Katy Perry reading her lyrics from screen

[TimisaMonster 31,073]

​While I agree it does look tacky to have it obvious like Beyonce did, there's nothing wrong with a little back up.  I think y'all are taking pop stars a little more serious than they have to be over a small thing.  

​Small thing? Is it hard to remember songs you spent hours in the studio recording OVER AND OVER again...then rehearse those songs for promo, performances, AND a multi-date tour? Ummm....it's the LEAST they could do...sorry if that seems like too much

 

[Spyro 8,438]

​Small thing? Is it hard to remember songs you spent hours in the studio recording OVER AND OVER again...then rehearse those songs for promo, performances, AND a multi-date tour? Ummm....it's the LEAST they could do...sorry if that seems like too much

 

I didn't say she doesn't memorize her songs, but if your brain "goes frozen" and you need to look at something to IMMEDIATLEY get back where you should pick up, then yeah this would be acceptable.  If she was doing the exact performance in her bedroom with no one around then chances are she wouldn't mess up, but I mean, just imagine the lights are on you and you have to perform infront of thousands of people with cameras flashing.  Yeah, it's no big deal if we freeze up every now and then. She's human, she ain't perfect doll. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Yanko 9,860]

the nitpicking..the overreactions.... this is sad 

[Yanko 9,860]

​Small thing? Is it hard to remember songs you spent hours in the studio recording OVER AND OVER again...then rehearse those songs for promo, performances, AND a multi-date tour? Ummm....it's the LEAST they could do...sorry if that seems like too much

 

​shes a human  stop being so dramatic 

[Spyro 8,438]

I don't really care if music artists use a Teleprompter or not, but there are thousands of kids and adults on theatre stages all over the world, who deliver hundreds of lines and sing multiple songs (without the added bonus of repetition of words that we hear in pop songs) every night without the help of a teleprompter. If these amateurs can handle the anxiety, I would think professionals could handle the pressure.

Also, true musicians should always be able to handle jumping back in on a song, even when the forget a few words or even repeat a line. They are supposed to be professionals...the best of the best! I saw a high school kid bust out his front teeth on stage and he covered his mouth so the audience couldn't see the blood, and finished the song. If a 16 year old can handle something like that, I would hope a professional adult could handle the anxiety of missing a few words in a song. 

First off, you're comparing a theatre performance vs an arena/stadium performance.  You're performing in front of a much larger crowd than an "amateur".  Not to mention you are doing some choreography, and have to get the performance right, while if you're performing in a theatre it's a bit more minimal.  Second, people can look over lines in between acts while they are not on stage.  Trust me, I was in theatre in high school, and sometimes you're managed to get a little nervous and need to review your lines even though you already know them by heart.  I wouldn't class everyone can pull a performance perfectly, so shouldn't Katy or any singer for that matter.  Third, being the "best of the best" doesn't mean "perfect".  So of course if you're marketing an album, you want the performance to be the best as possible, which means going back on track ASAP, which the teleprompter is for in case.  Better safe than sorry.  

[Yanko 9,860]

I don't really care if music artists use a Teleprompter or not, but there are thousands of kids and adults on theatre stages all over the world, who deliver hundreds of lines and sing multiple songs (without the added bonus of repetition of words that we hear in pop songs) every night without the help of a teleprompter. If these amateurs can handle the anxiety, I would think professionals could handle the pressure.

Also, true musicians should always be able to handle jumping back in on a song, even when the forget a few words or even repeat a line. They are supposed to be professionals...the best of the best! I saw a high school kid bust out his front teeth on stage and he covered his mouth so the audience couldn't see the blood, and finished the song. If a 16 year old can handle something like that, I would hope a professional adult could handle the anxiety of missing a few words in a song. 

