Dua Lipa on performing at the Royal Albert Hall with Elton John and reuniting with her childhood music teacher

Pop superstar Dua Lipa have a very big year.

Her third album, “Radical Optimism,” went to No. 1 in 11 countries, she started a world tour and headlined Glastonbury Festival. Now we get “An Evening with Dua Lipa”, a special concert that recreates all her hit songs performed with a 53 piece orchestra in London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall. The performance will be shown on Sunday evenings on CBS and Paramount+.

“It was always at the top of my list of places that I’ve dreamed of performing in. And I just love, you know, the theater element of the venue and how grand it is, but also very intimate,” she told “CBS Mornings” Thursday.

She shared that performing in smaller, more intimate settings allowed her to connect more personally with the audience and engage with her music on a deeper level, something she had missed while focusing on bigger shows.

Performing with the orchestra was a transformative experience for her.

“It totally helps you recreate everything. You hear the lyrics differently, you feel the music differently. And especially for me, it was incredibly emotional to hear my songs transformed like that, and then to be in the middle of 53 incredible musicians just… it’s like it’s riveting, like it moves you in such a different way. And I feel like everyone in the audience felt that room,” Lipa said.

The performance offers a surprise duet with Elton Johna moment Lipa called a bucket list experience.

“I’ve been listening to Elton’s music all my life and to have someone like Elton be a friend and be someone who supported me from the very beginning of my career to, you know, fighting for me and being by my side and then appear to me in this capacity,” she said.

The special also includes an emotional reunion with Lipa’s childhood music teacher, Ray, whom she credits with changing her life. Dua Lipa said she hadn’t seen him in 10 years.

“You know, teachers are so incredibly important, and a good teacher can really change the trajectory of a kid’s life. And Ray, for me, changed my life. He made me believe that I could do it. He told me, that I had something special that was worth seeing … to dig a little deeper,” she said.

Reflecting on the concert, Dua Lipa added:

“When it’s closer to the music, that’s really where I feel like I need to be. You know, the live instruments are really what moves me. And I don’t know, I found the performance itself exciting, but so also really inspiring to, I don’t know, new things.”

“An Evening with Dua Lipa” airs this Sunday at 8:30 PM EST on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.