Coachella 2022: Anitta fans from Brazil to California show up in force for Weekend 2

Amanda Ulrich, Palm Springs Desert Sun
·2 min read

Anitta, one of the biggest pop stars in Brazil, showed festivalgoers in the California desert how she earned that title on Friday with larger-than-life set pieces, many costume changes and a fleet of neon-clad backup dancers.

Unlike Weekend 1 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, when the 29-year-old singer brought out surprise guests Snoop Dogg, Saweetie and Diplo, Anitta relied on the strength of her own fandom the second time around.

And those fans showed up in full force, packing the area in front of the main stage and chanting: "Anitta, Anitta, Anitta." Many held up Brazilian flags and sported shirts with her name scrawled across the back.

Anitta performs on the main stage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., on April 22, 2022.
Anitta performs on the main stage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., on April 22, 2022.

Both weekends, Anitta began her 45-minute set in front of a row of fake buildings modeled to look like Brazilian favelas, or the Rio de Janeiro neighborhoods where Anitta grew up and first got her start as a singer. But the stage design changed quickly, later morphing into a graffiti-style backdrop and then a huge wall of speakers.

Anitta switched her outfits just as quickly, rotating from a two-piece set in the colors of the Brazilian flag, to a sparkly bodysuit with a wide-open back, to a pair of bedazzled denim shorts and matching top.

The singer has recorded songs in her native Portuguese, Spanish and, most recently, English, with songs like "Faking Love," "Girl from Rio" and "Boys Don't Cry," all of which she sang Friday.

Part of the set design for Anitta's performance, created to look like a Brazilian favela, is pictured at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., on April 22, 2022.
Part of the set design for Anitta's performance, created to look like a Brazilian favela, is pictured at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., on April 22, 2022.

Lesley Jimenez, one of the many people who packed in front of the stage for Anitta's show on Friday, was watching the concert with her niece. The duo from Indio said some of their older relatives started listening to Anitta's music when she began releasing songs in Spanish. Jimenez found Anitta on TikTok.

"She started singing Spanish music, and she sings in three different languages," Jimenez said. "That's pretty cool."

Anitta has been nominated for several Latin Grammy awards and has released four studio albums.

"Hi, world, welcome to Brazil," Anitta wrote on Twitter after her first Coachella set last Friday. "This is my country. Just wanna say many, many, many thanks. ... Nothing I say here can describe properly what happened in so many lives yesterday in so many different aspects."

Fans crowded the front of the stage before and after Anitta performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., on April 22, 2022.
Fans crowded the front of the stage before and after Anitta performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., on April 22, 2022.

Amanda Ulrich writes for The Desert Sun as a Report for America corps member. Reach out on Twitter at @AmandaCUlrich.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella 2022: Anitta fans turn out in force for Weekend 2

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