Katy’s livestream for attention
All the things we learnt (and wish we didn’t learn) from Katy Perry’s weekend-long livestream
THERE are a couple of ways to build up hype for a new album. You could drop it with no warning at all (Beyoncé), or spend years teasing that it’s coming (Frank Ocean), or, apparently, let the world watch you around-the-clock over four days.
Katy Perry went with that last option. Last Thursday night, to promote her new album, Witness, she stayed on-theme and moved into a Big Brother-style Los Angeles house, outfitted with dozens of cameras that captured her every waking (and sleeping) moment and streamed live on Youtube. The four-day long Katy Perry: Witness World Wide event concluded on Monday afternoon.
But this wasn’t just Perry living her regular life. She had famous guests over, played games, sat for live-streamed therapy sessions, cooked with celebrity chefs and sang songs. Here’s a rundown of some of the things we learnt – including some tidbits we could have done without.
Oh, but she will. She finally succumbed to the challenge, and with a caveat. (Who doesn’t like a caveat before being ranked?)
“They’re all amazing lovers,” Perry said. Her ranking, worst to best: Diplo, Bloom, Mayer.
It’s Josh Groban. They never got together, Perry signalled. “He’s one of my good friends,” but he’s her “one who got away.”
“I am ready to let it go.” Thank goodness, because this is getting old.
A quick recap on this front: After years of speculation, Perry finally confirmed her longstanding feud with the Bad Blood singer last month, and went into detail on Corden’s show about how things played out between her and Swift. Then Swift pulled a move many thought would be sure to rile up Perry: The famously anti-streaming Swift released her entire catalogue at the exact same time Perry released Witness.
But Perry’s not mad! At least that’s what she told Arianna Huffington when asked about the feud during the weekend livestream, for Huffington’s Thrive Global Podcast.
“I am ready to let it go. I forgive her and I’m sorry for anything I ever did, and I hope the same from her. I think it’s time. There are bigger fish to fry, and there are real problems in the world. You know what I’m saying? And I love her.
“I want the best for her. And I think she’s a fantastic songwriter… Like maybe I don’t agree with everything she does and she doesn’t agree with everything I do, but I just really truly want to come together in a place of love and forgiveness and understanding and compassion.”
She also broke into the Frozen song Let It Go. Then added, “There’s a lot of other things out there in the world that people need to be focused on, and I truly, like, God bless her on her journey. God bless her. Honestly.”