The queer icon packed a punch at her latest show
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE PROVIDED
The entire crowd is watching Jojo Siwa with bated breath. She is grinning mischievously as the music has stopped midway through her hit song Karma. There is only one thing that will follow this. As Jojo brings her iconic dance to the intimate stage in Hoxton, the crowd throws itself up in riotous joy.
Jojo Siwa is everywhere you look right now. The Dance Moms alum and Big Brother star has had a firm chokehold on popular culture since the release of her first “adult” music video Karma last year. For LGBTQIA+ audiences in particular, Jojo has always held a soft spot in queer culture. Whether it be her claim she created “gay pop” or her rejection of labels, she has been providing the visibility we didn’t know we needed. Love her or hate her, as she says herself, she is our “guilty pleasure”.
Since her rollercoaster ride in the Big Brother house, Jojo returned to the UK for her headline show at Colours in Hoxton yesterday (26 May). Packed to the brim of fans — both old and new — the energy from the crowd was electric from the get-go. Bows, glitter and even light-up shoes filled the room, buzzing with anticipation for the main attraction to leap onto the stage. Frenzy was momentarily caused when Jojo’s rumoured beau and former Big Brother housemate Chris Hughes snuck into the back of the room to watch the show. In a room so intimate, it was quite hard for him to hide from the riotous cheering that welcomed his arrival.
And then the moment came. Resplendent in an iconic bejewelled outfit, Jojo finally came on stage. Jumping straight into some of her beloved tracks like new song Bulletproof, there was absolutely no denying that Jojo knows how to put on a show. With a group of backing dances equally as bedazzled as her, Jojo moved through her tracks with all the composure of a true professional.
As a lifelong Dance Moms fan, I knew that I would be blown away by the dancing and singing. But as Jojo joked with the crowd, opened up candidly about how she has been feeling more like herself recently, and even tried (and failed) to get the London crowd to cheer on Sunderland — Chris Hughes’ team — it was hard to not fall in love with Jojo. Her warmth and genuine appreciation for the crowd was almost spellbinding. While the show was mostly about performing hits like Karma and Guilty Pleasure, she kept the room alive with fun games testing Dance Moms trivia and even an impressive drum solo.
Jojo is definitely all grown up – that much is clear from the suggestive lyrics, twerking and body rolls that we saw on stage. But she still has a deep appreciation for her child star roots. Closing the show with a rendition of her hit Boomerang, it was hard not to be drawn into her infectious zest for life. To the haters, karma is most certainly a bitch. It’s time to jump on the Jojo train because she’s certainly not going anywhere.
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