Katy Perry teases not playing Roar during AFL grand final entertainment as dress rehearsal sneak peak aired

American pop megastar Katy Perry has teased not playing her hit song Roar during her AFL grand final pre-match show, joking that it unfairly favours the Lions.

Perry is one of the biggest international stars the AFL has ever landed for its grand final entertainment, with over 2.3 billion streams of her songs Roar and Firework on Spotify alone.

7NEWS broadcast exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of her dress rehearsal on Thursday night, which you can see in the video above.

But there has already been controversy over the superstar’s setlist.

The AFL wants Perry only to play her well-known hits, while the singer herself has pushed back, keen to include some new material in the five-song setlist.

It’s understood the two came to a compromise, allowing Perry to play one new song and four old favourites.

But speaking to Fox FM, she playfully suggested that it would be unfair to play Roar on Saturday.

“I have to cut my song Roar out of the set because it’s not fair. That’s what everybody says,” she said.

Fox FM host Brendan Fevola quickly snapped back: “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you need to play it!”

“OK, I’ll play it. OK, I’ll play it!” Perry conceded.

“C’mon, that’s a crazy conspiracy (that it would be unfair).”

Fevola added: “Because you were booked in way before Brisbane made it.”

He started listing off the popstar’s biggest hits before co-host Nick Cody cut him off.

“I wanna hear Firework, Roar ...” Fevola was saying.

“Thankfully, the Dark Horses didn’t make the grand final this year,” Cody joked.

“Is that a real team?” an unaware Perry asked sincerely.

“No, that is not a team,” Cody laughed.

Meantime, rumours that Perry will bring Australian singing legend Tina Arena on stage with her were all but confirmed when she hinted at “chains” to Sunrise on Wednesday.

The cryptic — or not-so-cryptic — clue appears to be a reference to Arena’s 1994 hit Chains.

“It is the grand final, it’s our biggest day, and I heard you Wednesday morning on Sunrise, because we were on-air, and you said you were going to come out with an Australian female icon,” Fevola said to Perry.

“I’m really good friends with Tones and I, so I texted her and said, ‘Are you coming out with Katy Perry? I’m about to interview her’, and she said no.

“And then you said something in the interview where you said ‘chains’ and ‘locks’ — and I went: Tina Arena.

“I’m not very smart, but I sort of put that together.”

The singer wouldn’t be drawn on revealing it, but she gave another hint that suggested it would be Arena.

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” she said.

“All I know is that it’s a fellow Scorpio and she’s great.”

A quick Google search confirms Tina Arena’s birthday is November 1, landing her comfortably in Scorpio season.

Perry declared on Wednesday that Firework is the song that gets the biggest reaction from people of all ages, so that’s certain to be included in the set.

The production has been tipped to include innovations never before seen on stage at the grand final.

The AFL previously announced Australian artists Cody Simpson, Christine Anu, Zipporah Corser-Anu and Mike Brady will also perform before the game.

Brady will perform his classic Up There Cazaly while Anu and her daughter will perform together for the First Nations ceremony alongside the Songlines Youth Choir.

Simpson, who has stepped back from his swimming pursuits to resume his music career, will perform the national anthem, reprising his role from the 2022 AFLW grand final.

Catch all the exclusive grand final day action and the big game live, free, and in HD starting from 7am, on Seven and 7plus.