• Victor Nascimento is a 38-year-old screenwriter living in São Paulo
• He traveled to Rio de Janeiro and saw Lady Gaga perform at her free concert.
• He booked a hotel and flights in March, guaranteeing he'd get to see Lady Gaga.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Victor Nascimento. It has been edited for length and clarity.

In February, I heard Lady Gaga might be coming to Rio de Janeiro to perform a concert for people to attend for free in May. I knew I wanted to be there for it.

In May 2024, I was at Madonna's Rio performance — it was a once-in-a-lifetime event. Nothing like it had ever been done before in Rio.

Watching Lady Gaga over the weekend was perfect because we planned ahead.

We booked hotel rooms for 4 weekends before she confirmed the date

In March, to guarantee I would have a hotel booked to see Lady Gaga, my group of eight gay friends booked four weekends at a hotel in Rio, knowing we could cancel the weekends we wouldn't need once we found out the confirmed date of the concert.

It was confirmed that the concert would be on May 3^rd, so we booked our flights and canceled the hotel reservations we wouldn't need.

We flew into Rio on Thursday because it was Labor Day here in Brazil. I did a little bit of work on Friday morning, and then in the afternoon, around 2:00 p.m., we headed to the beach to enjoy the perfect weather.

Everyone on the beach was talking about how Lady Gaga was going to have to do a rehearsal and sound check on the beach, so we waited around all day, hoping we'd see her.

We saw her rehearsal pretty close

At 8 p.m., she started her rehearsal and performed the entire concert. We were so close to the stage, at the first screen. People were running from the streets, screaming with excitement to hear her. It was almost as great as watching the concert itself.

Already, people were saving spots for the next day. They were superfans in war mode.

On Saturday, we didn't leave our hotel until 6 p.m. because the hotel was only a 15-minute walk from the beach. We didn't have to get on a subway or go through checkpoints. It was really easy.

We went for drinks, but didn't drink much because we didn't want to have to run back and forth to the toilet during the show, and then walked to the third screen to wait for the show to start. We stood unmoving for hours until Lady Gaga came out at nearly 10 p.m. We made friends with people around us, sharing food with each other — it had a community feel.

But I know that my experience of getting in wasn't the same as everyone's. Packed transport, security checks, and long lines made it really difficult for a lot of people to get onto the beach.

The show was incredible

Once she started performing, we watched, jumped, and screamed for two and a half hours. It was incredible. People were dressed like Lady Gaga, crying through the concert.

Everyone surrounding me was either LGBTQ+ or a supporter of the community. It was such a special moment — to see 2 million people waving the LGBTQ+ flag, especially right now.

Instead of fighting the crowds to leave, we stayed and watched the after-show, a DJ, until the beach had cleared out. When we left to get food, the beach was much quieter. I finally got back to the hotel at 3 a.m.

I spent about $700 for 5 days in Rio

I left on Monday and had the very best weekend. I wouldn't change anything. I think the reason my experience was so good was because I planned so far in advance. It was a perfect weekend — something I'll never forget.

The city paid for the concert to revitalise Rio's economy. During my five-day stay, I spent around $700 on hotels, travel, parties, food, and drinks.

The concert transformed a weekend in May that otherwise would have had nothing happening. But instead, they put on a highly anticipated event that brought a lot of tourists in, who spent money.

It wasn't just good for Rio's economy — it's great for Rio. Everyone online was talking about the city.

There are talks that Beyoncé might be coming next year, and if that's the case, I'll be here, with the same friends.

• Lilly Mcginley was on Cunard's Queen Anne when the captain issued a pirate alert earlier this month.
• The retiree and frequent cruisegoer says she wasn't frightened. She's had worse experiences at sea.
• Mcginley, 56, told Business Insider that unexpected events on cruises add to the sense of adventure.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lilly Mcginley, a 56-year-old retiree from the UK, about being aboard a cruise ship where passengers were told to turn off lights to help avoid pirates. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

When we booked a cruise aboard Cunard's Queen Anne we had no idea we'd even be passing through waters at risk of piracy.

My husband and I have been on more than 70 cruises. We had never experienced a pirate alert before, and we certainly weren't expecting one.

I first realized something unusual was happening when the alert sounded at an unusual time as we sailed south of the Philippines toward Manila. The announcements are normally made around midday, but this came at around 4 p.m.

The captain said the area we would be sailing through was known for piracy threats, and the ship would be operating at a heightened level of security alertness.

From 5 p.m. onwards, the crew was setting up water canons and loudspeakers at the back of the ship. There was quite a lot of security outside.

