Start of Lady Gaga concert in Rio-DiePresse.com
Minors are said to have been recruited for coordinated attacks with improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails. 2.1 million people came to the free concert.
According to Brazil’s police, it has a planned attack on a mega concert by Lady Gaga thwarted on the Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro. A group that aimed at the radicalization of young people had orchestrated the project. The suspects would have recruited concert participants, including minors for coordinated attacks with improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails, the police said on Sunday.
The Ministry of Justice said that the recruits had pretended to be members of Gaga’s global fan base, known as « Little Monsters » (« Little Monster »). The leader of the group was arrested in the southern state of Rio Grande Do Sul for illegal gun ownership, as was a teenager in Rio de Janeiro because of the possession of child pornography. In several states there were also searches and confiscation.
According to the city administration of Rio, 2.1 million people came to the free concert of the US pop icon on the famous beach on Saturday. The Brazilian metropolis is planning further free concerts of this extent.
« Thank you, Brazil. I love you forever! »
« Brazil, I missed you so, » the singer called at the start of the mega concert on Saturday evening (local time). « It is a great honor for me to be here tonight. My heart is full. I feel happy, proud and deeply grateful, » said Lady Gaga (39) on stage from a kind of balcony. This was decorated with a Brazilian flag. « Thank you, Brazil. I love you forever! », The singer called to the audience.
In a scarlet dress with a gigantic train, the pop star entered the giant stage in the immediate vicinity of the Copacabana sandy beach for the first tones of her song « Bloody Mary ». Subsequently, Lady Gaga followed up with « Abracadabra », one of the main titles of her current album « Mayhem ». During the song, she revealed another dress under the red robe in the colors of the Brazilian national flag: green, blue and yellow. Before she tuned her hymn « Born This Way », the pop icon waved a rainbow flag in honor of the LGBTQ community.
« /> Reuters / Ricardo Moraes
The first big hit « Pokerface » was not missing during the performance. After « Alejandro » Lady Gaga read a letter to the Brazilian audience. « Bad Romance » set the end with an A -capella -Outro.
The concert was announced as the greatest of her career. The approximately two -hour appearance belonged to the « Todo Mundo No Rio » series (all world in Rio), with which the city administration brings international stars into the coastal metropolis. Lady Gaga canceled a planned appearance at the Rock Musikfestival in Rio in 2017 for health reasons. The Brazilians had been waiting for them for more than ten years since their last appearance in the South American country, said Lady Gaga.
Superstar Madonna also sends kisses to Brazil
Already on the eve of the concert, the first fans, lovingly called « Little Monsters », came to the Copacabana to secure a good place. According to the city administration, the show attracted around 500,000 tourists to Rio, more than twice as many as expected. Rios authorities calculated with income of 600 million real (94 million euros) for the metropolis. The authorities had expected around 1.6 million visitors before the concert – but according to official information, the actual number exceeded this estimate.
« /> The authorities had expected around 1.6 million visitors before the concert – but the actual number exceeded this estimate according to official information. APA / AFP / Daniel Ramalho
Last year, Superstar Madonna appeared in front of 1.6 million people on the Copacabana beach. It was the end of her world tour « The Celebration Tour », with which the pop icon celebrated 40 years of career. On the day of Lady Gagas, the “Queen of Pop« Remember her own concert in Rio. She posted a video excerpt from the concert and wrote: » Kissing to Brazil! « .
