Pop star Ariana Grande's tribute gig for victims of the Manchester Arena bombing has been applauded for standing up to terrorism.
Armed police guarded Old Trafford cricket ground last night as, less than 24 hours after three men killed seven people and injured dozens more in London Bridge, the likes of Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams, Black Eyed Peas and Robbie Williams joined the singer for "a night of unity, healing and joy", says the BBC.
Visibly moved, Grande maintained a "celebratory atmosphere" throughout, even comforting a member of a Manchester school choir who performed with her.
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She was the "emotional core" of the show, says The Guardian, and her "earnestness and emotional acuity" kept the night from being "maudlin". She made sure the show as "heartfelt, joyful, even defiant".
"Against all the odds, Grande has become an inspiration in recent weeks," writes i news. "She has been able to remind us that carrying on despite the threats we've faced in recent months is far more influential than fear."
Sophy Ridge of Sky News said Grande oversaw an evening which was "everything terrorists hate".
Singer Miley Cyrus's decision to wear the "teeniest pair of cut-off denim shorts… "felt like a political statement", added the journalist: "Young, liberated, successful women wearing whatever they damn well want is exactly what the extremists don't want to see. Somehow it felt like the perfect way to stick two fingers up to the terrorists."
Coldplay's Chris Martin took to the stage to perform the Oasis song Don't Look Back in Anger, which has become an anthem for Manchester since the bombing, before accompanying the group's frontman Liam Gallagher for a rendition of Live Forever, which the Mancunian dedicated to "the beautiful people who were killed and injured" in the attack.
The event helped raise more than £2 million for victims and families through donations received by text message and online from some of the 10.9 million TV viewers around the world, bringing the total raised by the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund so far to £10m.
All 20,000 people who attended Grande's original concert at Manchester Arena were offered free tickets to last night's event.
