JoJo Shows Confidence and Maturity in Her Mad Love Tour

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Darius Cornejo, Contributing Writer

R&B singer JoJo continued her Mad Love tour March 22 at the Plaza Live in Orlando, performing personal ballads and nostalgic tunes. The 26-year-old pop singer was shining with confidence and passion. It was evident that she was showing a more mature side with more explicit language and mature themes in her new songs. She even performed a lap dance during the show.

Joanna Bladen, or JoJo, born in Vermont, but raised in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, started her singing career at eight-years-old. She finally boosted into fame when she released her now gold-certified debut single, “Leave (Get Out)” in 2004. Since then, she has released three albums, including her Mad Love album, and five extended plays.

At the beginning of the concert, the audience was frustrated at first. The doors opened at 7pm for the 8pm show. It was to the audience’s surprise that someone was opening for JoJo. Albert Stanaj, or simply Stanaj, is a 20-year-old singer/songwriter who has previously worked with rapper Drake. He opened with a few songs and he was very well-received by the audience. Unfortunately, after only about twenty-five minutes, he left the stage and the audience stood waiting for JoJo, who finally appeared at 9 pm. “I honestly felt disappointed,” said Samantha Ferrer, 19, “I expected her to be right after Stanaj, but she took until nine to go on.”

JoJo was very connected to the audience, giving a brief backstory or meaning of several of the songs. The audience sang along to nearly every song.

One of the highlights of the show was when JoJo brought one of her VIP audience members up on the stage and gave him a brief lap dance while performing “High Heels.” She then continued the sexy mood with other hot songs including “Reckless” and “Edibles.”

Mid-show, she took a break to thank the audience. She shared that this show was not only dedicated to them, but also to Christina Grimmie, a singer who was shot to death on June 10 during an autograph session at the Plaza Live.

Mariah Santiago, 20, said “The show was really awesome. She looked so good and I felt like I was back in middle school again with all the throwbacks. Definitely would come back to see her again.” She ended the show with her most popular songs, including “FAB,” “F*** Apologies,” and “Mad Love.”

After her show, she introduced everyone who had helped her that night including the backup vocals, the guitarist, the pianist, and the drummer. After she left the stage, the audience demanded an encore and she came back for one more song, “Good Thing.”