Charli XCX: Meet the Apple Girls from star's Belsonic gig

BBC News

19-06-2025

Thousands of fans who attended Charli XCX's Belsonic gig on Wednesday night will have been waking up to watch clips of her performance back on their phones.But two fans have been replaying their own performances again and again.Anna Lawther and Maisie Smith were picked to be Belfast's 'Apple Girls' at the gig, picked from the crowd to perform a viral dance, projected on the big screens, during Charli's song Apple. Speaking to BBC News NI, Anna joked she and Maisie watched their performance back "too many times".
"It's so crazy. I can't believe that out of all those people it was us," she said."Everyone's been really nice in the comments saying we did a good job so we're proud to represent Belfast well."Maisie said she and Anna, who are both 20, were in disbelief when they were chosen."We obviously didn't think it was going to happen to us and then it did."
Anna, who is from Belfast, and Maisie, who is from Hertfordshire, met at Loughborough University. The friends queued from about 15:30 BST on Wednesday and ran to the barriers in front of the stage when they got in, securing a prime spot.
'Do you know the Apple Dance?'
Maisie was originally going to make a sign that said "Hello from Bishop's Stortford" - her hometown, which is also where Charli went to school.In the end, they did not get round to that and she said they were just "genuinely enjoying [themselves]" and not even trying to attract attention when they were spotted by a crew member.He came over and typed on his phone: "Do you know the Apple Dance?""We just looked at each other and went: 'Oh my word, no way'," Anna said. "And we were like: 'Yes, yes, yes'."A few songs later, the girls were on the big screen."It's all a bit of a blur," Anna said, adding that they were so focused on the camera they didn't actually look at the screen."We were just trying to lock in, get the dance right."
Belsonic, which takes place at Ormeau Park in south Belfast, will run until the end of June and more than 100,000 people are expected to attend.
What is the Apple Dance?
Several songs from Charli's sixth album, Brat, have gone viral on social media with fans recording dance videos.The trend of selecting an 'Apple Girl' began during Charli's Sweat tour last summer and has continued as part of the current Brat tour.When Charli performs Apple, a camera cuts to a fan doing the Apple Dance in the pit.US-based actor and content creator Kelley Heyer created the viral dance moves - and she was invited by Charli to appear on the big screen at the New York leg of her Sweat tour in 2024.Kelley has said the dance was inspired by what she felt was a lack of appreciation initially for Apple.
Other famous Apple Girls include Chappell Roan, Lorde, Clairo, Jenna Ortega, and Romy Mars.More celebrities like Dave Grohl, Brooke Shields, Joe Jonas, Jessica Alba, Cara Delevingne and even Charli herself have participated in the trend online.
What is Brat?
Brat - and the 'brat summer' the album spawned - was one of the pop culture sensations of 2024.The album, released in June 2024, was a critical success worldwide.Its minimalistic album art - with the word Brat stylised in a low-resolution Arial font on a lime-green background - became the fodder of memes, with individuals and businesses jumping on the brat summer trend.The idea of "brat" was adopted by some fans as a rejection of the "clean girl" aesthetic, popularised on TikTok.Posting on social media, Charli described brat as a girl who "is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things some times"."Who feels like herself but maybe also has a breakdown. But kind of like parties through it, is very honest, very blunt. A little bit volatile. Like, does dumb things. But it's brat. You're brat. That's brat," she said.
The phrase even reached the heights of American politics after Charli used the phrase to endorse Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on X.The Harris campaign then scattered references to the album across its social media accounts, renaming her profile Kamala HQ.Brat was also chosen as Collins Dictionary word of the year.Lexicographers have defined it as someone with a "confident, independent and hedonistic attitude".
Who is playing Belsonic 2025?
Snow Patrol, Alanis Morissette, Charli XCX, Justin Timberlake and Irish DJ BLK are among a host of big names taking to the stage this year.Also featuring are Stereophonics, Madness, Catfish and the Bottlemen and Lush! Classical.For dance music fans, the Boiler Room will see Dutch DJ and producer Chris Stussy team up with KETTAMA, a DJ and producer from Galway.