New York is preparing to welcome an event that has now become routine in the Big Apple: a new look-alike contest. After those of the past few months dedicated to Adam Sandler, Pedro Pascal and Timothée Chalamet (who also showed up at the event), now comes the one for those who most resemble Chappell Roan, the American singer who in recent months has won an increasingly large audience thanks to her colorful and theatrical pop. The initiative is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 20, at noon in the spaces of RiseNY, a stone’s throw from Times Square, and is raffling off a coveted prize: two tickets to Roan’s concert at Forest Hills Stadium on Sept. 23, the New York leg of her “Visions of Damsels & Other Dangerous Things” mini-tour.
Participants are invited to present themselves with the artist’s signature traits, from close-cropped red hair and bright makeup to the eccentric outfits that characterize her stage style. The event is designed as a competition, but also as a gathering opportunity for fans, who have renamed their community the “Pink Pony Club,” a name taken from one of the singer’s signature songs.
Chappell Roan, a Missouri native, has built much of her artistic identity by interweaving music and visual performance. Her imagery of powerful female figures and glamorous atmospheres finds fertile ground in New York, a city that historically welcomes pop phenomena capable of blending entertainment and self-mockery. The choice of a pageant of then falls within an all-American tradition, and these events have often been used as tools of promotion and aggregation, from Elvis Presley to Madonna.
Access to tickets for his shows also followed unconventional ways. Over the summer, some admissions were raffled off through an online lottery, which one could enter to hope for a random selection. Part of the proceeds, then, went to support trans communities, which Roan herself acknowledges play a central role in her artistic journey.
The concert at Forest Hills Stadium is part of a short run of fall dates, all of which have already sold out. For fans left without tickets, Saturday’s contest thus represents one of the few opportunities to enter the live world of Chappell Roan. And, as is often the case in pop culture, dressing up as the artist also becomes a way to get closer to his universe and celebrate his aesthetic with other fans.
The article Another look-alike contest today in New York comes from TheNewyorker.
