The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show (15 October 2024)

This whole new Cher season started with this fashion show in October of 2024. Cher sang two songs surrounded by models dancing on the runway. There was a big, fabulous ELVIS-like Cher sign in lights behind her that became a grid of lights as she sang. The amazing thing to me was that she still managed to steal focus from these amazingly beautiful women. At 78 years old.

She sang “Strong Enough” and “Believe.” She hasn’t performed “Strong Enough” live much outside of the days when it was a single during the Believe-era so this was nice surprise. Her voice sounds huskier but she still sounded great. She sang with dancers here who by the end of the song build her a gold pedestal. We see the models watching from backstage. Their faces!

Then when Cher sings “Believe” from the gold pedestal, the models come out. Even in bright red underthings with Dr. Seussian attachments that would seem a bit dangerous to navigate in amorous situations (my favorite was the gargantuan boa cape because it looks so soft), Cher still commands the stage. You can see the models singing along as they walk. The changeup at the end of the song. It’s all great.

Although normally fashion shows bore me to tears (aside from seeing what Cher wore to some of them), this was my favorite performances of this season.

Full Show (min 29)

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (19 October 2024)

I wrote about this at length in another post. As a full, 5-hour concert, the event was fun. But Cher’s opening numbers, both “Believe” with Dua Lipa  and “Turn Back Time” were both lackluster. Especially for an event that has often put on some showstoppers. The bar is set high. My party felt  the show started with Cher to open with a fun sort of celebratory bang. But her set wasn’t even as fun and high energy as Kool and the Gang, who came on later.  It wasn’t even as fun as the Victoria’s Secret performance days earlier. It also felt like Cher was struggling through “Turn Back Time.”

But hey, while I was researching this little blurb, I found an article that insisted Cher’s performance was full of “joy and defiance” so maybe it was just me.

SNL 50: Homecoming Concert Special (14 February 2025)

So I have cut down on my streaming channels and I do not have Peacock. I did not get to see this full concert. I only watched Cher’s parts and followed the viral commentary that followed it. So I have no idea where her song fell into the whole show.

Now this performance of “Turn Back Time” was a bit better sounding than the Hall of Fame version (but still a bit of a struggle) but what saved it was the return of her swagger and confidence.

What went viral, however, was all the attention paid to audience reactions, particularly Kevin Costner’s for some reason. His reaction was subdued but he looked like he was really enjoying it. Everyone was talking about Costner almost crushing on Cher for days after the show. And I thought it was kind of overkill because it reminded me of his appearance in Madonna’s documentary Truth or Dare. He was very enthusiastic about Madonna’s live show in that movie and Madonna infamously made fun of it. So we’ve seen Costner appreciating female pop stars. It doesn’t feel special or new. And are we picking on him at this point?

Now Leslie Jones screaming. And what about John Hamm handsomely appreciating Cher? And was that Keegan-Michael Key at the beginning? (I love him.)

Another shocking aspect of the night was the backstage photos of Cher with the rockstars Jack White and Eddie Vedder! And the fact that Jack White put the pictures up on his Instagram. Not expected! One of my friends even surmised it must have been AI, that’s how shocking it was.

And then there was that super cool reel of Cher’s warmup backstage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYnyqMuQGE8

It feels like we’re on another plane here, past the cultural moments of the Hall of Fame and memoir, from legend going into myth.

SNL 50: The Homecoming Concert Special

SNL 50: Celebrity Audience Q&A  (16 February 2025)

And speaking of Costner, a few days after the concert, Cher appeared on the official SNL 50 Special. I tried to record this but muffed it and only taped the red carpet part of the show by mistake. This made me sad because everyone said how funny the show was. But thanks to the Internets I was able to see Cher’s part in the Audience Q&A skit run by Amy Poehler and Tina Fey.

Kevin Costner can be seen seated next to Cher but never smiling. So maybe that was awkward.  Amy Poehler says, “Cher, you have a question…” and Cher says, “Uh no. I don’t. I got a lotta answers.” (This gets a smile out of Costner.)

This was followed by a Keith Richards question about a scarf he’s been missing from a 1988 SNL appearance that ends up on Zach Galifianakis’ head.

SNL 50: Celebrity Audience Q&A

 

Love Rocks NYC Benefit Concert (6 March 2025)

Cher has said she regretted not responding soon enough to have been involved in the concert organized to help survivors of January’s fires in Los Angeles. And maybe this is why she signed on to this NYC benefit concert.

Prior to the show, she visited the food bank God’s Love We Deliver.

At the event, Cher sang “Walking in Memphis,” Song For the Lonely,” “Believe” and with the larger group, “Higher Ground.“

Cher surprised everyone by not only doing songs she rarely sings on television (“Walking in Memphis”) but songs she hasn’t even done live in many years (“Song for the Lonely”). She always seems so tiny in male drag. Cher does a spoken introduction to “Song for the Lonely” and what the song means to her. She does better with this song than “Memphis.”

All songs show their videos behind her when she sings and Cher wears the outfit for the “Song for the Lonely” video. Dancers join her for this. I love the funky “Strong Enough” version between “Song for the Lonely” and “Believe.” She’s dressing down for this in a pink jacket over a sparkly top (that we can barely see) and black pants. A few more dancers, cuts to the audience dancing.

“Higher Ground” felt like a makeup moment for the Hall of Fame, too, since there was no group performance last year. Plus I love this song. Any version of it. Cher singing the group song next to Trey Anastasio from Phish also went a bit viral after the show because Anastasio looked like he was having such a good time.

Days later, he did a tribute to Cher by singing “I Got You Babe” when he launched his solo tour.

After the show were more amazing backstage photos with Cher’s crush Michael McDonald (although they didn’t interact much during the group song), Dave Stewart and guitarist Grace Bowers.