Flirty British sensation Lily Allen donned her best party dress at New York City’s Hiro Ballroom for her grand American entrance. Preceded by a three-piece horn section — each wearing Allen’s official tour shirt — Allen clicked onto the stage dressed Meatpacking District-perfect, with stilettos on her feet and a champagne flute in hand. The notoriously brash singer seemed to have lost a bit of her confidence, as she looked wide-eyed upon the packed ballroom, quietly crooning opening song “LDN” into the mic. As the show went on, though, Allen gathered back some of her courage, batting her big eyelashes at the crowd, sassily popping her hips to her version of 50 Cent’s “Window Shopper” (which she calls “Nan, You’re a Window Shopper”), and following up the ballad “Littlest Things” with the epilogue: “You’d be pleased to know that the guy I wrote that song about, I’m back together with now. So it worked.” Towards the end of her set, she’d worked over the crowd as well, even prompting a sing-along to her No. 1 U.K. single, “Smile.” STORY BY ALYSSA RASHBAUM. PHOTOS BY JULIA SIMON
We asked: Given that Lily Allen’s single is called “Smile,” we want to know what makes you smile? COMMENT
