Tell Me You Love Me. Khaled and Lovato got equal billing on the tour's promotional poster, but there was never any doubt that Khaled was the warm-up act for an arena filled with teen and young-adult Lovatics. The superstar procession culminated in a cameo from Khaled's one-year-old son Asahd, who scanned the crowd of thousands as his father gave a Lion King speech about the boy carrying on the elder Khaled's legacy. During his almost hourlong set, Khaled introduced Kent Jones to perform his multilingual hit "Don't Mind" Fat Joe for "Lean Back" and "What's Luv?" Kehlani for her song "Crzy" and J.
But everyone skipped the beer run, because it's well established that though he's not compelling enough to headline a set on his own, Khaled always brings support. Khaled's first few minutes onstage were a mess of SnapChat-ready humble boasts and surface-level motivational speeches. "This is just my intro," Khaled repeated a handful of times before bringing out his first guest, Bryson Tiller, to collaborate on their monster hit, "Wild Thoughts," a song that, were it not for "Despacito," would have been the official summer anthem of 2017. She pairs those Balenciaga Brazilian-cut pants and shoes with a green vintage Versace belt (because its Miami, it’s basically law you have to have one piece of vintage Versace on you at all times), and, as per keen-eyed Rihanna fan Instagram account some Karen Walker sunglasses, a vintage Betsy Johnson top, and epic door knocker earrings from statement jewelry designer Lynn Ban.DJ Khaled and Demi Lovato lit up the American Airlines Arena last night in a concert stacked with surprise guest appearances from stars of the hip-hop and reggaeton worlds. The humidity has clearly gotten to her, and she’s got steamy thought on the brain and a wardrobe to match. The singer is certainly in a lighter mood than the last time she visited Miami in a music video (that would be the Harmony Korine-directed “Needed Me” clip, where she plays strip club assassin). While she shares featured status with singer Bryson Tiller, make no mistake that it’s Rihanna who owns both the song and the video. She pulls off the feat in the video for DJ Khaled’s “Wild Thoughts”.
Leave it to Rihanna to take a piece from Balenciaga’s 80’s inspired avant-garde spring collection and style it so it looks perfect for a sizzling summer block party in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood.
0 kommentar(er)
