At Coachella, Ariana’s to-die-for surprises
Ariana Grande closed out Weekend 1 of Coachella in style, putting together a set that included special guests, stunning visuals, and, of course, her undeniable voice.
She made history with the first note as she became the youngest person at 25 ever to headline at Coachella. She also became just the fourth woman and didn’t ease into her performance, either.
She kicked off her set with a bang, belting her way through “God Is a Woman,” her crisp voice cutting through the night air.
The much-rumored – and hinted at on social media – reunion of *NSYNC did, in fact, happen as the boy band (minus Justin Timberlake) came out to sing her song “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored.”
It’s a song which uses a reworking of the lyrics to *NSYNC’s song “It Makes Me Ill.”
They then sang their hit, “Tearin’ Up My Heart,” while Grande sang while doing the iconic dance moves with the group. In a cute twist, the video screens showed ripples and old numbers as though the audience was watching a VHS tape of the performance. The guys thanked the crowd and left. Grande said
“I can die now” as they exited.
But that was just the start of the surprise guests. Moments later, Nicki Minaj arrived to sing “Side to Side.” The two walkdc out onto a bridge along with about 12 dancers.
While there, they sang their hit
“Bang! Bang!” but the song was not without its technical problems: Minaj’s microphone didn’t seem to always be working.
The guest list wasn’t closed yet. Later in the set, P. Diddy and Mase came on to sing “Mo Money, Mo Problems” as images of Biggie Smalls were shown on the center screen which was planet-shaped and almost planet-sized.
Despite all the special guests, this night was about Ariana and she didn’t disappoint – it was “Arichella” as the hashtags say.
The audience was captivated throughout the night, whether it was such poppy dance hits as “7 Rings” or more emotional songs such as “Breathin” which she sang while being circled by about a dozen women playing violins.
Grande’s voice was fully on display at the end of her set.
She belted some of her biggest hits “Dangerous Woman” and “Break Free” to the delight of the crowd who looked on in amazement at the notes she was able to hit and sustain.
Her second-to-last song was “No Tears Left to Cry” which she also sang at Coachella last year in a surprise performance with Kygo.
Grande ended by listening to the crowd as they shouted “Thank U, Next” in unison as she pretended to be done without playing her signature hit.
She left her fans with the final images of a rippling pride flag on the big screens and fireworks in the sky.
Those fireworks provided a fitting conclusion to her powerful and bright performance.