​good for that highschool kid

im sure he was performing in front of 15k people 

[Whispering 18,865]

First off, you're comparing a theatre performance vs an arena/stadium performance.  You're performing in front of a much larger crowd than an "amateur".  Not to mention you are doing some choreography, and have to get the performance right, while if you're performing in a theatre it's a bit more minimal.  Second, people can look over lines in between acts while they are not on stage.  Trust me, I was in theatre in high school, and sometimes you're managed to get a little nervous and need to review your lines even though you already know them by heart.  I wouldn't class everyone can pull a performance perfectly, so shouldn't Katy or any singer for that matter.  Third, being the "best of the best" doesn't mean "perfect".  So of course if you're marketing an album, you want the performance to be the best as possible, which means going back on track ASAP, which the teleprompter is for in case.  Better safe than sorry.  

What at does it matter how many people you are performing in front of? What about Broadway performers? Is there some magic number where mistakes can't be made? 

Let me just say, there is usually way more choreography on theatre stages and way more dancing in musical theatre than most the pop artists on stage today. Most definitely more than Katy! (Not picking on her...but she doesn't do the kind of dancing you might see in community and regional musical theatre productions) 

If kids, teens and adults on theatre stages around the world can remember lines and roll with the mistakes, professional music artists should be able to handle the same kind of anxiety and pressure...actually get should be able to handle much more! 

[Yanko 9,860]

What at does it matter how many people you are performing in front of?

​ it doesnt matter? shes a human she can make mistakes and she doesnt want to make mistakes so she makes sure that she has back up what is wrong with that? you are so obsessed it's almost creepy 

[Mills 446]

I'd really understand the criticism if Katy Perry (or any singer while onstage for a paid concert) was reading the teleprompter so excessively (if not the whole time) to a point it has already become a hindrance for them to connect with the audience through eye contact. If she has done it, I'd definitely feel disappointed and perhaps even disrespected too because that'll imply she didn't make any effort at all to put up a show worthy of the money I've paid (and everyone else) to see, especially if the expectation of everyone is for the singer to sing live.

But that's not the case, at least from what I've personally seen. While the use of teleprompter in concerts is no longer unusual for me to be 'shocked', I didn't even notice she had a teleprompter because I haven't seen her do anything that'll suggest that she's heavily using a teleprompter while performing onstage or singing her ballads live with her guitar.

Is there a problem that should concern me as part of the audience of the show I've paid to see if the show had a teleprompter in use? No. None at all. Will there be a problem, however, for me as someone who paid to see her sing live if more than 40% of the time the singer's eyes are fixed on the teleprompter while performing onstage and in the process the singer is no longer having an eye contact with us? If that's the case, then hell yeah.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that using a teleprompter as a back-up, whether it's upon the request of the singer or the production staff for whatever reason, isn't as bad as using a teleprompter excessively as an excuse of laziness or point-blank indifference to give back to the audience who paid to see the show live. 

[Spyro 8,438]

What at does it matter how many people you are performing in front of? What about Broadway performers? Is there some magic number where mistakes can't be made? 

Let me just say, there is usually way more choreography on theatre stages and way more dancing in musical theatre than most the pop artists on stage today. Most definitely more than Katy! (Not picking on her...but she doesn't do the kind of dancing you might see in community and regional musical theatre productions) 

If kids, teens and adults on theatre stages around the world can remember lines and roll with the mistakes, professional music artists should be able to handle the same kind of anxiety and pressure...actually get should be able to handle much more! 

​Gershwin Theatre (notable broadways: Wicked)- Max capacity: 1,933

Eugene O'Neill Theatre (notable broadways: Book of Mormon)- Max capacity: 1,102

Minskoff Theatre (notable broadways: The Lion King)- Max capacity: 1,615

 

Vs the stadiums Katy Perry did in the "Prismatic Tour"

Madison Square Garden- Sold 13,846 tickets

Perth Arena (in Australia) - Sold 29,153 tickets

Rogers Arena (in Vancouver) - Sold 27,462 tickets

 

So yeah, compared to Broadway actors, Katy Perry is performing over 15 times than the most popular broadways in New York.  And that's if they sell out every single one of their shows.  There is no magic number (and I never even said there was, I don't know why you even brought it up) but it's basically the overall atmosphere of how many people and how much focused is centered on you.  Obviously you're not going to tell me that a broadway star gets as much or more as attention as a very popular pop singer, huh?  The level of attention each one gets is nowhere near the same.  Again.  Stop.  Comparing.  Arenas to theatres.

