Sabrina Carpenter scurries across the stage of London’s O2 in only a towel, unprepared for her show to begin, before disappearing into the wings. Soon after, in a moment that’s been spliced, diced and gone viral on social media since the (miniature) pop behemoth’s Short n’ Sweet tour began in America in September, Carpenter emerges again and opens up her towel to reveal a bejewelled Betty Boop-style bodysuit. Tonight, it’s cobalt blue coloured. She’s wearing her signature nude-coloured tights, her hair is a platinum blonde blowout. She tries to catch the crystal-covered microphone dangling above her but, at only five feet tall, she can’t reach.
These mechanical mishaps are part of the Carpenter playbook. Don’t be fooled: this Pennsylvania-born singer has meticulously crafted this mammoth production, which celebrates the most successful year of her decade-long career. A graduate of Disney sitcoms, Carpenter began releasing teen bops when she was just 15, before swapping the Disney-owned Hollywood Records for Island and releasing her first grown-up record – Emails I Can’t Send – in 2022. By 2023, Carpenter was co-signed by pop’s high priestess Taylor Swift, who asked Carpenter to be the support act on her world-conquering Eras tour. Now 25 and winner of two Grammys – for her blockbuster 2024 album Short n’ Sweet – she is one of the biggest forces in modern pop. (And she’s oddly controversial: her Brit Awards performance last week, in which she feigned pleasuring a Beefeater, drew 825 complaints to Ofcom.)
