Jessie J on teen prodigy in Dubai: That’s crazy

Dubai: English singer-songwriter Jessie J is in Dubai for a free performance at Mall of the Emirates on Friday.

The ‘Price Tag’ and ‘Bang Bang’ singer will perform a 30-minute acoustic set at Central Galleria. The 5.30pm event — part of Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) — is dubbed ‘Fashiontainment’ and will include a runway show.

“People say, ‘What can we expect?’ I never really know, which is the beauty of what I do. It depends on what mood I’m in, what I’m feeling,” J told Gulf News a day earlier.

“There’s going to be models walking, and there’s going to be fashion, so I might completely forget that I have to sing and start pointing and taking pictures of people myself,” she said.

J last performed in the UAE in 2014 as part of the annual music festival RedFestDXB. She brought then 16-year-old Esther Eden up on stage to sing, which led to the Dubai-based teenager signing a deal with a major label. Last year, Eden released her debut album.

“Wow. That’s crazy,” said J. “We went to [Esther’s] school and she told me she was a songwriter. I was like, ‘Sing to me.’ She sang and I invited her back onstage. Her braces were gone. I was like, ‘You’re so grown up!’ And now she’s been signed. That’s amazing. What a journey!”

J, 28, recalled being 17 herself. She was on tour with 1980s icon Cyndi Lauper when Lauper came into her dressing room and, according to J’s spot-on impression, asked, “Do you wanna sing Girls [Just Wanna Have Fun] with me?”

“That opportunity, I’ve always wanted to be able to share it with someone else as soon as I was old enough and successful enough to be able to go, ‘Right, come on. Share the light. Let’s do it,’” said J.