It wasn’t long ago when people were chiming with excitement about the concert of the world-headlining artist Enrique which had been scheduled as part of his ‘Sex and Love’ Tour. However, this excitement went through a rollercoaster of emotions on the day of the event. From excitement to frustration to rage, what led to the concertgoers’ shift in moods? How did social media fuel this fire?
What went wrong?
People were lined up on the street and with no proper measure to control the queues those who came late were able to join those at the front. If this was the only slip-up on the part of the organizers, it would have been excusable. However, it did not stop from there. The gates which was said to be opened at 7 pm, was delayed and opened at 8.30pm which began to create frustration among those at the venue.
The platinum and other VIP holders have waited more than 1 and a half hours outside 😱 adey shame 😱#AyyoEnriqueInSL
— Sachinìí (@datmahomielover) December 20, 2015
The audience stomached these mistakes, with the hopes of entering CR & FC to sing and dance their worries away. Yet to their dismay, after entering the venue what the concertgoers found was more hours of standing and waiting till the concert began.
Either u’re coming with me, or I’m coming with u Cause I finally found, I finally found uuuu #AyyoEnriqueInSL 😂😂 Error Not Found In SL
— SHANURI (@Sudu_Nona) December 20, 2015
What if Enrique has had amnesia and is right now in the crowd waiting for him to appear? #EnriqueInSL
— Muhammad Nasir (@MoAwesomeSauce) December 20, 2015
The clock striked 10.30pm and when people started to contemplate the idea of leaving, their hope grew as the black screen with the words Sex and Love changed its colour. While those who were However, this wait was worth a while for some, while for others it was futile attempt at entertainment as they were unable to view the artist due to the poor security that was set in place, where when most of the people had to stand on the tip of their toes to get a glimpse of the stage as those who had bought VIP, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze tickets were mixed in together.
Live Events went from saviours to Public Enemy No. 1 within a few hours, and Social Media had a huge role in this.
The case where they kissed and others told
Social Media, especially Facebook was at frenzy on the 21st of December, the day after the concert, when a video surfaced of a girl running on stage to hug Enrique during his closing performance, who I must add at first backed away from the ordeal, but before he ended the concert and got off stage he landed a kiss on her cheek.
In the 1990’s if something like this had happened, those at the concert would have most probably captured that while they were recording the entire performance on their camcorders. And would have told those who they closely associate. However, in the days gone by Social Media did not exist, this which should have been forgotten the next day, went viral a few hours after the show had concluded. And soon became the talk of the town, with opposing views on defining what is cultured and uncultured playing a major role in the discussion.
Ppl going on and on abt the girl who got on stage at the Enrique concert. You do realize this happens at most concerts, right? #EnriqueInSL
— Samurdha Jayasinghe (@S_jammy) December 22, 2015
And then @enrique305 hugged her on the stage. She was the luckiest. #EnriqueInSL#SriLankahttps://t.co/MaaTLHKcPxpic.twitter.com/d1fww8kKR3
— Budu™ (@BuduMalli) December 21, 2015
A bra that made Sri Lanka famous for a day
Along the same timeline when the controversy of the “kiss” was swelling up in Sri Lanka, another picture that was plastered across papers was the image of Enrique holding a bra that was flung at him. However, unlike the kiss, this came into public highlight over and over again, and it even went so high up the ladder of communication that the President of Sri Lanka even made a few comments regarding this.
The President showed us the power of Social Media, during the course of the day in which the comment was made, social media sites like Facebook and Twitter blew up with a considerable number of posts with hashtags from #BraForSL #BraWars #SingWithBra and many more. While many made lemonade out of the lemons the incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena threw at the public, with tweets taking a jab at everyone’s funny bone, others were beyond furious for the myopia the President had for not focusing on the injustices that are occurring against women.
TIL Bra means Good. #BraForSL pic.twitter.com/d0bxDmSJFh
— Che Wick (@Chevindu) December 28, 2015
if someone threw a BRA while writing A/L examination we will be living happier than ever #braforSL
— Buddhika Karunasena (@Fulton89) December 27, 2015
Is anyone keeping up with the cricket, or has #BraWars simply taken over everyone’s lives? #PrioritiesPlease#NZvSL
— Madhu Hewakapuge (@madhuh) December 28, 2015
On #BraWars: If we’d really safeguarded our culture instead of letting UK push Victorian morals on us, SL women would have no bras to throw
— Andrew F Fernando (@andrewffernando) December 28, 2015
Quick, throw a bra at it! #brawars #BrasForSL https://t.co/rTAvX50Syn
— Colombo Byte (@Colombobyte) January 3, 2016
However, what was surprising was that almost all of the major global news providers caught wind of this statement that President Maithripala Sirisena made, especially about the form of punishment he had in mind for the organizers, i.e. the whipping them with toxic Stingray tails and soon enough BBC, Daily Mail, Mirror, The Telegraph, TIME, billboard, Buzzfeed, Mashable, TMZ, ET, Paper and many other news providers followed suit, which “redefined” Sri Lanka and our culture on a global level.