The Performer Identity Of Billie Eilish - And Why It Constructs The Concepts Of Performance, Authenticity & Liveness

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the live performance of Billie Eilish at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2019, to argue why performance, authenticity, and liveness are constructed by the performer identity. Billie Eilish is one of the most popular artists in the world at this moment, and her show at Coachella in 2019 was her first one as headliner of one of the biggest festivals in the United States. The concepts of performance, authenticity, and liveness have been examined in musicology over the past decades and are still relevant in for example recent debates about mediatized music. To argue why these concepts are constructed by the performer identity, theories of Philip Auslander, Alan Moore and Paul Sanden will be used. It becomes clear that the performer identity of Billie Eilish, that consists out of three layers, defines the concept of performance, creates the feeling of authenticity in multiple ways, and constructs the perception of liveness.