Take a deeper breath, now let it out. The 2024 Mississippi Valley Fair has come to an end and although social media might make you believe it was the worst event to ever happen, this year's fair was a blast.

Once again, the grandstand lineup was full of awesome, local openers, and the headliners all had great shows. The other great thing about the Mississippi Valley Fair the past few years has been the variety of genres represented. This year's headliners, in case you forget, included Thomas Rhett, Koe Wetzel, Priscilla Block, T-Pain, Bret Michaels, Alice Cooper, and Scotty McCreery.

We're now officially less than 1 year away from MVF 2025. We know of at least one Grandstand act that is coming next year, but we won't know the rest of the acts who will take the Grandstand stage in 2025 for a while. If you could have a say in another pop act like Lil Jon and Ludacris, Nelly and Flo Rida, T-Pain, or Pitbull at the Mississippi Valley Fair, who would it be?

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As I do every year we go backstage to announce the pop/rap act at the Mississippi Valley Fair, I thanked Shawn Loter about 1,000 times but publicly let me say it again. Thank you to Shawn and the amazing crew at the Mississippi Valley Fair.

Once again, they put on 6 incredible days filled with great entertainment on the grandstand stage and throughout the fairgrounds. We met some new vendors who were grateful to be there and saw some old friends. Like every year, there was just so much fun to be had at MVF 2024.

With Kane Brown being the first Grandstand act announced for 2025, you know the rest of the lineup is going to be awesome. We know there will be more country artists than Kane, but it's super exciting when they surprise us with acts like Pitbull, Nickelback, Limp Bizkit, Flo Rida, Lil Jon, Ludacris, T-Pain, and other artists and bands that you wouldn't think would come to the Quad Cities.

Pop acts are a little different when it comes to booking. Pop music means "popular music". While that should mean that the majority of people like that music, that isn't necessarily the case. First, let's look at the pop artists who probably won't be making the trip to the MVF.

Pop Artist Who Won't Play MVF

After Pitbull performed in 2021, we've been giving you a similar list every year and the list of artists most likely not coming hasn't changed much. There are several major pop artists we know that won't come here because they ask for way too much money and are just "too big" for the Quad Cities.

Those artists include:

• Ariana Grande
• Ed Sheeran
• The Weeknd
• Harry Styles
• Billie Eilish
• Rihanna
• Post Malone
• Selena Gomez
• Lady Gaga
• Justin Bieber
• Tayor Swift
• Bruno Mars
• Maroon 5
• Drake
• Katy Perry

...or any other top B100 artists aren't coming.

Last year a couple of years ago, I said if Shawn and the promoters prove us wrong and bring any of the artists above, I will LITERALLY stand outside the station for a week in my underwear with a sign announcing all 6 grandstand acts.

I will still hold up my end of the bargain... just saying.

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Finding The Right Pop Artist/Sounds

This is always a challenge when it comes to booking a pop act. As I mentioned before, pop music is supposed to be popular music. But "pop artists" really span all genres. From rap and hip-hop to Indie and country, to stereotypical pop songs and straight-up beats.

Finding an artist or band that can truly play an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and 30 minutes of straight-up, up-tempo hits that everyone knows and loves can be challenging. So far, Pitbull, Flo Rida, Lil Jon, Ludacris, and Nelly have been great picks and have proven to work at the Mississippi Valley Fair.

So, who would be able and make sense to take the MVF 2025 grandstand stage?

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Pop Artist Perfect For MVF

There are the following pop artists I think would be perfect for next year's MVF Grandstand stage lineup. I believe they have enough hits to put on one hell of a show., not too many slow songs (if any), and they are likable artists that people would love to see.

Plus, they could bring in a pretty decent size crowd and wouldn't cost the fair a fortune. If you disagree with me, that's cool. If you have better suggestions we would love to hear them. Do you know who might also want to hear your suggestions? The Mississippi Valley Fair!

Here are a few of my suggestions:

• Lizzo
• Benson Boone
• Jason Derulo
• Macklemore
• Teddy Swims
• Shawn Mendes
• Chappell Roan
• Hozier
• Bebe Rexha (if ya'll stop throwing stuff)
• Noah Kahan
• The Chainsmokers
• Glass Animals
• Ke$ha

A few artists that I don't think will come but are not totally out of the question include:

• Sabrina Carpenter
• Imagine Dragons
• Marshmello
• Machine Gun Kelly
• Halsey
• Meghan Trainor

Again, just my thoughts. Either way, we are super excited about MVF 2025!!