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The Weeknd performs at the Super Bowl halftime show.
Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for TW
The super bowl transcends football. Some people who didn’t mind watching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tom “Big Coat” Brady Defending battle champion Kansas City Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes tuned in just for the Grammy-winning singer’s halftime show The Weeknd. They had a special effects rich show that included hit songs like The Hills, Can’t Feel My Face and Blinding Lights and drew mixed reviews fans.
The Weeknd didn’t sport the bandages and bloody face makeup he wore in some recent appearances, though a field full of dancers wore mummy-like face wraps. His ensemble stretched from the bleachers to the pitch and included a mirror-filled sequence that looked like he was singing in a carnival party house.
Ahead of the game, The Weeknd said he was excited to play.
“We all grow up watching the world’s greatest artists play the Super Bowl and one can only dream of being in that position,” the singer said in a statement. “I am honored, honored and thrilled to be at the center of this infamous scene this year.”
Ready for The Weeknd: Who is he?
Born in Toronto to Ethiopian immigrant parents, The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye) started his career 21st century style – uploading songs to YouTube in 2010.
According to Grammy.com, he chose his stage name because he dropped out of high school and left “one weekend and never came home.” His stage name is missing an “e” because there was already a Canadian band known as The Weekend.
He has since won three Grammys, eight Billboard Music Awards, five American Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards and nine Juno Awards. He has appeared three times as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live. His last appearance on SNL was in March 2020, just before the pandemic locked most things on hold. In this show, he surprised audiences with his bandaged face, but the gaze was part of the act.
“The importance of the set of bandages on the head reflects the absurd culture of Hollywood celebrity and of people manipulating themselves for superficial reasons to please and be validated,” he told Variety, in an interview. teasing and mysterious. (The New York Post has a long timeline of the singer’s bloody bandage look.)
What he delivered
He didn’t wear the bandages in the Super Bowl show, or in a 30-second commercial for his halftime performance. In it, he is dressed in an all-black outfit, with a leather jacket and shiny shoes, and seen walking through a tunnel from the stadium to the field.
During a 10-minute press conference, The Weeknd confirmed that he invested his own money to get only the Super Bowl sets he wanted. While the game’s organizers are covering all production costs, the singer invested $ 7 million to “make this halftime show what he envisioned,” his manager told Billboard.
Previous Super Bowl performers have included special guests in their show, but befitting a year of social distancing, The Weeknd hasn’t had any other performers join it.
COVID-19 changes
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, new health and safety guidelines are in place for the entire event. Raymond James Stadium in Tampa normally holds more than 65,000, but due to pandemic restrictions, only about 25,000 fans attended the game, including 7,500 vaccinated healthcare workers who received free tickets.
And fans are socially left behind in the “seat pods,” People magazine reports. They’ll also need to wear masks, receive free hand sanitizer, and pay for food or souvenirs with contactless payment options.
How to watch
The Super Bowl aired on CBS on Sunday, February 7 at 6:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. PT) and was Streamed live for free on the CBS Sports app, mobile devices and on Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. The NFL and Yahoo Sports mobile apps also all streamed the game for free to phones and tablets.
CBSSports.com broadcast the game on its website without requiring any authentication from pay television. Mobile apps for CBS Sports, the NFL app and Yahoo Sports also streamed the game for free to phones and tablets.
Those looking to watch on a TV were able to do so with the CBS Sports app on Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV. Other options include AirPlay from an iOS device or Chromecasting to an Android TV or Google Chromecast streaming dongle from an Android phone or tablet. If all that didn’t work, there was always the option of plugging a computer into your TV’s HDMI port.
YouTube TV costs $ 65 per month and includes all the channels NFL fans need: CBS, ESPN, and NFL Network. Plug your zip code into its home page to see what local networks are available in your area.
FuboTV costs $ 65 per month for its family plan and includes CBS plus ESPN and the NFL Network to keep up with all the pre-Super Bowl fun. Click here to see what local channels you get.
Looking for other ways to watch? We have a long explanation on the many ways to get CBS or other services showing the game in our How to view the message.
More Super Bowl Music
Although he didn’t have any guests during his performance, The Weeknd wasn’t the only famous singer to perform at the Super Bowl.
Miley Cyrus brought Billy Idol and Joan Jett on stage during a pre-show. The pre-match national anthem was a duet performed by Grammy Award nominees Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church. Prior to the anthem, the Grammy-winning singer HER performed America the Beautiful.
After the game, Verizon presented Big Concert for Small Business, a live-streamed music event hosted by Tiffany Haddish and featuring artists including Alicia Keys, Brandi Carlile, Christina Aguilera, Luke Bryan, and Miley Cyrus, in addition to others from HER, Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church.
The concert aired on Verizon Twitter, TikTok, Twitch, and YouTube, as well as Yahoo, Fios, and iHeartRadio, starting at 8 p.m. PT. Organizers encouraged fans to donate $ 10 to support small businesses by texting SMALLBIZ to 20222.
CNET’s Matt Elliott and Eli Blumenthal contributed to this story.
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