by Emma Kirchhoff
The Return of Popstars
The early 2000s were an era like no other. Although most of us weren’t even alive for the
Y2K era we all have grown to appreciate it. With the main divas like Brittany Spears, Avril
Lavigne, and Hillary Duff, artists today have a lot to live up to. After the craze of Brittany Spears
the age of modern day popstars took a steep decline. No one was able to perform like Brittany.
From the iconic music videos to the scandalous on stage performances Brittany could do it all.
So as our childhood began, the decline of Brittany already commenced. Who could ever take her
place? As we went through our disney channel era and thought Tori Vega was the most amazing
popstar to ever live, these popstars were developing their talents and getting ready to break the
internet with their Brittany influences. Here are a few of the women who are reinventing the term
popstar.
Tate McRae
Tate McRae started as a preteen/teenage youtuber vlogging her days at dance class in her
hometown of Calgary, Alberta. With her amazing dance history and insanely talented musical
ability she has taken the internet by storm. She first went viral at only 16 years old with her song
“You Broke Me First”. This song laid the groundwork for her as an artist and set her up for the
success she has today. As of recently her chart toppers “Greedy” and “Exes” have taken over
tiktok and the pop realm. Not only do the music videos have a clear Brittany influence but her
recent performances are just electric. When watching McRae perform I am absolutely
mesmerized by her stage presence and cannot take my eyes off of her for the whole duration of
the performance. Everything from her outfits to her confidence is clearly derived from the 2000s
era of pop. McRae’s recent performance at the 2024 NHL All-Star game was completely
reminiscent of Brittany’s stage presence and left viewers in awe. I think McRae definitely has
many more hits coming in the future and this will not be the last we hear of her.
Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa’s ‘big break’ happened in 2017 with the release of her self-titled debut album.
Her songs “IDGAF” and “New Rules” are the most notable from this release and were all over
the radio during the time. Following this album, she was nominated for “Best New Artist” at the
2018 grammys and secured the win. This was not the end of her experience with the grammys as
she has now been nominated for 10 in her career. For the 2024 grammys Lipa opened the night
with a performance of her newest singles “Training Season”, “Houdini”, and “Dance the Night”.
This performance was a true show, the use of props as well as intense choreography made for a
showstopper opening and truly did not disappoint. Her growth over the years is honestly
mind-blowing seeing as in 2018 her dancing was a meme across every social media platform, but
this didn’t stop her. Now her dancing is inspiring to many and her stage presence is off the charts.
In addition to the Grammys, Lipa recently performed at the 2024 Brit Awards and blew
the crowd away. Dua Lipa is arguably one of the top pop-stars in the world currently and it is
clearly deserved from all the hard work and determination she has presented. I would love to see
even more choreographed numbers and am eager for her new album coming this year
Sabrina Carpenter
Most people may know Sabrina Carpenter from the Disney Channel show “Girl Meets
World” but she is much more than a Disney star. The Disney Channel actress to popstar pipeline
is very familiar but Carpenter has taken it to new heights. Her first single “Can’t Blame a Girl for
Trying” was a pop-hit for pre-teens at the time and kickstarted her career in music. She then
released her first album at only 15 years old while she was still on the aforementioned show.
With many ex-Disney stars there seems to be a pattern of trying to stay in the arena of the
pre-teen fanbase but Sabrina fell out of that almost as soon as she left Disney. With her most
recent album released in 2022, “Emails I Can’t Send”, her fanbase skyrocketed. With tiktok
being at its peak, of course multiple of her songs were viral on the platform. Her hits “Nonsense”
and “Feather” were all over ‘For You’ pages for months. Clips from Carpenter’s headlining tour
the “Emails I Can’t Send Tour” showcased her little choreographed moments from “Feather” as
well as her unique lyrics at the end of her song “Nonsense”. These types of clips are still
circulated today as her success has led her to open for Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour”. She is known
as a “pop-star polly pocket” for her adorable outfits and her amusing stage presence. With her
rapidly growing fan base she could be on to amazing things in the near future.
Honorable mentions:
Reneé Rapp
Madison Beer
Here is a personally curated playlist of the “poppiest” songs from these artist’s discographies.