Katy Perry Has Lost the Plot. Her Grand Final Show Could Be a Genuine Pop Culture Moment

Photo: Courtesy Teg Dainty / Louisa Meng

The AFL has made an interesting choice of pre-match performer, even if the timing was entirely accidental. As this Teenage Dream fan knows, it’s a bleak moment in her downfall.

Katy Perry is in her flop era. And even that might be putting it lightly.

Her album 143 – named for the numeric representation of “I love you” due to the number of letters in each word, and because it’s the singer’s angel number – has received a slew of negative reviews since it was released last Friday.

Rolling Stone published a 1.5-star review that calls the album a “flop-sweat-flecked effort to crowbar Perry back into the zeitgeist”. Pitchfork gave the album 4.5 out of 10 writing, “Perry might as well have transformed into a fish, jumped into a barrel, and told critics, ‘Shoot me!’” It currently has the lowest Metacritic score, among albums released by anyone, since 2011.

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I love pop stars. I own a physical copy of Perry’s 2010 album Teenage Dream. I want Perry to succeed. But what she has experienced since the release of 143’s lead single Woman’s World (produced by alleged rapist Dr Luke) in July, is in sharp contrast to Chappell Roan’s meteoric rise, Sabrina Carpenter’s official arrival or Charli XCX finally getting her dues – three pop girlies who have dominated the cultural conversation this year.

It’s hard to think of a star in recent pop history who has had as brutal a fall as this Saturday’s AFL Grand Final performer. Which should make for one of the most interesting pre-game shows in recent memory.

AFL Grand Final performances do not generally stick in the memory (with the exception, maybe, of Meat Loaf in 2011, which my dad still brings up sometimes).

There have been highs, including performances by The Killers, Ed Sheeran and Tom Jones, Paul Kelly, Powderfinger and, I’ll give it to them, Kath and Kim. But it will never have the stature of a Super Bowl halftime show, which Perry headlined in 2015, an event that arguably marked, in hindsight, the end of her glory days.

Opening for Perry are Christine Anu and Zipporah Corser-Anu, who will perform for the First Nations ceremony, Mike Brady AM and swimmer and former aspiring pop star Cody Simpson, whose biggest hit La Da Dee was made popular thanks to its use in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2.

The AFL isn’t necessarily known for being across culture, but even it seems to have kept up to date with the recent 143 catastrophe. The league is reportedly limiting its headliner to just one song from her new album during her five-song set.

With Perry, the AFL has made a genuinely interesting choice. And Perry’s performance comes at one of the most crucial moments in the singer’s career. She’s teased that a female Aussie pop star will be joining her on stage. But, unless it’s Kylie, Perry’s performance will most likely either have zero impact or be memed endlessly. We’re betting on the former.

Given the onslaught of negative press lately, zero impact and zero think pieces post-grand final would probably be a dream for Perry.

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