Lady Gaga rocks Copacabana Beach with a free concert for more than 1 million fans

RIO DE JANEIRO AP Lady Gaga is giving a free concert on Copacabana Beach Saturday night the second such show in as multiple years organized by Rio de Janeiro s City Hall The show is the biggest of the pop star s career as it was for Madonna who also turned the expansive stretch of sand into a massive dance floor last year The large-scale performances are part of an effort led by City Hall to boost economic activity after Carnival and New Years Eve festivities and the upcoming month-long Saint John s Day celebrations in June It brings activity to the city during what was previously considered the low season filling hotels and increasing spending in bars restaurants and retail generating jobs and income for the population declared Osmar Lima the city s secretary of economic expansion in a announcement disclosed by Rio City Hall s tourism department last month Similar concerts are scheduled to take place every year in May at least until Lady Gaga arrived in Rio in the early hours of Tuesday The city has been alive with Gaga-mania since as it geared up to welcome the Mother Monster for her first show in the country since Rio s metro employees danced to Lady Gaga s hit song LoveGame and gave instructions for Saturday in a video A free exhibition celebrating her career sold out And Little Monsters as her fans are known sang and danced in front of Copacabana Palace where the pop star is staying in the hope of catching a glimpse of her Hours before the show was due to start the beach and seafront were packed with eager fans plenty of of whom had arrived at the crack of dawn armed with snacks and drinks to secure a good spot They spent the day under a blazing sun while others perched in trees determined to get a better view It s a dream come true explained Ana Lara Folador a -year-old who was with her sister Lady Gaga really shaped a part of my personality as a person and an artist Rio s City Hall stated in a up-to-date statement that around million people are expected to attend and that the show should inject at least million reais particular million into Rio s market system nearly more than Madonna s show While the vast majority of attendees will be from Rio the event is expected to attract Brazilians from across the country and international visitors Ingrid Serrano a -year-old engineer made a cross-continent trip from Colombia to Brazil to attend the show I ve been a fan of Lady Gaga my whole life announced Serrano who was wearing a T-shirt featuring Lady Gaga s outlandish costumes over the years For her the mega-star represents total freedom of expression being who one wants without shame Lady Gaga s more than -hour performance was scheduled to start at p m local time Sixteen sound towers were spread along the beach to ensure the hits resonate across the vast space Rio state s safeguard plan include the presence of military and police officers and military firefighters Rio functionaries have a history of organizing huge concerts on Copacabana Beach Madonna s show drew an estimated million fans last year while million people flooded onto the beach for a New Year s Eve show by Rod Stewart in According to Guinness World Records that was the biggest free rock concert in history