Rina Sawayama and the TV show performance conundrum

Rina performed “Frankenstein” on Late Night with Seth Meyers and...it wasn’t great. At least I didn't think it was.

I was left confused at first at just how this performance managed to strike me as so lacklustre. But I then thought of all of the TV show performances we’ve gotten so far for the Hold the Girl promo run, and that none of them have been particularly great.

It’s really fucking unfortunate that Rina’s performance of “Frankenstein” wasn’t a stand-out or a defining moment, between the style of the song and the Halloween themed campiness that’s so easy to put to it. But the pumpkin was dropped y’all.

These televised live performances that Rina has been giving for Hold the Girl have been so...flat. And it’s bizarre, because when you see Rina performing these same songs on her tour, a bitch is carbonated.

But I think I know what’s happening here.

Rina hasn’t quite figured out televised show performances just yet, because she’s only now getting the chance to do them. Rina released her debut album Sawayama in 2020, when everything had shut down and nobody was performing on any TV show. So that teething stage of figuring out how to deliver performances for TV shows, she’s going through it now.

But, what exactly is the difference? Is performing live not just...performing live? Well, no.

You can’t just drag and drop a tour performance of a song in any setting, any show, and just expect it to work and translate in the same way. There are some songs and performances where this can absolutely be done. But “This Hell”, “Hold the Girl” and “Frankenstein” aren’t such instances.

Rina is the type of performer who soaks up every part of a live show atmosphere. It’s what fuels her. So when you take the live show atmosphere out of the equation, Rina’s performances end up being very sedate. And you can see it in Rina’s energy. She’s still engaged and in the moment with these TV show / studio performances, but she’s on a different frequency.

What Rina’s team need to do to supplement this, is to make everything around Rina pop more. The lighting colour scheme for “Frankenstein” was very on theme, but it was too plain. The lights weren’t moving, flashing or changing to match the energy of the song. The choreography has ZERO impact with just three people doing it. Rina should have had a troupe of dancers to help sell it. Rina’s outfit should have had a cape, long sleeves and a train, all blowing and flowing around her, to really increase her presence and add to the spooky vibes, whilst giving everybody a fashion girl moment. Rina looking like Sindel from Mortal Kombat was cool, but the outfit was so stiff and looked as though it was restricting Rina’s movement. The coat reveal did nothing. But if she were at her own show and took off the coat, the crowd would have reacted to help make the moment feel bigger. But here, it was like ‘Oh, okay. So she took the jacket off to reveal an outfit which is also black and made from leather’.

Rina also performed “This Hell” on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, and it was a stark contrast. This was a performance where there was consideration taken for the format and what would work. It wasn’t just Rina dragging and dropping her tour performance completely. We got a nice set, all of the stage theatrics, cool camera work, and dancers to help marry the performance and the visuals to the energy of the song.

Rina performing “This Hell” for a Halloween themed episode of a show, when “Frankenstein” is RIGHT there!? A choice. But one that I do understand. “Frankenstein” would be a difficult song to do any form of ballroom dancing to, because the tempo of it is so fast.

Rina Sawayama performs “This Hell” on Strictly Come Dancing | © 2022 BBC

It’s good that Rina is having the experience of doing these performances, even if they’re not particularly great, because it’s all part of her growth as a performer. And I commend Rina for just doing it. It’s the only way to get better. Rina takes her craft seriously. Even when the performances are weak, you can still see the effort. Rina is only going to get better. But she may need a different creative team if she’s really going to level up.

Rina needs a lighting director who isn’t just about how good lighting looks in a still shot, but how it works as part of a performance and captures the energy of whatever Rina is performing. Rina needs a choreographer who is not going to give her basic drag-queen-in-a-pub choreography, and has a vision for how the choreography will hit in a range of live settings; taking into account Rina’s outfits, performing for cameras, and the number of dancers required. Rina needs a stylist who also accounts for which outfits will make the most impact for specific show performances, but still manages to tell a story for the current album. Rina needs a dedicated sound engineer and music director, because the sound and mixes for these televised performances has also been raggedy. And Rina needs to have a creative director who is mindful of how all of these elements need to come together to create not just great performances, but moments. I feel like Rina is the type of artist who gets all of this, and how it should work. But she’s just so swept up in the momentum that has become her career, that she’s not even had the time to step back, really look at her shit, and realise that something is off and that some things need to change.

She’ll get there. Hopefully before a big debut performance at an award show. Because it would be a shame to see her head out and give just...THIS. 

Some would say the quality of these performances is reflective of the quality of the album.

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💿 Rina reviews: This Hell | Sawayama | Rina
📀 Rina revision: Sawayama (The Random J Pop Revised Expanded Edition)
🗄️ Rina shit: That time Rina performed This Hell on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | That time Rina performed at Coachella | That time Rina got shafted because of racism and xenophobia | That time Rina met Hikaru Utada | That time Rina released a gay anthem and gave it an awful music video