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Coachella: When the top stars dance in the desert

Gwen Stefani (No Doubt) and Olivia Rodrigo: The superstars of yesterday and today at the Californian Coachella Festival.(Bild: Enterpress)

When Heidi Klum, Paris Hilton, Alessandra Ambrosio and co. dance in the desert again and brandish their smartphones, it's Coachella time. Our correspondent Christian Thiele attended the first weekend of the festival in California to find out whether there really is more pretense than reality.

It is literally the "hottest" music festival in the world. In the Californian desert town of Indio, up to 125,000 people attend the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival every day for two consecutive weekends in April. Performances such as the one by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg in 2012, who resurrected rap legend Tupac as a hologram, Madonna's kiss with Drake on stage or Pink Floyd's Roger Waters in 2008 have gone down in music history.

In the Woodstock of the desert
Normally, the much sought-after tickets were sold out within an hour. But this year everything is different. Advance sales were slower than ever, and there are still thousands of tickets available for the second weekend. Our correspondent Christian Thiele was on site to investigate the rumors that the "Woodstock of the desert" has lost its iconic status after a total of 23 years.

More influencer party than festival? The allegations have accompanied Coachella for some time.(Bild: Enterpress)

In the run-up to the event, many fans expressed their disappointment that the line-up of headliners such as Lana Del Rey, Doja Cat and even the comeback of No Doubt was "the worst ever". At the same time, ticket prices rose to 549 dollars - with taxes and additional costs adding up to almost 700. And indeed, after Friday's opener, there seemed to be more free green lawn space than ever before.

Parade of superstars
A number of influencers and TikTokers announced in advance that they would be attending only the most famous parties outside Coachella - including Kendall Jenner's "818" or the Neon Carnival - but would be saving themselves the festival. Nevertheless, the opening day saw the usual large number of famous faces such as Heidi Klum, Megan Fox and supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio, who at least had her obligatory photo taken in front of the Ferris wheel.

Superstar Heidi Klum had her fun.(Bild: Instagram/Heidi Klum)

In the gigantic Sahara tent - a fitting name for the 37 degree temperatures - Clara from Graz danced to techno beats with two friends in ultra-skimpy outfits. The 23-year-old au pair (she doesn't want to say her surname because she doesn't want her boyfriend at home to find out about the Coachella trip) doesn't understand the criticism of the line-up: "Last night I saw Lara Del Rey live with Billie Eilish - my life isn't getting any better!" She wasn't alone in this. An estimated 60,000 witnessed a performance by the "Summertime Sadness" singer around midnight on Friday, which has already been given "Iconic" status on social media.

Top musical stars
And "No Doubt" turned the clock back to the 90s the following night - with Generation Z's help. Gwen Stefani ran and climbed around the stage as if she were 21 - just like her guest superstar Olivia Rodrigo. Speaking of which, probably the most famous couple in the world - Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce - also danced along in fan style during the performance by Jack Antonoff's band Bleachers.

A bit like the Vienna Prater, only much hotter and star-studded.(Bild: Enterpress)

Music festival expert Tommy Dietrick is not worried that Coachella will lose its cult status in the future. He told the "Los Angeles Times": "It just happened that this year they had fewer special music acts than usual, while the competition at other festivals is getting bigger. But that will change again."