You can tell by the thumbnails alone that something's a little amiss here. And if a 'pink cannon' isn't a blockheaded euphemism then I don't know what is.
R&B pop queen Rhianna brought her current
Rated-R stage show to London's 02 Arena. Judging from this response by
the Independent, it was a hit and miss affair:
The main problem with the show is not her but the production. Apparently, it's called the Last Girl on Earth tour but there's no overriding narrative, just a mix-match of "controversial" images and scenes that don't make any sense. One minute there's a video of her onscreen being implanted with microchips on an operating table, the next it's a cartoon of A-bombs dropping onto dystopian scenes.
For a romantic, harmless song called "Te Amo", which includes lyrics like "Te amo/She says to me, I hear the pain in her voice/Then we danced underneath the candelabra" there are naked dancers (save for a bit of tape) hanging off giant metal machine guns. It's absurd. You can almost hear the talks between directors and choreographers: "What's dramatic?" "The apocalypse." "Get that in. What's shocking?" "Guns. And naked people." "Here's an idea..."
It's so desperate to be scandalous and controversial, it ends up almost comical and what is obviously a very expensive show is cheapened.
It's still a hugely enjoyable evening. Rihanna's a great performer, has fantastic songs and can work a crowd. Maybe in the future she could give some of the tacky stage props a miss and have enough faith in the music to realise it might just be enough. - Gillian Orr
(Pics: WENN)