Lene Nystrom, lead singer of Euro-pop band Aqua Perth, reportedly shocked concertgoers when she changed into pajamas and cried while she performed.
Aqua Perth is best known for their hit single, “Barbie Girl,” and saw major success when the song was released in 1997. The band kicked off their Australian tour in Perth at Metro City Thursday, but things didn’t go as planned, according to The New York Post.
Radio producer Shelby Brady from Mix 94.5 reportedly described the bizarre performance on “Pete and Kymba for Breakfast,” Friday morning, and told the hosts the performance was “instantly bad.” It progressively became even worse when Nystrom exited the stage, took off her leather pants and traded them in for pajamas before reappearing, according to the outlet. When she reportedly debuted her sleepwear, she also cried on stage.
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Attendees described the concert as being “awkward” and “horrendous” after noticing a series of strange incidents that left them utterly confused, according to the New York Post.
Brady reportedly said the tone was set at the very beginning of the show, when the screen behind the band read, “Hello Adelaide,” the first of many blunders they would contend with that evening.
‘Barbie Girl’ band Aqua leaves concert-goers stunned after lead singer performs crying in her pajamas: ‘Floundering’ https://t.co/5Z5GObc03p pic.twitter.com/J2EQLvnwgm
— New York Post (@nypost) March 22, 2024
She described the performance of their first song, “Cartoon Heroes” as being a “vibe,” but Brady said things took a sudden turn when Nystrom abruptly left the stage, leaving fans to wonder what went wrong, the outlet reported.
“You could see that the main woman (Lene Nystrom) was taking her headpiece out throughout the song but it didn’t seem like a big issue,” she reportedly said.
“She walks off and she’s the lead singer so they have to continue without her.”
The radio producer went on to say the rest of the singers in the group were “floundering” and eventually left the stage for a whole hour, leaving fans confused and frustrated, according to the outlet.
AQUA singer Lene Nystrom arrives at European Film Awards at Forum on December 6, 2008 in Copenhagen, Denmark Photo by Thorsten Overgaard/Getty Images
“It’s so awkward, nobody knows what’s happening,” she said, according to the New York Post.
Just when things seemed to have hit their lowest point, Nystrom reportedly reemerged on stage, visibly upset, and wearing her pajama pants.
“They come back on at 10 pm. The lead female singer was wearing pleather before, she’s dressed out of that and she’s now in her actual pajamas,” Brady explained to the hosts, the outlet reported.
“She was crying … heavy breathing for the whole time and that was for the entire hour performing.”
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“Do you think it might have started as a sound issue? But to me that sound’s like she’s having a bit of an episode,” radio host Kymba Cahill replied, the New York Post reported.
“If you go from your tight pleather outfit and you’re off stage for an hour and you come back crying and in your pajamas that indicates something has gone wrong. She’s not okay.” (RELATED: Taylor Swift Stumbles Down Stairs During Concert Two Days After Nearly Falling Off Chair)
Nystrom has since posted to her Instagram page, but made no mention of the odd moments throughout the night.
“🫧 Perth – you were Perth-fect 🫧 Next up – Adelaide 🇦🇺” she wrote to Instagram, Friday.