Australia Katy Perry meets Pesto: Giant baby penguin delights pop star

The enormous penguin chick Pesto from the Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium not only delights social media users all over the world, but also superstars: US pop icon Katy Perry has now paid a visit to the spherical ball of fluff. In a video that the 39-year-old posted on YouTube, she showed her enthusiasm for the baby lump, who already weighs 22.5 kilos at nine months old. "He looks really cuddly," she said in an interview with Australia's ABC beforehand.

When she comes face to face with him, she bursts out: "He's just a little baby", she sings languorously in the direction of the chocolate-brown social media star, who clearly towers over everyone else in his colony of king penguins. Wrapped up in a thick winter jacket, Perry squats next to Pesto during her short guest appearance in the cold enclosure and gently blows soap bubbles in his direction. "Pesto loves bubbles!" a keeper explains to her.

Excitement before performing at the AFL final

Perry ("Hot n Cold") is currently Down Under because she wants to provide the entertainment program at the grand final of the Australian Football League (AFL) between the Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Lions this weekend. In the run-up to the show, she told ABC News Breakfast about her nervousness before the performance: "It will be the most exciting thing when 100,000 people sing along to all the songs at the top of their lungs."

After her visit to Penguin Pesto, she emphasized with a wink that the bird had already told her the result of the AFL final in advance: "But my lips are sealed." The cub, which was born at the end of January, is considered a phenomenon due to its extraordinary size. When Pesto soon sheds his fluffy brown baby plumage, experts say he will lose some of his girth. But even in his black and white "tuxedo" outfit, he will probably always be the biggest in the aquarium.