Bringing $leazy back to Vancouver Ke$ha’s night of debauchery and glitter at Rogers Arena By Allie Davison midst the masses of glitter, leopard print, neon short-shorts and golden novelty glasses, Ke$ha hit the stage at Rogers Arena last Friday night in what can only be described as a hot mess. In a show that had everything from a giant, dancing phallus, an Elmo pifiata, and glitter cannons firing off into the audience, with a little singing mixed in, Ke$ha was definitely able to please the young crowd of party-hungry Vancouverites. From the second she stormed on stage wearing a glitter onesie, the crowd was out of their seats and dancing. Already pumped to party from openers Spank Rock and LMFAO, the crowd held nothing back: singing along with the pop-rock star through hit tracks such as “Sleazy” and “Blah Blah Blah.” The mood of the arena shifted around the halfway mark of the concert when Ke$ha dialled things back a bit to prove she can actually sing. Her ballads Bind. “Animal” and “The Harold Song” had everyone relaxing in their seats, waiting for the next dance party to start. However, the crowd didn’t have to wait long before Ke$ha dragged a (willing) male from the audience and taped him to a chair. She then gave him a lap dance, while singing “Grow a Pear.” Cue dancing phallus, balls and all. Amongst proclamations of Vancouver being “the best mother-f--king city” on the tour, Ke$ha closed the show down with crowd pleasers “Dinosaur,” “Your Love Is My Drug” and “Tik Tok.” Ke$ha returned to the stage for one last hit, “We R Who We R,” before surrendering the stage to a singing, dancing Santa who quickly cleared out the stadium by covering the Beastie Boys “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!).” Overall, the show was a mix between a crazy dance party and high school kegger. Although good times were had by all, you probably needed to be completely hammered to appreciate the whole experience. A TIFF call What can we expect from the 36" Toronto International Film Festival? By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor his past summer has certainly been a | strange one for movies. Pixar released a legitimate stinker with Cars 2, Rise of the Planet of the Apes was actually good, and save for the final Harry Potter, it felt as though the rest were either sleeper hits or, oddly enough, sleeper misses. Before we can say. that the times are a-changing, TIFF needs to happen. TIFF, or the Toronto International Film Festival, is the annual game changer in the film world. Save for the lucky few of every summer movie season (this year’s most likely including HP7, Super 8, and Kung Fu Panda 2... yes, you read that right), the films that make it to the Academy Awards often become buzz-worthy through TIFF. ; The film selection of this year’s festival is definitely a mixed bag. Already the big questions are being asked, such as whether or not the premiere of Francis Ford Coppola’s (The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now) Twixt will be another for the history books. Some questions have already been answered though, such as with Madonna’s W.E, which she directed all by herself! As the festival has only opened a day prior to the writing of this article, it’s too soon to be cynical. Films of all sorts are premiering or are being viewed by a wider audience. The goal is to find out which of these films the audience has the most faith in. TIFF has always been audience driven, as its most prestigious award is the People’s Choice. The films that have won in the past have not always been critically acclaimed, and only four (Chariots of Fire, American Beauty, Slumdog Millionaire, and The King’s Speech) have received the Academy Award for Best Picture. 5 Really, judging by its past winners, it all comes down to which films make the majority think and feel more. As of right now, it’s hard to say which that will be. Last year was an easy choice as The King’s Speech had already generated a fair amount of attention, if not based on buzz, then on the fact that it’s one of the ultimate feel-good movies. With this year’s selection, as with this year’s summer movies, an unusual amount of films seem to be playing it safe in both content and information being released. By the end of this year’s TIFF, this will either mean a number of surprise hits, or it’l] put all the attention on the risk takers. TIFF will run from September 8-18, with the winner of the People’s Choice to be announced after. : Potential Oscar Bait: Pedro Almodévar’s The Skin I Live In, Joseph Cedar’s Footnote, David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s The Kid with a Bike, Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation, and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb and Jafar Panahi’s This is not a Film.