The intoxicating aroma of Katy Perry’s cherry chapstick will enchant San Jose this month. The Santa Barbara native is bringing her fireworks to the HP Pavilion on August 12th.

Many recognize this bubblegum diva’s distinct style. Her lyrics are saucy and tongue-in-cheek. Her clothes are brightly colored and flaunt fruits and sweets. Her albums are filled with theme songs to those who get “Carpe Diem” tats on their arms and find themselves somehow waking up in Vegas. With the way her success is going, Perry is definitely more hot than cold.

Perry has proven that she’s not the typical California Gurl. Raised by two evangelical pastors, Katy Hudson felt empowered to leave high school and release a Christian gospel album in 2001. Forlorn at the disc’s lack of success, she decided to go the pop route and changed her name to Katy Perry so as not to be confused with actress Kate Hudson.

Perry’s immense success can’t just be attributed to her Italian opera studies. Her recipe for fame consists of two teaspoons of endurance, a dash of luck, and eight cups of talent. Her teenage dream came true due to her extraterrestrial ability to write hit song after hit song. Perry’s second mainstream album was one of nine albums in history to produce four or more number ones on the Hot 100, which ultimately led to her crowning as the first musician in history to spend an entire year on the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.

But this sunny-faced pop-star isn’t just a one-trick pony. The contralto singer has been dabbling with acting in Hollywood, as well. Although her husky singing voice has now become memorable and identifiable to many, Perry’s speaking voice is quite different. Her childish tone drips with so much sweetness that it almost sounds sarcastic. She plays Smurfette in the new summer movie The Smurfs, and earlier this year she made a hilarious cameo as a naïve, unassuming girl on the comedy series How I Met Your Mother.

Being a multitalented superstar is not easy, but Katy Perry might just one-up the Sharks at HP next week. And even though the candy-coated celebrity lives like there’s no tomorrow, this definitely won’t be her last Friday night in the spotlight.

Katy Perry
Friday at 7:30pm
$35 to $45
HP Pavilion, San Jose