Super Bowl 2021 - how was it?
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The Weeknd's performance at Super Bowl 2021 - how was it? And it was fabulous ... Everything happened in Florida on February 8: the musician performed in front of 25,000 people with his album "After Hours". Thus, the fans were able to enjoy the luxurious hit tracks “Blinding Lights”, “In Your Eyes”, “Save Your Tears” and others…
Behind him were the orchestra and choir, dispersed across a neon cityscape... The Weeknd was surrounded by bandaged-faced dancers, in keeping with the fame-skeptical iconography of his latest music videos... Instead of the usual stage set--put together in midfield and then quickly dismantled after the performance-- The Weeknd performed mostly from the stands, only going down the field for the last few minutes of his set. This was partly a result of the circumstances of 2020…
It's fair to say that The Weeknd's performance at such a huge event caused quite a splash of comments on social media from his fellow celebrities! Drake, who also hails from Toronto, Ontario, described the show as a "major moment for the city" on his Instagram story, while singer Dionne Warwick wrote that she "loved the sets and pyrotechnics". Country music star Keith Urban was equally impressed, especially with the production, and actor Timothée Chalamet captioned the video to his Instagram story: “Legend! Legend!" In addition, many stars and fans noted that the performance of The Weeknd indicated a return to the performance of Michael Jackson at the Super Bowl in 1993 ...
Magic on stage...
In a shiny red jacket and shoes, The Weeknd looked like the mayor of a cabaret, the master of ceremonies in the space age. He stuck to the biggest of his many hits. "Starboy" was flashy, "The Hills" was majestic in scope... After "The Hills," he turned to something a little more unusual, entering a lighted maze and singing "Can't Feel My Face" to a crowd of bandaged-faced people. The camera was hand-held and wobbly, perfectly capturing the glamorous mayhem that is usually avoided at this event...
After that, he softened the mood with some of his biggest hits: the sunny "I Feel It Coming", the light "Save Your Tears", and then "Earned It", the theatrical ballad from the Fifty Shades of Gray soundtrack. The action moved onto the playing field for the finale - a medley of House of Balloons and Blinding Lights - sung straight to the camera, without the usual demands of stunts, guest stars or marching band interludes.
The Weeknd, who spent $7 million (£5 million) of his own money on the production, clearly felt it was best to let the music speak for itself… He even produced a greatest hits album to coincide with the traditionally most popular Super Bowl. (Last year's hiatus of the show starring Shakira and Jennifer Lopez was watched by 103 million viewers!) Leading up to Sunday night, there was a sense that The Weeknd's dark R&B style might not be appropriate for a show that usually calls for inspiring, crowd-pleasing anthems like Prince's "Purple Rain" or Madonna's "Like A Prayer"... But The Weeknd wisely built the set around his more upbeat songs! In other words, he got the job done!
Why were the dancers wearing headbands?
The campaign for The Weeknd's latest album, After Hours, revolved around a bloodied and bandaged character having a "really bad night". The story began with the video for Heartless. Inspired by Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Weeknd saw the star staggering through the casinos and fountains of Sin City, drinking excessively and licking a hallucinogenic toad before attempting to flee... The video for "Blinding Lights" picked up the narrative: singer, drunk turning through a deserted city, recalls an incident at a nightclub that left his face covered in blood.
As subsequent television appearances and music videos were released, the visuals became more and more gory. The Weeknd was decapitated in the "In Your Eyes" video, while in "Too Late" his head was grafted onto another person's body... Then, in the "Save Your Tears" video, his facial bandages were removed to reveal his greatly exaggerated facial prostheses… All the other participants in the video were wearing masks and bandages. This theme, which has already become legendary, was transferred to the performance at the Super Bowl ...
But what is the idea, the essence of all this? The Weeknd himself explained it this way:
“The head and face bandage reflects the absurd culture of Hollywood celebrities and people manipulating themselves for superficial reasons in order to please and gain recognition… We watch the character’s storyline reach elevated levels of danger and absurdity as his story goes on…”
Who else competed in this year's Super Bowl?
In addition to The Weeknd, other voices were heard at the Super Bowl 2021 ... So, the national anthem was performed by a duet of Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan. In addition, the fans were able to enjoy the composition "America the Beautiful" performed by the charming R&B singer HER and a poem by Amanda Gorman ... But another really bright highlight of the show was Miley Cyrus, who put on a spectacular performance in the company of specially invited Joan Jett and Billy Idol (they also appeared on her recent album Plastic Hearts)!
Dressed in a pink and black cheerleader costume, Miley Cyrus performed a cover of Toni Basil's "Oh Mickey" as well as her famous hits "We Can't Stop", "Wrecking Ball" and more!