From around 9 p.m., we weren't allowed to go out on the promenade deck, and we had to shut our curtains and turn our lights off.

It was clear that people were a bit anxious. Some of my friends chose not to tell their kids what was happening because they didn't want them to worry, and I'm sure quite a few people had a sleepless night.

After the nighttime worry, people started to feel more at ease the following day.

In fact, it became a fun pastime to get binoculars out and look for pirates.

Many of us were sitting at the front of the ship, using binoculars, commenting every time a little boat got close to the ship.

Some people were quite disappointed we didn't see any pirates!

The crew also held a sports day, which helped to take people's minds off things.

Throughout the day, people started to see the fun and excitement in this experience. We could all leave the cruise with a story to tell.

To be honest, I was excited from the start. My first thought was: "This is going to be interesting."

On this occasion, I wasn't nervous at all.

I knew the risk of actual danger wasn't high and we've been on other ships when it has been a lot worse.

In December 2023, we were cruising through the Suez Canal and the southern Red Sea, when the Houthis started launching drones.

The captain made an announcement and screens showed the area we would be passing through, along with pictures of the container ships that had been attacked recently.

Like on the Queen Anne, we had to stay indoors and avoid the open decks.

It was a bit worrying through the night, but again, people's moods lightened the following day. I thought it was interesting and another thing to talk about around the dinner table.

We've also been on a cruise ship during a hurricane. During that cruise, everything started flying around, with sunbeds even going overboard.

But this stuff that happens when you're on a ship is what I enjoy most.

Don't get me wrong — if the pirates had got on the ship or a drone strike had happened, I would have been the first one freaking out. That would have been a completely different story.

But I like the sense of adventure.

People may think cruising is boring, but clearly, it's not.

• Nick Meyer is a voice actor living in California.
• Meyer parted ways with his talent agency after refusing a job involving AI.
• Meyer said some actors are avoiding AI-based jobs.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nick Meyer, a 26-year-old voice actor living in Los Angeles. Business Insider has reviewed documents related to the audition and contacted the talent agency for comment.

I have been doing TV and film since I was 16.

I booked a film in Canada and was set to record it when the pandemic hit. I was talking to one of my agents and was like, "I'm tired of sitting back on it. I know the whole industry stopped, but what do you recommend?"

She was like, "Hey, you should try out voice acting."

I've been hearing since I was young that I sounded like a 40-year-old man. That has always been a head-turner and a bit of a joke among friends, family, and on-set with casting directors.

So, I met with a coach and spent a year and a half just taking classes.

In 2022, I started to take off on TikTok and Instagram. By early 2023, I had found Quinn, an audio storytelling app. I started working with them in 2023 and have been doing that ever since.

I refused to do an AI voice-over job

I joined my former talent agency around March 2024 but parted ways in February 2025.

My agency sent me to an audition in February. For this specific job, I took a step back and read the email, which mentioned machine learning, synthesized voice, and text-to-speech. I saw that the payout was listed as up high five figures, low six figures.

As soon as I saw that AI was involved, I was skeptical. As I reviewed further, they were casting 100 people, and if I had submitted to the audition, it would have been in tandem with an NDA. Even if they took my voice and melded it with 99 other people or used only my voice, I would not be able to publicly say that's my voice.

That was a huge red flag for me.

The biggest problem with machine learning and generative AI is they can't get the voices right when they're developing full movies or TV shows. So, to me, this project is what some companies are doing in response, and I didn't want to be a part of it.

I told my agency I didn't feel comfortable doing this job. It's an insane amount of money, and that is not lost on me. I did not make anywhere near enough to scoff at a hundred thousand dollars, so it was not an easy decision.

In response, they said this may not be the agency for you.

I understood in that moment. I was like, "Yeah, you know what? You're right. Maybe I'm not a good fit."

I'm still agentless, but I do have a manager now. I just signed with a big voice acting company early this week.

Actors are learning to navigate AI jobs

In casual conversations with colleagues and friends, some actors accept the inevitability — or at least believe in the inevitability — that there will come a time when actors will be auditioning against audio-generated voices. It adds a level of hopelessness.

But for the most part, the average voice actor is doing everything they can to stay far away from companies using AI, and they're doing their damndest, no matter the paycheck, to slow the roll.

When you think of the greatest actors, like Viola Davis, Christopher Walken, and Morgan Freeman, it's not just their acting ability. It's their voice. If you believe that your likeness is worth more than a paycheck, then you have to stick by that.