<\/p>\n
Now that 2025 is officially behind us, we have approximately 36 to 72 hours of peace before an influx of Ins and Outs lists are expected to hit the timeline. Normally we wouldn\u2019t bother contributing to such nonsense, but this year we\u2019re making an exception as we have but one plea for 2026: no more concert gimmicks.<\/p>\n
If you saw any major pop star perform live in 2025, you know what we\u2019re talking about. The arrests<\/a>. The Apple girls<\/a>. The Sallies<\/a>. At first, these moments were just harmless, elevated forms of crowd work created in service to a specific section of an artist\u2019s show. Sabrina Carpenter<\/a> cuffing fans for being too gorgeous, Charli XCX<\/a> shining the jumbo-screen spotlight on one lucky dancer, et cetera. But too much of a good thing won\u2019t be good for long, and now the pendulum has swung so far in the other direction that we\u2019ve somehow landed on Alex Warren stumbling his way through Zara Larsson\u2019s<\/a> \u201cLush Life\u201d choreography at Jingle Ball. Is nothing sacred anymore?<\/p>\n Part of why these stunts are no longer charming is because they feel like brazen attempts at manufacturing virality with other celebrities. In a recent episode of Saturday Night Live<\/a><\/em>, Lily Allen<\/a> invites Dakota Johnson<\/a> on stage for a performance of \u201cMadeline\u201d to embody the role of her ex husband\u2019s mistress. Johnson spends most of the song delivering a series of distressed text monologues from behind a sheer curtain before planting a kiss on Allen\u2019s cheek at the very end, a reveal that\u2019s met with uproarious applause from the audience (naturally). Given that Allen is set to take West End Girl<\/em> on the road next year, it stands to reason we haven\u2019t seen the last of the Madeline girl schtick.<\/p>\n