LOS ANGELES: Underneath his umbrella, NFL legend Dan Marino stood almost drenched on the sideline watching Prince’s epic “Purple Rain” Super Bowl halftime efficiency in 2007 throughout a torrential Miami downpour.
For Marino, Prince’s iconic present was one the best moments within the historical past of halftime reveals — which was as soon as seen as a humdrum intermission that includes school marching bands. But in time, the halfway level of the NFL’s championship recreation has emerged into one among sport’s greatest spectacles with famous person performances from Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, Madonna, Aerosmith and U2.
“The halftime performance has come a long way,” stated the Hall of Fame quarterback who performed 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins and competed within the 1985 Super Bowl. As an NFL analyst, Marino’s had a entrance-row seat to a number of halftime reveals.
“Not a lot of people really watched it,” he continued. “But now, as we head into Super Bowl 58, people love to watch the halftime show.”
In almost six many years, the halftime festivities have remodeled from a household-oriented present with patriotic tunes into leisure’s greatest stage with high-tier performers, pyrotechnics and very good backup dancers. The 12-to-15 minute efficiency generally attracts extra eyeballs than the precise championship recreation, constantly drawing greater than 100 million viewers.
Last 12 months, Rihanna ’s efficiency turned probably the most-watched in historical past with over 121 million viewers, barely edging Katy Perry’s 2015 present. The quantity from Rihanna’s set is about six million greater than Fox’s broadcast of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 38-35 victory in opposition to the Philadelphia Eagles.
“I think the live element is pretty exciting for people because it’s a massive production and there’s so many moving pieces,” stated actor Scarlett Johansson, who doesn’t think about herself a soccer fanatic. But she’s intrigued by the unpredictability of the halftime present like Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson ’s notorious “wardrobe malfunction,” Lady Gaga dropping from a stadium roof and Rihanna’s being pregnant reveal.
“You kind of watch with nervous excitement,” Johansson stated. “You know at any moment something could maybe go wrong. That’s why it’s so fun to watch it because you’ve got all this anticipation. The production is so huge and so many people have come together to create this one moment. It’s kind of awesome.”
Kris Jenner agrees, calling the halftime present a “giant surprise.”
“The production level and how quickly they put it together as they’re breaking into commercial and come back with this fabulous, epic show,” stated Jenner, the matriarch of “The Kardashians” actuality tv present. “Through all the years and technology, it gets better and better. It’s so exciting to watch and see what they come up with next and who is going to perform. It’s such a big deal.”
Usher — who final 12 months informed The Associated Press his look with the Black Eyed Peas in the course of the 2011 Super Bowl taught him to not “take the moments for granted because you only get 13 of them” — will headline this 12 months’s present in Las Vegas on Feb. 11.
His present might be vastly completely different than the NFL’s first Super Bowl halftime present in 1967, which featured marching bands from the University of Arizona and Grambling State University, a traditionally Black school, together with a whole bunch of flying pigeons, 1000’s of balloons and two hovering males sporting jetpacks.
After the inaugural Super Bowl, the NFL saved bringing again different marching bands, drill groups, signed Chubby Checker and Up with People, a company that stage optimistic considering by means of dance and track performances. However, none of these acts have been thought-about enormous attracts.
But because the Super Bowl’s reputation soared and recreation day emerged as an unofficial vacation within the U.S., the NFL wished the halftime present to develop in the identical capability. The league tapped New Kids on the Block and Gloria Estefan the primary two years of the ’90s. Then it noticed an enormous breakthrough when Michael Jackson headlined the 1993 present on the Rose Bowl in Southern California, the place the King of Pop notoriously moonwalked throughout the stage and carried out hits together with “Billie Jean,” “Black or White” and “Heal the World.”
Jackson’s stellar efficiency opened the door for different stars just like the Rolling Stones, Diana Ross, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira who’re desirous to carry out.
“That certainly was the one that changed the course of pop stars and major musicians taking that stage seriously,” stated Seth Dudowsky, the top of music on the NFL. He’s the purpose particular person for all musical activations for the league and a liaison with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, which has produced the halftime present since 2019.
The NFL handles manufacturing prices and bills for performers — who don’t receives a commission — however the publicity to a whole bunch of tens of millions of individuals worldwide is taken into account priceless.
Dudowsky recalled when Coldplay frontman Chris Martin stated the “Super Bowl of music is the Super Bowl.” He stated the halftime present has been capable of develop due to the NFL’s means to regulate to the present tradition and giving deserving artists the platform to specific their artistry.
Some notable examples embrace U2’s remembrance of the 9/11 victims; Beyoncé’s unapologetic Blackness and political activism by means of her Black energy anthem “Formation”; and the primary present to function hip-hop artists led by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg in 2022.
“We really wanted to start to focus on leading into culture,” stated Dudowsky, who has labored on the NFL since 2013 and attended 11 Super Bowls. “Whether that’s the culture of the city, what’s happening in culture at large and then focusing on it so that what we’re doing feels culturally relevant and using that platform for artists to be able to be themselves and show their art on stage. … We want them to feel empowered.”
Dogg praised NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Jay-Z for pushing the halftime present ahead. The league labored with Roc Nation to assist its Inspire Change initiative, created by the NFL after an settlement with a coalition of gamers who demonstrated in the course of the nationwide anthem to protest social and racial injustice on this nation.
“Shout out to Jay-Z for changing the climate. Roger Goodell for giving him an opportunity,” Dogg stated. “This is music. The music that dictates the world is what’s performing at halftime now. They’re starting to understand that it’s about what those players want to hear, what those fans want to hear, and what’s universally effective. It has no color on it now. Pop used to have a color on it. Now pop is popular. So, the most popular music is the music that we make. It makes sense to put those people on there that make that music.”
Dogg stated Usher completely “fits the mold to the fullest.
“He looks good. He dances good. He sounds good,” the rapper stated. “All the above. And he’s got hit records. You want to see that. You want to see a performer perform. You want to see a real entertainer.”
(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
