This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The way Katy Perry's cleavage has been promoted all over the world, including on recent covers of Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair, you might think the 26-year-old Santa Barbara native is just another pop starlet.
But the singer is more than just a well-promoted and well-endowed package. Perry's sophomore studio album "Teenage Dream," released in last August, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart. The album included singles "California Gurls," "Teenage Dream," "Firework," "E.T." and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)," all of which topped the Billboard charts, making the album one of only nine albums to ever produce four or more No. 1 singles. And the single "E.T." hit the top of the chart on May 12, she became the first artist in history to spend a whole year — 52 consecutive weeks — in the Top 10 of the Billboard singles chart.
Earlier this week, the singer got the most nominations for the MTV Video Music Awards with nine. "Firework" is up for Video of the Year and best Female Video, while "E.T." got five nominations, with "Teenage Dream" and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) each receiving one.
Perry, who co-wrote all 12 songs on "Teenage Dream," grabbed headlines last year when a spot she taped for "Sesame Street" was axed because her low-cut sundress was judged inappropriate for kids ages 1 to 5. Of course, then there were her innuendo-laden lyrics involving melting popsicles, peacock, and of course, aliens infecting her with love and filling her with poison.
Perry brings that popularity and controversy, as well as a retro-kitsch fashion sense and an addiction to dazzling color, to EnergySolutions on Monday, perhaps a fitting way to end a state holiday filled with parades and pioneer-girl power.
DJ Skeet Skeet will warm up the crowd along fellow opening act Robyn. In an interview, the DJ said while he hadn't heard of Pioneer Day, he thought the state holiday "sounds like endless fun."
He first met Perry about six years ago, when he was designing a fashion line and Perry came in to model. He was DJing at night to pay the bills for his clothing line, while she hadn't yet released the singles "Ur So Gay," "Hot n Cold" and "I Kissed a Girl" that made her a star. The duo struck up a friendship, and "flash forward — now she's playing arenas," DJ Skeet Skeet said.
As a warmup act, his goal is simple: "Make sure the crowd is there so [Perry] can smash it."
He plans to mix well-known songs with proven audience favorites. "It's a lot of fans who are at their first concert," he said of the crowd that Perry draws, as well as plenty of "50-year-old biker dudes."
When he goes off-stage after his set, he hangs around to check out Perry's spectacle. "It's pretty amazing," DJ Skeet Skeet said. "It feels like a movie or a theatrical show. Out of the gate it starts strong, and it takes you on a journey."
The question is what kind of peep show it will be.
Facebook.com/sltribmusic
Twitter: @davidburger —
A California Gurl to play
in Utah
P Katy Perry performs with Robyn and DJ Skeet Skeet.
When • Monday, July 25, at 7:30 p.m.
Where • EnergySolutions Arena, 301 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City
Tickets • $33-$48 at SmithsTix