nicki minaj causes a midtown meltdown
This week I received a mysterious invitation from Nokia.
The brand was throwing a bigtime event to celebrate the new Lumia 900 smartphone, but the only information they gave on the invite was ‘live performance in Times Square. 7pm sharp!’
Definitely a bossy invite– but it was too good to resist, so I went.
Times Square on a Friday night isn’t normally what you’d call a dream evening, but this weekend was different.
Besides the normal crowds and the actors dressed as Elmo, there was a big blue cube centerstage with a clock ticking down the minutes… until what?
To kill time and hoping to score some insider knowledge, I headed to the Nokia party, but they wouldn’t talk.
“It’s an amazing artist, someone who makes you sit up and take notice,” was all their marketing guru, Valerie Buckingham would tell me.
So I consoled myself with a cocktail and watched the room fill up while the clock counted down.
With 5 minutes to go I ran down to the street and pushed my way into the masses.
Then, there she was: the tiny powerhouse that is Nicki Minaj.
Dressed quite demurely for her royal Barbie-ness, in tiger print tights, black one piece and white shirt she took over Times Square in true Minaj style, complete with crystal encrusted microphone.
The crowd sang along while she whipped her blonde wig, and the CGI screens made the buildings come alive, in time to the new Lumia 900 remix of ‘Starships’.
Between all the water, the lava, and the flashes, it was almost like Time Square had officially become a 1980s video game.
But then all too soon, the cheers died down, the startled throngs drifted away and the sound of a busker’s saxophone could be heard once more.
It all felt like some kind of neon, hip-hop apparition and as I left I had to ask myself, ‘Did that really just happen?’
– WENDY DOUGLAS
Check out Nicki’s performance at www.facebook.com/NokiaUS and check out the Lumia 900 at www.nokia.com/Lumia_900
