Rio de Janeiro (AP) –
Lady Gaga offered a free concert on Saturday night in front of at least one million fans who congregated on Copacabana Beach for the biggest show of her career.
Lady Gaga told a crowd that shouted: “Tonight, we are making history. (…) Thank you for making history with me.”
The Mother Monster, as it is known, started the show around 10:00 at night local time (0100 GMT) with its 2011 song “Bloody Mary”. Screams of joy arose from the squeezed fans who sang and danced shoulder shoulder in the vast sand extension, who were moved to the fullest when Gaga revealed a dress with the colors of the Brazilian flag.
Lady Gaga interpreted her classic successes, including “Poker Face” and “Born This Way” accompanied by dozens of dancers and musicians with extravagant lockers.
As in his recent concerts in Mexico, Gaga took a moment to dedicate some emotional words to fans from a balcony in which he displayed a Brazilian flag. Especially they thanked them for 13 years to appear live in the country again.
“Maybe they wonder why it took me so long to return, but the truth is that I was healing, I was becoming stronger,” he said. “While he healed something powerful was happening, you were still there, you kept taking me and asking me to return when I was ready, Brazil, I’m ready!”
Gaga also said that the people of Brazil are as vibrant and beautiful “like the sun and the moon that rise on the ocean right here on Copacabana beach.”
After these words, Alejandro interpreted.
“I can promise you that the last time I came we became friends, but now we are family, thank you very much,” he said before playing his song awarded with the Oscar and the Grammy “Sallow” of the movie “A Star is Born” (“A star is born”).
Some fans, many of them young, arrived at the beach at dawn to secure a good place, armed with snacks and drinks. They spent the day under a scorching sun, while others perched on trees, determined to get a panoramic view.
Manoela Dobes, a 27 -year -old designer who wore a dress with a photograph of when she met Lady Gaga in the United States in 2019, said: “Today is the best day of my life. It is surreal to be here.”
Last year, Madonna also turned Copacabana beach into a massive dance floor.
Large -scale performances are part of an effort led by the City Council to boost economic activity after the Carnival and New Year’s festivities and the next San Juan Day celebrations in June.
Osmar Lima, Secretary of Economic Development of the city, said in a statement issued by the Tourism Department of the City of Río last month: “It brings activity to the city during what was previously considered the low season, filling hotels and increasing spending on bars, restaurants and shops, generating jobs and income for the population.”
The City Council said in a recent report that around 1.6 million people were expected to attend the Lady Gaga concert and that the show should inject at least 600 million reais (about 106 million dollars) in the river economy.
And similar concerts are scheduled to be carried out every year in May, at least until 2028.
Lady Gaga arrived in Rio in the early hours of Tuesday. The city has been alive with the Gaga-Manía since then, while preparing to receive the pop star for its first show in the country since 2012. River subway employees danced to the rhythm of the 2008 song by Lady Gaga “Lovegame” and gave instructions for Saturday in a video. A free exhibition that celebrates his career had exhausted tickets.
Although the vast majority of attendees were from Rio, the event also attracted Brazilians from all over the country and international visitors.
More than 500,000 tourists arrived in the city in the days before the show, more than double the initial forecast, according to data from the local bus station and Tom Jobim airport, said the City Council of Rio in a statement on Friday.
Ingrid Serrano, a 30 -year -old engineer, made a transcontinental trip from Colombia to Brazil to attend the show.
Serrano, who wore a shirt with the extravagant locker rooms of Lady Gaga over the years, said: “I have been 100% of Lady Gaga all my life.”
For her, the megaestrella represents “total freedom of expression, being the one who wants without shame.”
Rio and its authorities have a history of organizing large concerts on Copacabana Beach. Madonna’s show attracted an estimate of 1.6 million fans last year, while four million people flooded the beach for a Rod Stewart New Year’s Eve show in 1994. According to Guinness world Records, that was the largest free rock concert in history.
To ensure that fans could hear the songs, sixteen sound towers were distributed throughout the beach.
The river state security plan included the presence of 3,300 military and 1,500 police, and 400 military firefighters.
Among those present, there were also Lady Gaga fans who recalled their disappointment in 2017, when the artist canceled a scheduled performance in the last minute due to health problems.
Ricardo Filho, who has been a fan since childhood, said it was worth the wait.
“He is the best artist in the world,” said the 25 -year -old, while the songs of “Gaga, I love you!” In Portuguese they arose from the crowd behind him.
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The AP coverage on Latin America and the Caribbean continues in https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.
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