Examining Pink's High Flying Trapeze Act

By Jo Piazza Posted Feb 2nd 2010 06:21PM

Musicians get a lot of flack for lip-synching and generally faking their way through awards shows. Now everyone has Pink to thank for setting the bar even higher on Sunday night when she not only sang live onstage, she did it while performing amazing feats of circus-style acrobatics, high above the stage, soaking wet.

Yup, the singer belted out her single, 'Glitter in the Air' during her aerial acrobatic routine in which she spun from silk drapes whilst suspended in the air, sounding even better than she does on her album.

How does she do it? And what risks is she taking? PopEater asks the experts.

"Other than intense dance training and aerobic training I don't think there is any way to train for something that is so demanding. That was truly a fantastic feat. Not only for the acrobatics but also the singing...and upside down. This was truly one for the books," says veteran dancer David Lee, creator of KD Dance dancewear.

With dancers suspended above her under a canopy, Pink climbed into a white sheet and was lifted into the air. High above the stage she spun through the air, never missing a beat of her song.

Water showered her from above (in her nearly nude body suit) as she began a series of acrobatic feats culminating in spin that made even audience members dizzy.

This wasn't the first time that Pink, a former gymnast, wowed an awards show audience with her acrobatic prowess. She famously flew high above Radio City Music Hall in a trapeze act at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2009 and her Grammy routine is something she has been perfecting on the road during her FunHouse tour.

The training that goes into a routine like Pink's is intense and multifaceted.

"Yoga strap training, strength training, and endurance are all part of the training. That was a truly unique routine," Lee says.

The answer to the question everyone was asking (after, why was she wet?) is: yes, Pink's acrobatics could be as dangerous as they look.

"Anything can be dangerous if you don't know how to do it correctly and accidents can happen at any time. But both Pink and the producers of the show had to be very confident in her abilities to perform that routine or I doubt it would have been allowed or more telling, insured," says Trish Connery, publisher of DanceChatter.com.

But even the seemingly unfazable Pink was a little nervous on the Grammy stage.

"When I do it [on tour], I don't have lights above me," the singer told PEOPLE after the performance. "Tonight, there were lights above me, so it almost went into a strobe thing, and I actually did get a little turned around." As she was lowered to the ground, she thought: "I was going to fall on my nude butt. But I worked it out."

Tags: pink

Comments

(33)

Tuesday 02 February

By leroy

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If she fell and cracked her manlady head open then that would be news.Some other noteworthy news is..UH UH UH FIRST AGAIN !! YEAHHHHH UH UH UH WHAT ?? WHAT ??

By Deb

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"Cracked her manlady head"?? Did you write that with your girlyman arms. LOL!!

By darlene

uh,you read the article genius.apparently you thought it was important enough to read it.go ahead and admit it,you liked the performance.pink is awesome.hell she sang better hanging upside down than taylor swift did standing on her own two feet.and pink is beautiful.and manlady head?what are you,five?

By Timaay

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She is not the prettiest girl at the ball, but man is she sexy!

By dogs4donna

Pink is awesome and beautiful. she has a great voice and her music, alot of people can relate to. She is very gifted and works very hard on her performances. No I am not a teenager, in fact I'm a grandmother!

By Evelyn

I'm a great Grandma and I think she was totally awesome!

By Shirley

I am also a great grandma and I agree she was great and most important, intertaining!!!!!!!!!!!!

By Big E

That was the best grammy act ever. Several guys were salivating, and many of the women were looking at her like they wanted to do the same thing. Classy.

By Scott

Best Performance at The Grammys. Not only can Pink sing live (unlike some others at The Grammys) she is talented and soooo sexy....

By JO DAY

AGREE 110% SHE IS ONE OF A KIND....

By april

I thought Pink's performance was the best I have seen since I can remember. Not only was her singing beautiful and moving, but the aerial gymnastics were show-stopping. I loved every second of the performance. I wish I could look, sing or perform like that, much less do all three-at once!!

By biancamarz

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She is so amazing. This performance is incredible and so is her entire FunHouse show. I love how she sang live and did it beautifully and I can't imagine the amount of hard work that went into learning the skill to pull the things she does off. Absolutely wonderful.

By legeagle2

Pink is awesome!! What a tremendous all-round talent. After watching Pink's performance, one has to wonder how on earth a gimpy-voiced singer like Taylor Swift wins any awards. The talent level between those two are like night and day.

By Steven

Pink blows away inferior talent like Taylor Swift.

By ary

The John-Gaga piano duel was a winner, no contest. Beyonce had many moments of glory. Why the multi-untalented Swift was so highly favored is a debate for the ages. And yes, Pink, the stand-alone stepchild here, was truly amazing. Though the waterworks were, well, all wet, she did not leave the audience high and dry, and in fact, performed admirably beyond the call of beauty; but for some reason, failed to ignite or excite, despite the Olympic-caliber pyrotechnics. As the lone wolf against the multiplatinum Beyonce-Gaga-Swift axis, Pink, sadly but an afterthought against the monster fame machines so much in evidence, was not quite up to contendership. With the deck thus stacked against her -- and Beyonce alone had quite a stack -- Pink's genius was (unfairly) overlooked. (Sh)it happens, and in this instance, (sh)it should've happened to a more deserving girl than Pink.

By David B. Guy1959

When you live life on the edge of no where, it's very easy to find the bad quality's in ever body. Pink and Taylor are from two different age group's. Pink has A lot more experence than Taylor. If Pink can't do better than Taylor then what was she there for ? Grow up and find the good quality's in ever body. It's how much money you are bringing that the Grammy's go by. So don't look for the bad in people, look for the good and you will feel better about your self.

Wednesday 03 February

By claudia

Pink is beautiful and her perfomance was great! She should have been the one recieving the awards that Swift recieved for singing badly. I am pretty sure Pink practiced and took her caces up in the air like that. She looked as though she has done this kind of thing before. Go Pink!

By JoyRptr

There are so many "singers" out there who make it on looks alone (and voice synthesizers). Pink is beautiful, unique, talented...the total package.

By lori519

Taylor Swift gets on my nerves. Her albums are "pop"ular but she has a difficult time singing live. It always sounds as if she is off key or out of breath. Kanye West was the best thing that happened to her and for that I truly dislike him. She has talent but at 18 the world does not revolve around her. Beyonce performed well and I laughed when the part in her hair never moved, gotta love the wig. LOVED Bon Jovi and Nettles. Gaga and Elton were fabulous and it really showcased her vocals. Green Day performing with the stage performers of American Idiot were also wonderful (Love Green Day in anything they do). I even enjoyed the Michael Jackson tribute. The act that totally blew me away and the concert that blew me away was and is PINK. She is amazing and I was glad to see her trapeze act. When I saw her in concert for the FunHouse tour she was recovering from a separated shoulder so she scaled down the trapeze act. It was fantastic and a Grammy worthy performance. I wish she received the Grammy but considering who she was up against it was a slim chance although I held out hope after seeing Green Day win over U2. The Grammy awards always surprise me but this years was by far the best in entertainment.

By ANA

PINK YOU ROCK I LOVE THE NEW ALBUM

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