This year, girls have crashed the party.

In an effort to broaden the 59-band rock tour's appeal to more than moshing skate punks, more female artists across the musical spectrum have been invited to appear at this year's incarnation, stopping Saturday at the Utah State Fairpark.

Inviting women isn't anything new. In 2004, Juliette & the Licks performed. The next year, the all-girl band Go Betty Go played, and in 2006 Paramore, was a highlight.

But this year, pop performers like Katy Perry - currently performing the No. 2 single in the nation, "I Kissed a Girl" - show that tour organizers don't see its music as one-size-fits-all.

"I have no idea," Perry told The Salt Lake Tribune after being asked why she was invited to be on the Warped Tour. "I think they got my name wrong. . . . I'm a pop girl."

Perry's debut album - coincidentally called "One of the Boys" - features Avril Lavigne and Alanis Morissette influences, but she is a long way from being mistaken for other acts on this Warped Tour, like Angels & Airwaves. The recent highlight of her life, she said, was when Madonna admitted on Ryan Seacrest's radio show that another Perry song, "You're So Gay," was Madonna's favorite song of the moment.

"Can you imagine?" Perry said about Madonna's seal of approval. "I didn't believe it. Oh my God. I have posters on my wall of her."

As for the Warped Tour, Perry said she's had friends perform at tour dates, and "they came back smelly. They told me to expect a lot of heat.

She added that she has traded her vices for Vitamin C to build up her immune system.

And she hopes women accompany their boyfriends to the Warped Tour.

"Please, I need someone to ovulate with," she said.

Charlotte Sometimes is also on the tour, and like Perry, doesn't fit the typical Warped profile. "I don't know" was also her reponse when asked why she was invited to Warp.

Sometimes was born Jessie Poland but renamed herself after the 1969 children's novel by Penelope Farmer that featured a time-traveling character named Charlotte. (The Cure later wrote a song about the book.)

The 20-year-old singer-songwriter has never been to the Warped Tour. It was never her scene, she said.

"I was always the creepy girl who hung out at coffeehouses," she said.

But she said it was "cool that they're inviting female singer-songwriters, because it's about the songs, and not the genre."

Her debut album, "Waves and the Both of Us," was just released in May and adds a rock edge to the singer-songwriter vibe. But, again like Perry, she will never be mistaken for Pennywise.

But she's ready for the Warped Tour, considering the makeup of her backing band.

"I've been touring with a bunch of smelly boys for a while," she said.

Is she ready to hang with the men and perform for men?

"I wouldn't call them 'men,' " she said. "I call them boys."

Women fronting male bands is also not new for the Warped Tour. No Doubt, with singer Gwen Stefani singing backed by three men, were Warped Tour veterans before reaching multiplatinum status. Two male bands at Warped Tour- Defy Tomorrow and TAT - are led by women.

TAT lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Tatiana DeMaria made a strong case for women being on the tour, explaining that a largely male audience won't faze her.

"I'll eat them alive," she said. "I have a larger penis than most males."

Two years ago, TAT was scheduled to play only eight dates of the Warped Tour, "but they must have liked us, because we ended up playing 28 dates. It sounds kind of wanky."

DeMaria is so fierce she doesn't believe in sunblock. "I like to believe I'm immune from the sun," she said.

Marissa is the lead singer of Defy Tomorrow, a young band created when Marissa, a relatively established pop artist, teamed up with Mike Oliver, former frontman of the hard rock band ColdFusion, which performed at several previous incarnations of the Warped Tour.

"Mike's been on this tour three or four times," Marissa said. "I heard you lift all your own equipment and it's really hot. But I'm not intimidated. It's awesome when girls step up."

She described the band "not as heavy as Flyleaf, not as poppy as Paramore."

Oliver said he told Marissa the Warped Tour is "hell on wheels," but "obviously it's a rewarding hell."

Both said they believe Warped Tour will respond to their band.

"Yeah, we have a hot lead singer," Oliver said.

You could almost hear Marissa smirking over the phone. "I think they'll respond to the music," she said.

David Burger can be reached at dburger@sltrib.com or 801-257-8620. Send comments about this story to livingeditor@ sltrib.com.

Get Warped, it's only a day away

The Vans Warped Tour is Saturday at the Utah State Fairpark, 155 N. 1000 West, Salt Lake City. Doors open at 11 a.m. Tickets are $27.66 in advance, $30 the day of, at SmithsTix.

Lyrics from Katy Perry's "One of the Boys"

I saw a spider, I didn't scream

Because they just get in my way.