In pop heaven with Selena
The singer's show at Impact lacked impact, but the fans weren't complaining
A wich came true for Thai fans of American dance pop starlet Selena Gomez when she arrived for a lively show at Impact Arena last Friday.
The crowd, fairly evenly balances between males and females, packed the arena early enough to catch rising Australian singer Jai Waetford, the opening act on Gomez’ “Revival Tour”.
Not that the former Disney Channel star needs reviving at age 24, but a video of her posing along to the title track from her 2015 album provided a powerful start for her performance.
The proceedings open with one of her biggest hits, “Same Old Love”, which was met with deafening cheers from the fans.
Sparing not a moment between numbers, Gomez raced into the EDM-drenched “Come & Get It” from her 2013 debut disc, “Star Dance”, and the slightly slower “Sober” from “Revival”.
A quick costume change backstage put her in a pair of Thai boxing shorts, which looked way more chic than usual matched with a sleek crop top and knee-length stiletto boots.
“Good For You”, another new and brooding track, was followed by the more upbeat “Survivors”, “Slow Down” and “Love You Like a Love Song”, a string capped off with her current mega-hit “Hands to Myself”.
Gomez donned a black evening gown for the third act, but ironically returned to her childhood with the danceable bubblegum tune “Who Says”, which she released with the Scene in 2011.
Then she wound the pace down a few notches and sat at the piano to belt out Hillsong Worship’s eerie “Transfiguration”. She’d included it in her set list as a tribute to her close friend Christina Grimmie, the 22-year-old singer and former contestant on “The Voice” who was fatally shot while giving a concert in June. Grimmie has toured with Gomez in 2011.
Still at the piano, Gomez delivered “Nobody”, another sad ballad, but his mid-tempo with the electro-dance “Feel Me”, which she’s rumoured to have written about her on-off relationship with Canadian pop star Justin Bieber.
Gigantic rose-red balloons inflated onstage as the dance crew broke into vigorous moves for “Me and My Girls”, “Me and the Rhythm” and “Body Heat”. Not much of a dancer herself, Gomez did a few simple routines, but most of the time posed, jumped around, trotted back and forth and whipped her beautiful hair around.
The dancers’ well-choreographed moves added tremendous flair and goosed up the entertainment quotient in an otherwise not-so-energetic show.
The concert hit the final stretch with a cover version of the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” and her own pop-dance hits, “Kill Em with Kindness” and “I Want You to Know”. Gomez bid the audience farewell with a remix version of “Revival”.
After 75 minutes in Selena Land, the fans were still blissfully waving props and signs professing their loyalty to her. But, apart from a darn good stage production, fairly decent costuming (compared to her shows in other countries) and all the girlie cuteness, the singer really doesn’t have much else to offer as a performer.
The stage seemed too big for her and the songs were delivered without enough conviction to truly connect with the fans. Even though Gomez has a string of hits that got the crowd excited from time to time, her music in general just isn’t powerful enough for a substantial, memorable show.
