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Celeb News: Rihanna still princess of pop
Member Since: 8/13/2012
Posts: 32,832
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Rihanna still princess of pop
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Every main act has a sideshow. Everyone arrives with a subplot, backstory, situation, struggles or something that isn’t about who they are or what they’re about.
The problem, of course, arises when that sideshow or sideshows threaten to steal the spotlight, distract from the central objective and message that really matters.
First and foremost: Rihanna is a pop star. And a pretty great one at that.
But before you get inside the big top to enjoy the show, you have to get past: the bearded lady that is her relationship with Chris Brown; the carnival barker shouting about diva-like behaviour such as late shows, no-shows, tantrums, etc.; and even such ridiculous Man Eating Chicken-like oddities as underboob tattoos.
The 25-year-old couldn’t even spend a couple of days off in Calgary prior to her Saturday night Saddledome show without the focus slipping from that main event, with headlines appearing across the globe over confirmation/April Fool’s Day joke — remains to be seen — that she and Brown had broken up, as well as stories and X-rated Instagram pics featuring her taking in the sites of the city. At a local strip club.
Fine. But, the question remained, could she take the stage and take that focus back, make it about her, her talents and her show.
Not at first. Not right away. But eventually. And, the good and the bad, it’s all of her own doing.
Let’s start with the utterly unnecessary sideshow that kicked things off. Rihanna made her adoring but paying public wait 90 minutes after her originally scheduled start time. With no bad weather or border crossing to blame — although, I think some of the Friday night strippers were dressed as dirty crossing guards — chalk it up to arrogance and a complete and utter lack of respect for her audience, let alone the Saddledome staff who were left to answer questions and deal with angry patrons. It’s new and now regular Bieberesque behaviour from the Barbadian princess and utterly unforgivable from anyone who’s putting on a big-ticket arena tour (yes, you, too Axl). Especially because many of her fans are underage, many of whom had parents showing up to pick them up at the Dome before the singer had even stepped out from behind the curtain.
Early into the eventual show she did offer a vacant “sorry” — one befitting in sentiment the album she’s currently touring, Unapologetic — but with no attempt at an explanation, and yet that was supposed to be enough to placate the room.
It was, as the roars would suggest. But it shouldn’t have been.
She should have been made to earn it from the second she took the stage, not just by finally taking the stage. Instead, the first act, those first 30 minutes or so were the musical equivalent of a cold shoulder, with the audience being asked to do all of the heavy lifting and find something to bring them inside the edifice.
Fair enough, theatrical shows like those from her and, say, Katy Perry, Madonna and Lady Gaga, are a different beast than most actual rock concerts, with the focus on the lights, big screens, costume changes and choreography, and half of the songs pre-recorded and almost secondary to the spectacle of it all. And true to that, much of the show was performed with the dancers outnumbering the musicians more than two to one, the gyrating and crotch-grabs being as much a filler as the canned instrumentation and backup vocals accompanying the real thing.
That was especially true during that first act, with hits such as Phresh Out the Runway, Birthday Cake and Cockiness almost difficult to differentiate from the radio hits piped in during that hour-and-a-half wait.
But then, slowly, gradually, professionally, Rihanna made it hard to hold onto the unnecessary sideshow of her own creation, and became the main act she should have been from the start.
Her second costume, her second collection of songs brought the thaw. With the dancers, for the most part, given a breather and sent offstage, she was allowed her to showcase her natural almost ungodly charisma and a voice that is as heavenly as it is hellsent.
She put both into overdrive as she charged through some of her Caribbean-flavoured hits, including You Da One, Man Down and Rude Boy, along with What’s My Name, gaining incredible momentum with every one, those pipes getting more polished and powerful as the evening went on.
And from that point, damn her, she made it easy to forget (although not entirely forgive), and finally get sucked into that spectacle and even those overblown, overproduced radio anthems, such as Rockstar 101, Where Have You Been, and, probably the evening’s highlight, the full-on disco number treatment afforded We Found Love.
It was big, bright and bombastic. But she was somehow bigger, brighter and more bombastic. And deserving all of the attention for all of the right reasons, especially that main reason. Rihanna is a pop star. A pretty great one at that.
As for opener A$AP Rocky, well, his set Saturday night showed that he’s well on his way to being main act. A talented artist, as proven by his dark and enveloping latest release, Long. Live. A$AP., he, too, comes with his own sideshow, that being his troubled early life.
But none of that was even an issue during his not-safe-for-kidlets, hour-long performance, which was surprisingly dynamic and energetic, despite a trademark hip-hop sound that is rarely that — a one note that you need to immerse yourself in.
