As if one international star wasn’t enough. Rumour had it that following Avril Lavigne’s concert last month, she’d be taking the opportunity to hold the after-party, and her 24th birthday celebrations at the Bellini Lounge.
The bar, located on the casino floor of The Venetian Macao, was also supposed be to graced by another diva of a different genre and era - none other than songbird Mariah Carey herself.
Obviously this created quite a buzz, as the crowd that gathered on the night curiously peered into the cordoned off area by the Bellini Lounge stage. What would Mariah wear, would she bring her dog, Jack and most importantly, would Mimi and Avril get into a cat fight?
With two divas known for throwing tantrums when they aren’t the center of attention, another niggling thought was whether there’d be enough oxygen in the room left for the rest of us with both of the big voiced ladies in it.
Unfortunately, we never got to find out the answer to any of these questions. Throughout the night, we were teased with insider news and SMSes about Miss Carey’s whereabouts.
She was at high roller Paiza Club The View at Venetian’s sister casino Sands, and then apparently had the munchies and stopped off at Morton’s. We can only imagine she had a good meal, because after chowing down she headed back to her suite and called it a night.
Here’s a very grainy picture of Miss Carey at Sands, courtesy of a friend’s iPhone. Those things really don’t do so well in dim light huh?
As for Miss Lavigne, she treated us to a live performance along with her hubby Sum41 singer Deryck Wibley, who sang In Too Deep once again (he had sung it during Avril’s concert earlier). If he seemed overly enthuiastic, it may be because Sum 41’s own members are on a break to pursue their own interests. In Wibley’s case, that may be gatecrashing his wife’s concerts.
The birthday girl herself treated the crowd to some breakdancing moves (she ain’t that bad!), which beat her drumming skills hands down.
She also treated the crowd at Bellini to her current hit Girlfriend. For those that had attended the earlier concert, it would be the third time they had heard the song in that night.
We’re not sure if Avril took advantage of the free flow of champagne for ladies every Friday at Bellini Lounge, but the crowd were certainly bouncing off the walls with energy.
She may have gotten married, ditched the tie and skateboard, but at her concert at The Venetian last month, she proved she was still a kid at heart.
With an all-girl dancing troop, pink scull and cross bone backdrop, pink drum kit and polo-tee and hoodie outfits, Avril was more wholesome Powerpuff Girl than angsty teenager with a chip on her shoulder.
In fact, the pink-streaked blond had a big smile on her face, that rarely left. Perhaps it was the fact that she was celebrating her 24th birthday that very night. But maybe, she had found her niche, as a role model for the younger generation, many of which came to the 3/4 full Cotai Arena wearing bright pink outfits, including a pink ballerina tutu.
Kicking off the concert with her latest hit Girlfriend, she had the crowd of mostly teenagers, children and parents squealing at the top of their lungs. And it was interesting to see that despite the ‘Girlpower” theme also had a lot of teenage boys singing along enthusiastically.
Girlfriend, which has received non-stop airplay in MTV and the radio, received a second airing - the remix version, with Avril’s troop of dancers showing off their break dancing moves.
She then turned back the clock with more mellow tracks from her break out album Let Go and Under My Skin. The enthusiastic response from the crowd earned them an earnest “do jeh” (thank-you in Cantonese) from Avril after most songs.
At times it seemed like a sing-along comedy session with Avril not letting the language barrier getting in the way of interacting with her adoring audience. Simple games like raising her arms to start the music, and dropping them to stop it, accompanied with a cheeky grin earned her raucous applause.
She also gained brownie points from the appreciative audience when she showed off her musical abilities by singing while playing the guitar and playing the piano. So when she asked the audience if they wanted her to play the drums - they responded with a deafening “yes!!”.
For the record, she’s a good multitasker, balancing the instrument playing and singing skills well.
In the second half of the show, she intrduced her “special guest”, who turned out to be none other than Deryck Whibley, the lead singer of US pop punk Sum41 and Avril’s husband.
Although Deryck helped produce Avril’s latest album The Best Damn Thing, he took the limelight at her concert, playing Sum41’s biggest hit, In Too Deep, which is ironically about breaking up with someone. No hidden meaning here, as the 2 have been inseparable since they tied the knot in 2006, and had attended Cirque Du Soleil’s Zaia at The Venetian the night before.
After over an hour of performance, Avril came back in a hooded sweater with pointy ears to perform a song that had a lot of special meaning to her. “Complicated”, she explained was her breakout song and the one that first thrust her into the media spotlight, so it was only fitting that she ended the night with a rousing rendition.
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