by Albert Rodriguez - SGN A&E Writer

ARIANA GRANDE
KEY ARENA
April 14

This is the time when many 21 year-olds begin preparing for college finals and applying for summer internships. But not Ariana Grande. This barely legal, native Floridian is six weeks into a world tour, performing to thousands of screaming fans in large sports arenas across North America, Europe, and Asia. Earlier in the week, she appeared on 'RuPaul's Drag Race' as a guest judge, assisting Mama Ru narrow the field of contestants down to eight.

Grande, who nabbed two Grammy nominations in December, one for her sophomore album My Everything and another for an all-female collaboration with Nicki Minaj and Jessie J ('Bang Bang'), is often referred to as the new or next Mariah Carey because of her powerful four-octave vocal range and fashion style - mini skirts, high heels, low-cut dresses. Also, both women shot to music superstardom around the same age, though Grande had already established a name for herself as a stage and television actress, most noticeably on Nickelodeon's teen sitcom 'Victorious,' which completed a four season run in 2013. My Everything, meanwhile, has produced four hit singles, 'Problem' (featuring Iggy Azalea), 'Break Free' (featuring Zedd), 'Love Me Harder' (featuring The Weeknd), and 'One Last Time.' I assume all of these songs will be performed live at Key Arena, when the pop princess brings 'The Honeymoon Tour' to Seattle on April 14.

It's worth re-mentioning that Grande is a huge LGBT community supporter, partly because her brother Frankie is openly Gay. But she's also been outspoken about leaving the Catholic church due to its opposition of same-sex marriage and its outdated practices. She and Frankie have now turned to Kabbalah. 'Break Your Heart Back,' a track from her platinum-selling album, is about a guy who dumps his girlfriend for another guy, a situation she's 99.9 percent sure has happened to her before. In an August 2014 interview with The Advocate, Grande stated 'I would rather he cheats on me with a guy than with a girl any day! If I found out my boyfriend was gay, I would be like 'OK!' I'd be so relieved.' The song includes a sample of Diana Ross' 'I'm Coming Out' and features rapper Childish Gambino.

Tickets for Ariana Grande can be purchased at www.livenation.com, or any Ticketmaster location. Any remaining tickets on day of show will be available at the Key Arena box office. Seattle Gay News is hoping to attend the concert and review it for next week's issue.

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