[Whispering 18,865]

There is no magic number (and I never even said there was, I don't know why you even brought it up) but it's basically the overall atmosphere of how many people and how much focused is centered on you.  Obviously you're not going to tell me that a broadway star gets as much or more as attention as a very popular pop singer, huh?  The level of attention each one gets is nowhere near the same.  Again.  Stop.  Comparing.  Arenas to theatres.

I'm not the one who brought up the number of people at performances...you are. 

I never said a kid at community theatre had more attention than a pop star, just that they manage to memorize sometimes hundreds if lines for multiple shows every year  without the use of a teleprompter. I know kids in elementary school that are in multiple musicals every year and manage to memorize lines and songs for a different show every two months. I know some high school students who are in two shows at once! They are rehearsing for an upcoming show while performing five shows a weekend. They are simply examples that the human mind can retain and handle vast amounts of information, especially with much repetition. 

It doesn't matter if they are performing in front of 10 or a thousand people, they are still able to memorize hundreds of lines and many non-repetitive lyrics to songs, sometimes with complicated Choreography...over the course of a year. I might add, that most of these songs are not with backing tracks, but a live orchestra. somehow they handles all of this.

It's perfectly fine if Katy needs or wants to rely on a teleprompter from time to time, just like there are many seasoned professional music artists who don't rely on a teleprompter, both past and present. 

[Spyro 8,438]

I'm not the one who brought up the number of people at performances...you are. 

I never said a kid at community theatre had more attention than a pop star, just that they manage to memorize sometimes hundreds if lines for multiple shows every year  without the use of a teleprompter. I know kids in elementary school that are in multiple musicals every year and manage to memorize lines and songs for a different show every two months. I know some high school students who are in two shows at once! They are rehearsing for an upcoming show while performing five shows a weekend. They are simply examples that the human mind can retain and handle vast amounts of information, especially with much repetition. 

It doesn't matter if they are performing in front of 10 or a thousand people, they are still able to memorize hundreds of lines and many non-repetitive lyrics to songs, sometimes with complicated Choreography...over the course of a year. I might add, that most of these songs are not with backing tracks, but a live orchestra. somehow they handles all of this.

It's perfectly fine if Katy needs or wants to rely on a teleprompter from time to time, just like there are many seasoned professional music artists who don't rely on a teleprompter, both past and present. 

How many times do I have to tell you that performing in front of a few hundred people isn't the same as performing in front of a couple of THOUSAND people?  If you placed that same kid from the theatre in a full capacitated O2 arena immediatley, he might not have the same "confidence" as he was in the theatre and he might shutter and freeze a lot because he is being observed way more than he was before.  This also doesn't have sh** to do with memorization either.  This is about getting back on track from a "freeze up" and know IMMEDIATLEY where to pick up from and go from there without the teleprompter.

[Whispering 18,865]

How many times do I have to tell you that performing in front of a few hundred people isn't the same as performing in front of a couple of THOUSAND people?  If you placed that same kid from the theatre in a full capacitated O2 arena immediatley, he might not have the same "confidence" as he was in the theatre and he might shutter and freeze a lot because he is being observed way more than he was before.  This also doesn't have sh** to do with memorization either.  This is about getting back on track from a "freeze up" and know IMMEDIATLEY where to pick up from and go from there without the teleprompter.

How many times do I have to tell you I don't care if someone is performing in front of 1 or 10,000. The capacity to remember vast amounts of information is there in the human brain. If some people need back-ups or safety nets, that's cool, but not everyone does...and that includes amateurs and professionals. 

[ShockPop 7,747]

can't. Believe people are defending. It. Get some standards.

[Dominikko 355]

can't. Believe people are defending. It. Get some standards.

​Can't believe people are making a big deal out of this.