Rihanna hasn’t toured since 2016, however tonight throughout the Jay Z-produced spectacle that’s the Super Bowl LVII halftime present the Good Lady Gone Unhealthy singer placed on a tour de pressure.
Filling her lower than 15-minute set with an array of hits, floating platforms, membership dance ground dynamics and spectacle the second best-selling feminine artist of all time owned the sphere at present at Glendale, Arizona’s State Farm Stadium with close to pure celebrity swagger.
Pushing the excessive profile slot to new technological and Olympian heights, Rihanna was pure solo tonight.
With a listing full of labor with the likes of Jay-Z, Eminem and Drake over the many years, the ‘Umbrella’ singer teased visitor stars earlier this week. It was all hype as a result of when it got here showtime, Rihanna did the job all on her personal with solely a legion of dancers as sidekicks in a efficiency that was completely 2023.
(Picture by Rob Carr/Getty Photos)
It was additionally an evolution for the halftime present itself culturally because the very long time daring as brass singer made no secret of the child bump she’s sporting. A good distance from the day when Janet Jackson was profession shammed for a wardrobe malfunction due to Justin Timberlake in 2004, Rihanna public show of motherhood comes lower than a 12 months after she had her first baby. It additionally performed the 21st century superstar sport observe excellent by letting the world in with out having to say a factor – which is social media in a nutshell.
Not like President Joe Biden this 12 months, Rihanna took benefit of the near 100 million viewers Fox are within the ballpark to draw for at present’s massive NFL sport to sit down down earlier at present, for pre-recorded and softball tossing chat with NFL analyst and GMA co-host Michael Strahan.
Kicking off with 2015’s ‘Bitch Better Have My Money,’ the Hamish Hamilton directed 12-song set was a confidence transfer and a piece of visible artwork that work on a mess of ranges. As soon as once more produced by the profitable crew of DPS with Ray-Z’s Roc Nation and Jesse Collins, the now Apple Music sponsored halftime present was a continuous mixture of stark pink lights, choreography, and state of affairs particular stillness, because the pregnant Rihanna let the digital camera, gravity and the music do the struttin.’
By the point the setlist handed off the baton to her 2021 megahit “Diamonds,” Rihanna was up on the floating platform with seemingly all the 72,000 followers within the stadium lighting the joint up in unison along with her.
Fact be informed, with the extraordinarily well-matched Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs at 24-14 after two grinding quarters, Rihanna got here into this halftime present the distinct longshot – which made her excessive flying highwire win Sunday all of the extra spectacular.
To start with, in hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, the nine-time Grammy winner was following final 12 months’s historic close to Gold medal degree California Love halftime extravaganza of Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J Blige, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem. Nearer on the calendar, there was the stirring rendition of “America the Beautiful” from Babyface and Chris Stapleton’s stripped down model of the Nationwide Anthem that preceded at present’s opening coin toss. The latter of which moved Eagles coach Nick Sirianni and numerous gamers on each groups to tears on the sideline.
Having rejected the coveted half time slot in 2019 in solidarity with blacklisted QB Colin Kaepernick, this 12 months Rihanna deftly squeezed a 17-year lengthy profession, which is comparatively quick by halftime headliners requirements, into 14 of the seemingly most watched minutes in small display screen historical past.
By no means essentially the most dynamic of performers and but by no means hesitant to share the highlight on tracks, Rhianna has at all times had a chill charisma to burn since she burst on the scene again in 2005. Leaning into that enigmatic power and clearly fired up by a promise to fly the flag of her Barbadian roots, a pink garbed Rihanna and her white hooded dancers actually levitated within the Copper State stadium with a sneer and a wink.
Which is the way you unveil a return to heart stage on the largest stage round.
BTW: Coming off one more profitable Tremendous Bowl halftime present, why aren’t Jay-Z, Roc Nation and Jesse Collins producing the Oscars, the Emmys and the whole lot in-between? C’mon AMPAS make that 2024 name …
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