Selena Gomez makes a bid for Bieber-free maturity in San Jose
Having come out of Disney’s star-making machine alongside Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato — both of whom bolted for the dark side the second they delivered their last contract-fulfilling obligations — the 23-year-old singer/actress/social media star seems to have skipped all the messy business.
Even the rumors of a fling with Orlando Bloom, the 39-year-old “Lord of the Rings” star and Katy Perry’s current beau, on the first date of the tour on May 6 in Las Vegas have done little to shake her pristine reputation.
Confident enough to open the hour-plus set with her best song, “Same Old Love,” she moved easily through the procession of grown-up ballads and sleek club tunes, singing, dancing and offering her young fans constant platitudes.
Gomez was forced to cancel her last tour in 2013 in support of her debut, Stars Dance, after she was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease lupus, checking into an Arizona rehab facility for chemotherapy treatment.
Appearing in a white flash of light, she took the stage to a recorded version of the new album’s title track, a personal declaration of independence: “More than just survival/ It is my revival.”
Gomez’s original material deals primarily with relationships, alternating between gusts of heartbreak and resilience, but she kept things vague enough that everyone could feel a connection to her world.
While the video clips between set changes showed Gomez baring skin and a little too much side-boob, she opted for modesty onstage — mostly with a Monse bodysuit dripping with 100,000 Swarovski crystals.
Two acts opened for Gomez: the up-and-coming singer Bea Miller, 17, who walloped the crowd with her powerful lungs and a handful of irresistible rock tunes from her debut album, “Not an Apology”; and Dnce, the newish dance-pop band by ex-Jonas Brother Joe Jonas, who bravely — OK, maybe foolishly — took on a cover of Prince’s “Kiss.”
Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicle’s pop music critic.