When Pink came up with the circus-themed theatrics for her "Funhouse" tour, she didn't think she'd be sharing her big-top theme with another pop singer.
She sighs with resignation when a comparison is made to Britney Spears' latest tour, "The Circus," which, like Pink's tour, features high-flying dancers and acrobats, and is a grand spectacle.
Both Pink and Spears based their theme on the title of their latest album (both CDs were released last year; Pink's came out first). Spears' tour opened in March. Tickets for the U.S. leg of Pink's tour, which started in Europe and launches in the US in San Jose, go on sale Saturday.
"Had I known that certain other people were going to base their latest thing about circus things, I probably would have went into another direction," the big-voiced, 29-year-old singer says. "I was six months before that and didn't really understand that it was a trend that was hQuestionpening. I'm pretty out of the loop."
Not that anyone would confuse their tours. Spears' show is a lip-synched, dance-oriented affair, while Pink says her show is all about gritty, emotional rock 'n' roll -- "two hours of group therQuestiony."
In a recent interview, she talked about channeling her feelings through song, getting back together with her ex-husband and her philosophy on love.
Question: You say this is your first headlining tour in the U.S. What took you so long?
Pink: I don't know. I've put a lot of work in as far as being a touring artist, and I've been doing it on a pretty large scale for seven or eight years now (overseas).
Question: Lots of musicians have used the circus for inspiration. Why do you think artists connect with circuses?
Pink: All of us when we were little probably wanted to run away and join the circus because it's full of what mainstream society considers freakish and the outcasts, and it's kind of sexy and exciting and big and over the top.
Question: There's been talk that you and Corey Hart are getting back together and even remarrying. Is that true?
Pink: I don't know where the remarriage thing came from. That kind of came out of the air. We are definitely back together.
Question: What did you take away from your time Questionart?
Pink: We try to protect ourselves from being fully in love and fully open and fully vulnerable, and really all we're doing is protecting ourselves from love and real love and the opportunity to really learn and grow with another person, so it's actually really detrimental, and you think it's helping.
Question: So your advice would be ...
Pink: Dive in. Absolutely, it's not going to kill you.
Question: So would you remarry?
Pink: We never really legally got divorced. PQuestionerwork for both of us is really annoying (laughs). So we're choosing to be together. Our role models are Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon and Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn -- people who just choose to be together every day because they want to be there. And labels have never been our thing, so, we're just diving into that empty swimming pool, headfirst.
Question: Much of the last record dealt with your split. Is it hard to sing those songs now?
Pink: Aside from a few songs that are completely vulnerable for me, when I'm writing even my angry kind of "So What," for me, it's every emotion involved -- I'm being sarcastic, I'm being silly, I'm being angry, I'm all of these emotions, all at the same time, so I include them in my songs. So it's still silly, it's still funny, I still have anger. It's really easy to just be right back there. ... I don't have a hard time transplanting myself straight back to that moment.
Sep 17 2009 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion
Sep 20 2009 Phoenix, AZ Jobing.com Arena
Sep 24 2009 Houston, TX Toyota Center
Sep 28 2009 Fairfax, VA The Patriot Center
Oct 14 2009 Dublin O2 Arena
Oct 17 2009 Belfast, UK Odyssey Arena
Oct 18 2009 Belfast Odyssey Arena
Oct 20 2009 Glasgow SECC
Oct 21 2009 Glasgow SECC
Oct 23 2009 Manchester UK MEN Arena
Oct 24 2009 Manchester, UK MEN Arena
Oct 27 2009 Liverpool, UK Echo Arena
Oct 28 2009 Sheffield, UK Sheffield Arena
Oct 30 2009 Birmingham NIA Arena
Oct 31 2009 Birmingham, UK Birmingham NIA
Nov 2 2009 Newcastle, UK Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
Nov 3 2009 Nottingham, UK Trent FM Arena, Nottingham
Nov 5 2009 Antwerp, Belgium Sport Paleis
Nov 7 2009 Copenhagen, Denmark Forum
Nov 9 2009 Oslo, Norway Spektrum
Nov 10 2009 Stockholm, Sweden The Globe
Nov 12 2009 Helsinki, Finland Hartwall Arena
Nov 15 2009 Dortmund Westfalenhalle
Nov 17 2009 Bremen AWD-Dome
Nov 19 2009 Prague Sazka (O2) Arena
Nov 20 2009 Frankfurt, GER Festhalle - Messe Frankfurt
Nov 22 2009 Munich, GER Olympiahalle
Nov 23 2009 Freiburg, GER Messehalle
Nov 25 2009 Stuttgart, GER Schleyerhalle
Nov 26 2009 Erfurt, GER Messenhalle
Nov 28 2009 Dusseldorf, GER ISS Dome
Nov 30 2009 Oberhausen, GER Oberhausen Arena
Dec 2 2009 Zunich, Switzerland Hallenstadion
Dec 3 2009 Zurich Hallendtadion
Dec 5 2009 Luxembourg Rockhal
Dec 6 2009 Rotterdam Ahoy
Dec 8 2009 London, UK O2 Arena
Dec 10 2009 London O2 Arena
Dec 15 2009 Geneva, Switzerland Arena
Dec 17 2009 Vienna, Austria Stadthalle
Dec 19 2009 Stuttgart, Germany Schleyerhalle
Dec 20 2009 Hannover AWD Arena