While accepting Variety's Triple Threat Award for her work as a singer, songwriter and performer, the Calgary pop star gave a nod to the 24-karat finale during her first-ever festival headline performances over the weekend.
The Calgary-born singer was honoured at Variety's Power of Young Hollywood gala in Los Angeles last night, where she accepted the Triple Threat Award from the magazine, in recognition of her work as a singer, songwriter and performer. In a heartfelt speech, McRae reflected upon her devotion to her hobbies, and how their transformation into a full-time job demanded lots of rigour and dedication.
"Writing poetry because I thought it was a fun way to get my feelings out somehow turned into me deciding I needed to graduate early, move to L.A. at 17 [and] attempt to become a singer full time. So I guess I have a slight problem with doing the most at all times. It's not like I was soaking in gold paint two days ago or anything," she joked, directly referencing her first-ever festival headline performances at Osheaga in Montreal and Lollapalooza in Chicago over the weekend.
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The blockbuster performance, a sleek 70-minute set packed with impressive choreography and a fiery succession of smash singles, capped off with an extravagant finale in which the singer dipped herself in a tub of liquid gold paint and emerged as an ornate human trophy. At Osheaga, that moment took place during "Sports Car" while fireworks illuminated the sky above. It was a fitting scene for the Canadian star to mark her ascension to festival headliner status in her home nation, and it actually came together thanks to hundreds of gallons of slime.
In an interview with People, Parker Genoway, one of the creative directors behind McRae's stellar new set, revealed that 600 gallons of skin-safe liquid were sourced for the stunt, which was intended to present the hitmaker as a “molten, gilded, untouchable statue." The solution was made by Wesley Goodrich and Blair Adhesives, the same company behind Nickelodeon's famous green slime, and travelled from Los Angeles to Montreal, before heading to Chicago the next day.
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“While discussing with Tate, Ludovic, Ignacio, Alex and I agreed that her latest festival performances deserved a truly astonishing finale; something that would leave audiences floored," Genoway explains.
He adds that their main goal was to raise the bar set by the singer's stellar 2025 VMA performance, a fiery number with a sand pit that recently scored an Emmy nomination for its athletic choreography. The Osheaga and Lollapalooza show notably re-used the revamped version of the song that was introduced at the VMAs, which enhanced the song's alarming synths with an extended intro and additional production. To blow that performance out of the water, the team added in the golden ending, plus thousands of fireworks, creating a scene where McRae would be illuminated "brighter than ever."
Tate McRae took the opportunity to remind the audience that she is "Canada down" at Osheaga, and Canada showed out for her performance. Her headlining stint proved to be a record-breaking moment for Osheaga, as the Tate-led Saturday sold out nearly three weeks in advance, the fastest an individual date has ever reached full capacity in Osheaga history. It was one of two sold-out dates that contributed to the festival's second-highest attendance ever, with 151,000 fans across three days.
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