"There was a
kid who I met backstage who was rather chatty, but adorable," Perry
recalled. "He was really sweet. He was 19. He had such a good heart. He
said, 'Yes, ma'am' to me. 'Yes ma'am!' I was like, 'O.K.! Yes, sir!'"A VH1
publicist estimated an audience of 27,000 attended the nearly three-hour taping
of the concert Friday night at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar.
The
show, which airs Sunday night, features a bounty of what the network has dubbed
"divas" - female or female-lead musical acts, including established
stars such as Heart, Paramore and Sugarland, as well as hot newcomers Grace
Potter and The Nocturnals, Keri Hilson and Nicki Minaj. But if one diva emerged
supreme, it was Perry, who both opened and closed the show, and performed solo
or with others on a half-dozen songs - twice that of anyone else in the lineup.
"I really had to live up to the definition of a 'diva' in all senses of
the word," Perry joked. "So, I had to be very difficult today, and
late," she continued, adding that she was really neither. Perry went on to
reference Beyonce's song "Diva," then proceeded to lose the lyric.
"Blaaah! Obviously I'm not Beyonce," Perry laughed. "She is the
true diva." Perry closed the show with her current smash
"Firework," which concluded, appropriately, with a fireworks display.
For that finale, Perry wore a cherry-red beaded gown with thigh-high slit that
looked as if it was borrowed from Jessica Rabbit's closet.
"You know me, I
love vintage," Perry explained. "I love pinup girls. So, I tried to
recreate that. I think any army guy has a soft spot for a girl that can be
painted on their plane."
