Lady Gaga's free concert boosts Rio's economy
'Tonight, we're making history... thank you for making history with me,' Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd.
Rio's City Hall said in a recent report that the show should inject at least $106 million (£80 million) into Rio's economy. Similar concerts are scheduled to take place every year in May at least until 2028.
Lady Gaga arrived in Rio in the early hours of Tuesday. The city has been caught up in Gaga-mania since, as it geared up to welcome the pop singer for her first show in the country since 2012.
Rio's metro employees danced to Lady Gaga's 2008 hit song LoveGame and gave instructions for Saturday in a video. A free exhibition celebrating her career had sold out.
While the vast majority of attendees were from Rio, the event also attracted Brazilians from across the country and international visitors. More than 500,000 tourists poured into the city in the days leading up to the show, over double the initial forecast, according to data from the local bus station and airport, Rio's City Hall said in a statement on Friday.
The Mother Monster, as she is known, kicked off the show at around 22:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly-packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organisers said 2.1 million people attended the show.
Lady Gaga performed her hits, including Poker Face and Alejandro, switching between an array of dresses including one with the colours of the Brazilian flag.
Some fans, many of them young, arrived on the beach at the crack of dawn to secure a good spot, armed with snacks and drinks. They spent the day under a blazing sun, while others perched in trees, determined to get a panoramic view.
'Today is the best day of my life,' said Manoela Dobes, a 27-year-old designer who was wearing a dress plastered with a photograph from when she met Lady Gaga in the United States in 2019. 'It's surreal to be here.'
Madonna also turned Copacabana beach into a massive dance floor last year.
The large-scale performances are part of an effort led by City Hall to boost economic activity after Carnival and New Year's Eve festivities and the upcoming month-long Saint John's Day celebrations in June.
'It brings activity to the city during what was previously considered the low season, filling hotels and increasing spending in bars, restaurants, and retail, generating jobs and income for the population,' said Osmar Lima, the city's secretary of economic development, in a statement released by Rio City Hall's tourism department last month.
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
7 hours ago
- Forbes
Lady Gaga's New Album Dances Back To The Charts
Lady Gaga dropped her new album Mayhem in early March and just a few months later kicked off The Mayhem Ball. The global trek sees the pop superstar traveling to countries across several continents and performing dozens of shows before wrapping in early 2026. As photos and videos of her high-octane performances make the rounds on social media after every new tour date, interest in Mayhem grows, and fans in the United Kingdom are getting excited for their chance to see the Grammy and Oscar winner before The Mayhem Ball hits London in September. Mayhem Returns to Multiple Charts The project reappears on multiple charts in that country, as Mayhem dances back onto two tallies in the U.K. this week. Gaga's latest full-length returns to the Official Physical Albums chart — which ranks only the top-selling titles available on CD, cassette, or vinyl — at No. 75. The same project also breaks onto the Official Album Sales chart at No. 79. Lady Gaga's Former No. 1 Mayhem has now spent the exact same length of time on both of those sales lists, as this frame is its twenty-first on the two rosters. In the past, when Mayhem was brand new, it hit No. 1, becoming a top seller in the U.K. Mayhem and The Fame Chart – But Don't Cross This week, Gaga sees two of her albums find space on the charts in the U.K., though there's no overlap between the pair. As Mayhem becomes a bestseller, The Fame, her debut full-length, appears on both the Official Albums and Official Album Streaming charts. On the former, which ranks the most consumed titles, her decade-plus-old set jumps to No. 56, while simultaneously declining slightly on the streaming-only tally. 'Die With a Smile' Represents Mayhem on the Charts Mayhem may be a hit on the charts once again, but only one single from the project is still going strong, and it's the oldest of the bunch. 'Die With a Smile,' her collaboration with Bruno Mars, lifts on four rosters at once. In just a few days, it will reach 52 weeks — a full year — on both streaming and sales rankings. An even older tune, 'Always Remember Us This Way,' is also growing. That solo track, taken from her A Star Is Born soundtrack album, rises on the Official Singles Sales and Official Singles Downloads charts, coming in at No. 61 and No. 59, respectively.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Pop-up Soho bar requires diners to sing karaoke classics or leave hungry
Londoners will have the chance to bag a free dinner this month as a two-day karaoke club invites would-be performers to 'sing for their supper'. The Kiwioke Bar will open in Soho on August 20-21 and guests will have to take to the stage and belt out a karaoke classic with their tablemates before dining. Before starters arrive, diners are required to sing with their table mates, and only then will they be served their food. A similar scenario will unfold before main courses and desserts, though for these to arrive tables will be matched up to sing in bigger groups. No solos are allowed. Hits available to sing include numbers by Elton John, ABBA, The Killers and Lady Gaga. It's a savvy marketing stunt from the cider brand Old Mout, which has even brought in Kiss radio star Harriet Rose to host each evening. The nights are completely free, with microphones, neon lighting, dressing up boxes and more on offer too, not to mention 'unlimited' cider. On the menu, meanwhile, are dishes such as smoked chicken with mango and watercress salad, chilli and lime marinated flank steak, and grilled pineapples with cream. Don't expect the food to be top dollar. Then again, your singing is unlikely to be. There are still some tickets left for the early evening slot. The Kiwioke Bar, 59 Greek Street, W1D 3DZ, August 20-21,
Gizmodo
a day ago
- Gizmodo
Is Lady Gaga's ‘Wednesday' Role Everything It Seems?
