
Katy Perry played the part of a prize fighter to close out the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, as the pop superstar held court in the center of an outdoor boxing ring to perform her new single, “Roar,” for the first time live.
Located in Empire-Fulton Ferry Park near the Brooklyn Bridge, a few miles from the Barclays Center, Perry’s performance found the singer with her black hair in a double braid and with her brow furrowed, looking determined to end the ceremony on a high note. “I got the eye of the tiger!” Perry declared while being surrounded by a slew of dancers and sporting boxing trunks that read “ROAR.”
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Eventually, Perry was bestowed with a gold belt, and signs that read “Game” and “Over” were held up. “Thank you Brooklyn! Good night” was all the singer — who earlier in the evening described her performance as “rough, tough and ready to rumble” — told the crowd before the show ended.
“Roar” blasted to No. 2 on the Hot 100 last week in its second week on the chart, and would be her eighth No. 1 single if it eventually reached the summit. “Prism,” Perry’s third studio album, is due out on Oct. 22.