Dua Lipa Breaks Down CBS Special at the Royal Albert Concert Hall

Dua Lipa dreamed big for her new concert special An evening with Dua Lipaand she tells Deadline that it’s now one of her “favorite performances she’s ever done.” The CBS special is broadcast on Sunday at 8:30 PM ET and 8 p.m. PT.

Lipa put her whole heart into the project, which is evident in the many layers that make up the final product. From including the legendary Elton John as part of her performance, to reuniting with her Sylvia Young Theater School teacher Ray, Lipa was careful to choose the emotional notes to hit. She also described the rehearsal process as “Royal Albert Hall boot camp.” Keep those tissues nearby.

Reconnecting with her teacher, the ‘Houdini’ singer told him how one piece of advice he gave has stuck with her to this day: that she excels most when she’s outside her comfort zone.

“It’s also having the confidence to try new things,” Lipa said of the concert and this reunion. “He was always such a big champion and advocate when I was younger, ‘Don’t be afraid of your dreams or let your dreams scare you’. That’s the best advice because if they don’t make you a little bit nervous , they might not be big enough.”

The special, which Lipa performed at London’s Royal Albert Concert Hall on October 17, reprized hits from her latest album Radical optimism as well as some hits from The nostalgia of the future such as “Don’t Start Now”, “Love Again” and “Levitating” as well as her Grammy-nominated song from Barbie (2023), “Dance the Night.”

John joined her for a performance of their collaboration “Cold Heart.” She also performed “Be the One” from her eponymous first album as well as a cover of “Sunshine”. The full album from the live show is available to stream on Spotify, with many more songs that didn’t make it onto the special itself.

“When you go into the architecture of a song and you strip it down and you change it in a way that makes the song that much more vulnerable, you really hear the lyrics in a completely different way. I still wanted it to be something fun, and I still wanted it to be a pop show where I could perform, but I didn’t want it to be like — I think the first demos , the best way to describe it was a little more sparkly and a little more pop,” Lipa said. “I wanted to bring a bit more resonance and a bit more darkness to it, and there needed to be a real richness to all the songs. We played a lot with that feel and feel. I wanted there to be a real depth of intensity with all the songs. These were the changes that were constantly being made. It was, how do we make this so grand and so epic and so big? It was almost like making a film score.”

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In the below interview with Deadline, the musician talked about how much time she spent preparing for the show, the process of choosing her dresses, and other details about what she envisioned.

DEADLINE: Is there anyone that you saw at the Royal Albert Hall or that you remember performing there that you saw and then thought, “Oh, I really want to do this,” that played into this dream?

Dua Lipa: I grew up in London and was constantly driving past the Royal Albert Hall and seeing shows — I hadn’t actually been to a show at the Royal Albert Hall, but I’ve seen so many shows on TV, and the Royal Albert Hall has always been this highlight for me in my hometown, which I always dreamed of doing. I love the theatrical feel of it and how grand it is, and also very intimate. It is a very special place that, if you are lucky enough, you can perform there.

DEADLINE: How many practices did you have for this special? What was the process like leading up to this one-off performance?

LIPA: We started planning and preparing this show, talking about it around July, August time, and that was working with the Heritage Orchestra, starting to talk about the arrangements, the ideas, the thinking behind how I wanted it to sound. We started getting the first arrangements probably at the end of August, beginning of September, and they went through quite a few different edits, and we started with demos, and then went in with the orchestra and did all the parts. The actual rehearsal time was about a week straight with my band and the orchestra (rehearsing) separately. In the month of October I prepared lots of different shows at the same time. And I managed to go home to London four days before the Royal Albert show and just do non-stop. It was like Royal Albert Hall boot camp, orchestra boot camp. It was fantastic. It was like four nonstop days before the show, running it with the orchestra.

DEADLINE: You have two outfits in the special, the red dress that you start out in, and then the black dress. Was it a process to pick them out? Did you have more options?

LIPA: Well, performing in those kinds of dresses was a first for me. I don’t often get to perform in beautiful dresses because I’m so used to running around on stage and being with dancers, and a lot of what I wear on stage lends itself to being able to perform in that kind of high intensity path. I felt that the night and the orchestra lent themselves to being able to wear something more elegant. We always knew we wanted to do two looks, maybe we had a few other options, but these two were the first two, which when I saw the sketches, the first was a Jean Paul Gaultier dress and the second was Chanel, I was like “These are the perfect dresses.” That’s exactly what I want to wear as long as I’m able to walk in them so I can walk all the way around, I’m good to walk. They were perfect.

DEADLINE: Elton John performed with you. His outfit also felt a bit toned down from what he could have worn.

LIPA: Do you think so? I don’t know. He had like spectacular jewelry and he was wearing a velvet suit. Everything Elton is in is always show-stopping, so I don’t know about that.

DEADLINE: That’s right. I loved the earring. Did you consider having other guests perform with you?

LIPA: No, I didn’t. Elton was the only person I wanted with me to perform because he is someone who has played the Royal Albert Hall so many times. I felt like he was the perfect person to hold my hand through it. Knowing he would show up gave me another surge of confidence during the performance. It was special to have him there with me.

DEADLINE: And you were reunited with Ray, your teacher. Something that stood behind me is “you excel most when you are outside of your comfort zone.” How do you still apply it on a daily basis and how did it apply to this particular one?

LIPA: Every day, when I do things that feel scary, or they’re a little bit more nerve-wracking, or this special thing in itself that’s completely different from anything else I’ve done, it’s out of my comfort zone. It’s something completely new. It’s something that people have never seen me do before. So it’s nerve-wracking to be able to take on something like that. It’s out of my comfort zone. But that’s probably where it’s most rewarding.

DEADLINE: You’ve worked with Elton John, Miley, Cyrus, Megan Thee Stallion. Is there anyone you hope to collaborate with on music in the future?

LIPA: I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it. I feel like I really ticked off so many people on my dream list of people to work with. I don’t know right now.

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