Katy Perry – like the Lions – ruled the MCG with a slick performance and high energy

Katy Perry had captured the attention of the country all week with a seemingly endless round of TV and radio appearances, speculation about what songs she would and wouldn’t sing at the AFL grand final, and who would join her for a duet. But what it all came down to in the end was the 15-minute pre-game set – and she delivered in spades with a best-on-ground performance.

It had been reported in some media outlets that Perry was being paid $5 million for this gig, and that she would sing five songs – a cool million bucks per tune. The AFL won’t reveal the actual figure, but well-placed sources told this masthead those reports were “wildly inaccurate” (as a reality check, when Robbie Williams performed two years ago, he was reportedly paid $1 million).

Katy Perry brought high energy and great sound to the grand final’s pre-show entertainment.Credit: Eddie Jim

What is clear is she played a lot more than five songs, and whatever the AFL paid, it got a truckload of interest, coverage and exposure well beyond the show itself.

Perry’s hit-studded set was essentially an extended medley similar to the one she performed at the VMAs when being given a lifetime achievement award last month. It consisted of nine songs – or 10 if you include the cheeky sample of her recent single Woman’s World, which briefly played as she entered the stadium atop a silver chariot that some online wags likened to an inflated goon bag.

“Where’s all my Swans at? Where’s all my Lions at?” she asked, revving up the crowd. As the vehicle bobbed and bounced – it brought to mind a space-age update of Angry Anderson’s infamous Batmobile from 1991 but with worse suspension and also, with its billowing fabric vapour trail, the iconic bus scene from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – Perry somehow stayed mostly in tune and on song.

Daringly, she kicked off with Roar, a song she had threatened not to perform lest she be seen to be taking sides. “Louder than a lion, ’cause I am a champion, and you’re gonna hear me roar,” she sang. For Brisbane, it was an omen of things to come.

Some people said Perry’s vessel looked like a goon bag.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images

Just the bangers, the AFL honchos had supposedly demanded of Perry, and with Dark Horse, California Gurls and Teenage Dream coming in quick succession, they got what they asked for.

But Perry didn’t get where she is by being a pushover, and the request to do just one song from her latest – and so far not-much-loved – album, 143, was brushed aside. As well as the little teaser of Woman’s World, she played Gorgeous, a decent enough mid-tempo filler, and the Balearic banger Lifetimes, a track that might yet come to be considered among her classics.

As per her Woman’s World video, the aesthetic of the show was cyborg chic, with Perry dressed in a metallic blue bustier, the stage metallic silver, and dozens of dancers dressed in metallic orange jumpsuits carrying giant silver balloons on their backs (more goon bags, the internet noted).

For those watching the Perryformance at home, the whole thing was augmented – if you could call it that – with bizarre digitally generated cyborg legs, occasional puffs of coloured smoke, and birds bursting through rainbows. It sucked, but it did offer some comfort for anyone fearing AI could soon have us all bending at the knee for our robot overlords. We appear to have a little while yet.

Tina Arena joined Perry for two duets. Credit: Eddie Jim

In confirmation of the worst-kept secret in showbiz, Tina Arena joined Perry on stage for a duet of I Kissed a Girl. And in a lovely quid pro quo moment, Perry returned the favour, duetting on Arena’s mega-hit Chains.

There were others on the pre-game line-up, of course. Christine Anu and her daughter Zipporah Corser-Anu sang My Island Home together, adding a chant in the native language of the Torres Strait for peace, while swimmer-turned-muso-turned-swimmer Cody Simpson sang the national anthem. And for the umpteenth time since 1979, Mike Brady sang Up There Cazaly. He might be 76, but he delivered the song with gusto, reaching the high notes well enough that he must be a contender for the interchange bench should the Three Tenors ever decide to reform.

But really, it was all about Katy Perry. She gave us a slick, fast-moving set full of colour and movement, with strong vocals, good sound (courtesy of backing tracks, of course), and plenty of razzle-dazzle. It was a typically high-energy performance from a true showbiz trouper.

The only slight negative was the absence of Hot and Cold, but that was perhaps understandable: the song is so strongly identified with MasterChef on Ten that Seven must have begged her to keep it off the menu.

Katy Perry performing at the AFL grand final.Credit: Justin McManus

The world may have fallen out of love with Perry a little thanks to the misjudged “satire” of her Woman’s World video (which blurs the line between parodying the male gaze and merely pandering to it) and her decision to work with producer Dr Luke, a man dogged for years by allegations (which he has strenuously denied) of sexual assault. But the crowd at the MCG hadn’t.

As she wound things up with Firework, she told the audience, a little redundantly: “I’m Katy Perry.” A little less redundantly, she added: “I love you Australia.”

This time, it was the crowd’s turn to roar. On this one day in September at least, the feeling was clearly mutual.

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