Justin Bieber and Rihanna double-teamed the Victoria Secret Fashion Show this year. Justin Bieber performed both As Long As You Love Me and Beauty and the Beast in an all-white ensemble so extensive it even featured a vest. Rihanna took the stage looking like a femme fatale straight out of an anime episode to sing Diamonds and closed it down with the first live performance of Fresh Off the Runway.
This televised event has long been a chance to reveal the newest array of bra and panty sets worn by the world’s sexiest women, but it has a long history as a pop music event as well. In years past Kanye West has played center stage while buxom beauties strutted their stuff, Katy Perry donned a one-piece showing plenty of cleavage and her gorgeous legs, and Justin Timberlake once brought the house down by bringing Sexy Back.
Back during Timberlake’s performance, he was the guy teenage girls dreamt of. Now, Bieber is quickly moving on from being a safe pre-teen obsession to declaring his manhood for his potential teenage fans. First he had them swooning with an acoustic performance of As Long As You Love Me. Second he ended it on a high-note with Beauty and the Beast. Plenty of the audience watching these performances will likely be interested in his Bieber tickets for the rest of his Believe Tour before he leaves for Europe in February.
Ri Ri has her own album and her own upcoming tour dates to plug. Of course, this performance was about more than pimping out Unapologetic and filling venues for the Diamonds World Tour concert dates. This was about stealing the spotlight from the models. She has already stolen the spotlight from a performer like Beyonce and really, she just had to prove she could do it again.