Actually, he did get off somewhat murky start, one that seemed entirely aimed at those who maybe writing a thesis on Tourette’s — the plentiful f-, p- and b-bombs the only things that stood out. But he soon took charge and shone through the oppressive Saddlesonics that have dampened and destroyed many a non-headliner, and many a top-of-the-ticket name, too.
His live band — yes, it’s always refreshing, especially when it comes to hip-hop openers —was also pretty tight and had some soul inside of their beat and groove, and he even had an actual stage show, with lights, screens and a throne front and centre that, as his time wore on, didn’t seem entirely out of place.
In fact, by the time he left the stage, after kicking out a pretty great version of his single F--kin’ Problems, it was debatable whether he might be one of those extras, those distractions that might take away from the main show herself.
He almost was.
Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/enterta...#ixzz2PCclpg5t
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ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 9/14/2010
Posts: 78,921
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That title belongs to Britney 
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Member Since: 3/14/2013
Posts: 19,449
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Rapidly approaching the Queen of Pop title 
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Member Since: 5/2/2012
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Member Since: 9/17/2011
Posts: 4,774
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Finally someone saying how good her voice actually is.
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Member Since: 6/30/2011
Posts: 1,748
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Member Since: 8/1/2012
Posts: 7,895
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Member Since: 5/7/2012
Posts: 8,404
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Quote:
It was big, bright and bombastic. But she was somehow bigger, brighter and more bombastic. And deserving all of the attention for all of the right reasons, especially that main reason. Rihanna is a pop star. A pretty great one at that.
As for opener A$AP Rocky, well, his set Saturday night showed that he’s well on his way to being main act. A talented artist, as proven by his dark and enveloping latest release, Long. Live. A$AP., he, too, comes with his own sideshow, that being his troubled early life.
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And give A$AP a lil love too.
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Originally posted by toanythingtaboo
Still? Was she ever?
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Come on now, Britney's definitely the reigning Queen, an up and coming legend, Rihanna is definitely the Princess of Pop, she's slightly coming for the Queen of Hip-Hop title too. ctfu.
She deserves the Princess of Pop title, 12 #1's is Legend ****, if Rihanna's not the Princess then Pop is dead.
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Member Since: 8/1/2012
Posts: 7,895
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Quote:
Originally posted by DimmiFenty
And give A$AP a lil love too.
Come on now, Britney's definitely the reigning Queen, an up and coming legend, Rihanna is definitely the Princess of Pop, she's slightly coming for the Queen of Hip-Hop title too. ctfu.
She deserves the Princess of Pop title, 12 #1's is Legend ****, if Rihanna's not the Princess then Pop is dead.
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"Definitely"? No, disagree.
Queen of Hip-Hop? 
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Member Since: 4/25/2011
Posts: 41,661
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Quote:
Originally posted by DimmiFenty
And give A$AP a lil love too.
Come on now, Britney's definitely the reigning Queen, an up and coming legend, Rihanna is definitely the Princess of Pop, she's slightly coming for the Queen of Hip-Hop title too. ctfu.
She deserves the Princess of Pop title, 12 #1's is Legend ****, if Rihanna's not the Princess then Pop is dead.
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Tea has been SPILLTTT
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Member Since: 12/27/2011
Posts: 20,704
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I don't doubt Rihanna's presence in pop music but "Princess of Pop" is a title that Britney will always have attached to her name.
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Member Since: 5/7/2012
Posts: 8,404
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Quote:
Originally posted by Rivington Reject
I don't doubt Rihanna's presence in pop music but "Princess of Pop" is a title that Britney will always have attached to her name.
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Yet they've been calling Rihanna the Princess of Pop since March 29th, 2007...
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Member Since: 12/6/2011
Posts: 1,899
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Quote:
Originally posted by DimmiFenty
Yet they've been calling Rihanna the Princess of Pop since March 29th, 2007...
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pls stop
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Member Since: 3/15/2013
Posts: 32,106
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Why princess when you can be a goddess?
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Member Since: 12/27/2011
Posts: 20,704
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Quote:
Originally posted by DimmiFenty
Yet they've been calling Rihanna the Princess of Pop since March 29th, 2007...
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The Navy =/= the general public
The GP knows Britney as the Princess of Pop. 
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Member Since: 5/7/2012
Posts: 8,404
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Member Since: 9/28/2011
Posts: 4,858
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Who cares about these stupid titles 
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Member Since: 9/22/2011
Posts: 9,178
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That article was on point
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