Super Bowl halftime show: The Weeknd gives ‘brilliant’ performance with dancers in face bandages
'Blinding Lights' star has earned widespread praise for his performance
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The Weeknd has earned widespread praise for his performance during the 2021 Super Bowl halftime show.
The artist, real name Abel Tesfaye, was the first Canadian to headline solo at the event. He opened his performance on Sunday with the 2016 tune "Starboy". Shortly afterwards, viewers got a glimpse of The Weeknd with a group of dancers whose faces were wrapped in bandages – an aesthetic the artist has explored recently, which he views as a statement on celebrity.
The concert culminated when The Weeknd and a large group of bandaged dancers took over the field for a performance of "Blinding Lights" with an accompanying choreography. Viewers showered The Weeknd with praise on social media, deeming his show "brilliant" and "amazing".
The Independent gave the performance a 4.5-star review, deeming it "a thoroughly produced, brilliantly escapist 10 minutes" that "helped a deeply divided country – however briefly – dance away the pain of this past year".
Earlier in the evening, country star Eric Church and R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan performed the national anthem, while R&B artist HER was on hand to sing “America the Beautiful”. Their performances were also met with appreciation on social media.
Poet Amanda Gorman, who read during Joe Biden's presidential inauguration last month, read a poem during pre-show festivities, paying tribute to a teacher, a nurse, and a Marine Corps veteran during the coronavirus pandemic. Viewers called her performance as "phenomenal", "uplifting", and "inspirational".
In the afternoon, Miley Cyrus performed in front of selected healthcare workers for a special pre-game show. She was joined onstage by Billy Idol and Joan Jett.
Of course, this year's Super Bowl was also a chance for studios to debut high-profile trailers. The first teaser for M Night Shyamalan's Old was unveiled, as well as that of the anticipated Marvel series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
You can follow the 2021 Super Bowl as it happened thanks to our live blog below.
Meanwhile, The Weeknd has shared this video teaser for this halftime show tonight. He follows up on Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, who sang together during last year's show in an acclaimed performance.
A reminder in case you're not sure about what time to tune in for The Weeknd's performance.
The game is scheduled to kick off around 6.30pm ET (1am GMT) so the halftime show should take place around 90 minutes after that.
Miley Cyrus just shared this video in the last few minutes before her concert. Go to time code 1:13 to see her singing admirably while running on a treadmill:
The video Miley Cyrus just shared on Twitter (see previous post) is now playing on the stage in Tampa, Florida. The audience of selected, vaccinated healthcare workers is waiting for the show to begin:
Cyrus begins her show with a cover of Toni Basil's "Hey Mickey" – except she's revised the lyrics to "Hey Miley". She just must to the crowd that it's nice to see people. We can emphasise with that feeling, Miley... Her second song is "Prisoner", originally a featuring with Dua Lipa. Cyrus thanks the crowd for its diligence and says it's her first live show in about a year.
Billy Idol has joined Miley Cyrus on stage. The two are rocking out to Idol's "White Wedding". So far, this is an excellent, very energetic performance! Both performers are clearly thrilled to be back on a live stage.
Miley's now covering "Head Like a Hole" by Nine Inch Nails. We must ask: is there ANYTHING she can't sing? Anything at all?
Miley Cyrus is now singing her song "High", from her November 2020 album Plastic Heart. The Independent called it "a truckload of fun, brimming with Cyrus’s reckless soul-bearing charisma" in a four-star review, which you can read here:
Miley Cyrus’s rock album Plastic Hearts is a truckload of fun – review
The former Disney star is offering punk attitudes on the dancefloor. Funk delivered with a roar, not a pout. Notes delivered with maximum bawl and full extension
And we move on to "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart", originally a 2018 collaboration with Mark Ronson. Can this show possibly go on for another two hours? The quality is HERE.
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