When Lady Gaga signed on to Tim Burton's Wednesday for a guest-starring role, fan speculation ramped up in the spooky spheres. The internet seemingly manifested this casting with a TikTok setting the iconic season one scene of Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) at the Rave n' Dance to Lady Gaga's 'Bloody Mary' from her 2011 hit album Born This Way. The moment went viral, and the trend reached the pop star, who performed the dance on her social media before announcing she would be joining the Wednesday cast. BLOODY WEDNESDAY #fyp ♬ original sound – Paul During Netflix's Tudum event, Gaga performed a medley of her dark pop music, complete with an army of Wednesdays to do the dance, while inviting Ortega on stage for a meal of a moment. It really ratcheted up the excitement, but little was known about who Gaga would be portraying. In an official X post, Netflix described her role as Rosaline Rotwood, a 'legendary' teacher at Nevermore Academy. This cryptic detail was also shared: Rosaline Rotwood. Cloaked in mystery with a reputation that precedes her. Our paths will surely cross. Welcome to mayhem @LadyGaga. — Wednesday Addams (@wednesdayaddams) June 1, 2025However, in a recent conversation with Entertainment Tonight, Ortega decided to throw a little signature chaos into the discourse of who Gaga is really playing. 'She's not a teacher,' Ortega revealed. 'She's not. Whatever you heard, it's wrong.' So that brings us to some Gagaspeculation of who Stefani Germanotta might really be playing when season two of Wednesday returns with its second set of episodes. Spoilers below!Wednesday season two has thus far teased many roles Gaga's Rosaline Rotwood, legendary teacher, could potentially step into. Let's break them down: Ophelia Frump: Morticia's missing sister possessed similar powers to Wednesday and was driven mad by them. After finding out what LOIS is—the Willow Hill secret experiments on outcasts to transfer powers to normies—you're led to believe this is probably where Ophelia ended up. At the end you see Wednesday interact with a woman whose identity we're unsure of; she thanks her 'angel' for saving her. It feels purposefully unclear if it's Ophelia or Tyler's mother. I personally don't think it's Ophelia at the end (it's probably Tyler's mom based off the normie vibes), and I hope Gaga will still play the missing Frump sister to Catherine Zeta-Jones' Morticia. They both can sing, so it would be even more fitting. Tyler's Mom: This would be too on the nose, if the woman at the end was Ophelia and not Tyler's mom. Mother Monster playing a monster's mother? Please, no. New ancestral power spirit guide: This can go so many ways. Perhaps Ophelia died and she's going to be Wednesday's guide, whom she meets while in her coma. Or maybe her spirit guide is a former teacher (not current) named Rosaline Rotwood, whom she could meet in her purgatorial bedridden state. Imagine your spirit wandering school halls while in near death? Now, that's hell. Debbie Jelinsky: Okay, this is more joke speculation but it would have been fun to see Gaga as a Debbie Jelinsky type of character, the black widow bride who was iconically played by Joan Cusack in The Addams Family Values. Fester already had a love story with the Willow Hill lunch lady (not played by Gaga), so this is probably not in the cards unless they get Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan to do it in a later season; her impression is dead-on, plus she is in the Netflix family. Wednesday season two part one is currently streaming on Netflix; part two drops September 3. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
