Katy Perry Sesame Street Performance - The Unaired Hot N Cold Song

Most people don't realize that Katy Perry performed on Sesame Street. That's because it never aired. You had to actually be on Sesame Street to have seen it for a while.

Grade: C

Character: Herself

Sesame Street Characters: Elmo

Episode: N/A

Original Air Date: N/A

Most people don't realize that Katy Perry performed on Sesame Street. That's because it never aired. You had to actually be on Sesame Street to have seen it for a while. But the unaired Katy Perry Sesame Street performance was actually released online for the world to see before airing on TV, which is why the skit never made it on to the actual show.

Despite the limited viewing channels, Katy Perry's musical skit with Elmo deserves a review. It's a parody of her song Hot N Cold, but it was not her best performance. Granted the performance was rather early on in her career, I believe 2010 or 2011, but the whole thing was really hokey.

It was overacted the whole time, especially the running. It seems like a lot of actors have problems running on the treadmill or running in place and making it look real. And unfortunately for Perry, she was one of these performers.

And there was a lot of running around. So it just didn't play very well throughout. It all around was just kind of awkward seeming and even more so because Elmo was running away from her the whole time.

However, it's clearly played entirely against green screen, and that isn't the easiest acting situation, especially for someone who hasn't done it much. So I understand the obstacles that Katy Perry faced.

Overall, the music video getting pulled from TV might have been a good thing for Katy Perry. I'm sure today, with 10+ years of performing under her belt, Ms. Perry can redeem herself, but her Hot N Cold Sesame Street performance gets a C at best.

Why the Katy Perry Elmo Musical Skit Was Pulled

The Katy Perry and Elmo song controversy came down to one thing, well two things, Ms. Perry's breasts. It was an early sign of viewers using social media to voice their opinions and get them heard by the decision makers.

Soon after the music video of Katy Perry and Elmo was released on YouTube (prior to airing on TV) the comments started rolling in, and a lot of them were about Perry's cleavage. To be honest, Sesame Street Workshop took the right approach with their public response:

"Sesame Street has a long history of working with celebrities across all genres, including athletes, actors, musicians and artists. Sesame Street has always been written on two levels, for the child and adult. We use parodies and celebrity segments to interest adults in the show because we know that a child learns best when co-viewing with a parent or care-giver. We also value our viewer’s opinions and particularly those of parents. In light of the feedback we’ve received on the Katy Perry music video which was released on You Tube only, we have decided we will not air the segment on the television broadcast of Sesame Street, which is aimed at preschoolers. Katy Perry fans will still be able to view the video on You Tube."

Although I do understand Katy Perry was showing a lot of cleavage, I think the combination of the running was the biggest issue. The running came back to haunt Perry on this performance again. If there wasn't so much movement to the boobs it may not have gotten nixed from Sesame Street or they might have been able to edit around it more.

Katy Perry and Elmo sing Hot N Cold

Plus, who dropped the ball in the costuming department that there was ever a post-production costume issue at all. They could have easily added some of the green tulle to the front section to solve the problem.

Despite the wardrobe controversy, Katy Perry had great things to say about her experience on Sesame Street. And given that the video has millions of views on YouTube, I'd say that was probably the better distribution outlet.

What Do You Think About Katy Perry's Sesame Street Performance?

Do you think the Katy Perry musical skit should have been cut? Was there too much cleavage on the run?