Emily Du Jour: Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad.

RIHANNA LOUD TOUR REVIEW :

Rihanna, the Bajan pop princess took to the stage at the M.E.N arena on Sunday night in front of a cheering crowd. The singer is definitely back with a BANG.
Now i have to admit, i left the concert feeling slightly underwhelmed, for the fact that quite a lot of the show seemed to be a repeat of The Last Girl On Earth tour that i saw last May. The stage set up was very similar, the pink army tank prop was back yet again. I would have thought paying upwards of £30 you would deserve to see a whole new show, but apparently not.

Let me just mention that Calvin Harris was a superb opening act, i would never have thought a DJ would suffice as a crowd pleasing opening act at a pop concert, however he proved me wrong. I actually think it may well be the best type of opening act to have, since he had the crowd well & truly warmed up for the main act by playing the top club hits of the past 6 months including Example "Changed the Way You Kiss Me" and of course his own hits such as "Bounce".

Moving on...
So Rihanna burst onto the stage in a giant perspex orb to the smash hit "Only Girl in The World", wearing nothing but a bedazzled bikini.

The show was certainly filled with hits, even featuring older songs such as " Shut Up & Drive ", " Pon De Replay", " Run This Town". So fans weren't left disappointed by her song choices.
However to me the whole show seemed too recycled to really make it seem worth my £££.
But she did sing live & she certainly put on a show, you can really tell that she loves being on stage & their was a lot of love in the arena for the singer.
I'm also quite impressed by the amount of people who took umbrella's to hold up during the smash hit song - which was of course the last song of the evening, which had everyone singing along to every word.

So.. now onto my other major issue i had with this performance. Before i start on this, let me just point out that i am a fan of Rihanna, i own her albums, enjoy her music etc etc..

This tour was so overtly raunchy & sexy it felt like it was too much.
Let me elaborate - there were backing dancers who doubled as pole dancers, one of whom gave Rihanna a lapdance, the star seemed to just thrust her way through her songs while groping herself. On top of this she then pulled a member of the audience onto the stage, then proceeded to straddle this girl and grind on her while taking her hands and getting the participant to grope her... Now call me old fashioned but is this not taking things a bit TOO far?!

During her rendition of S&M the star was chained to the stage while hands came up from the floor to grab at her while she was writhing about on the floor.

It seems to me to be totally inappropriate for a star in her position to portray herself in this manner... but as the star herself once said on twitter in answer to her critics shes "a rockstar not a parent". But does this attitude make it right?

There was a whole host of young girls some as young as 7 at the concert that night, and i can't help but wonder what their mothers were thinking when they witnessed "S&M" live..
I can't help but feel that this show should be toned down to make it more appropriate for her younger fans. But at the same time i also think that they shouldn't have released song's with lyrics such as -

"Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it Sticks and stones may break my bones But chains and whips excite me"

"Come here, rude boy, boy; can you get it up? Come here rude boy, boy; is you big enough?"

Whatever happened to the days where song lyrics were so innocent like " there ain't no party like an S Club party" ?!

We should be giving young girls actual role models to look up to , not making them aspire to prance around in their underwear like these pop stars these days.
I know Lady Gaga isn't a perfect role model but at least "Born This Way" is a song about appreciating who you are & the way you were born no matter what.

Yes sex sells, but should we be encouraging pop stars such as Rihanna to behave in this way?

In a complete contrast when i went to see Katy Perry's California Dreams tour i was pleasantly surprised at how much i loved it, i don't know what i expected but she certainly exceeded my expectations & i have to say she put on a show that was filled with fun & beautiful costumes that consisted of more than just underwear! I actually left her show wanting all of her stage outfits, as they were spectacular creations.

So Katy may sing about kissing girls & liking it, but i have to say her show was appropriate for any age of fan. There was no lapdancing in sight that night or handcuffs. Just cupcakes, candy floss & a giant dancing purple cat. And this is how i think it should be, and i think this goes to show that it doesn't have to always be about sex & trying to add shock value.

Lady Gaga's Monster Ball tour took it to a whole new level, she even took to the stage donning what can only be described as a giant hairy lampshade...Maybe Rihanna should try this approach instead?!