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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Your support makes all the difference.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.
YES!! Miley Cyrus is now singing "Jolene", Dolly Parton's classic. The two sang it at the 2019 Grammys in a duet for the ages:
Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus blew everyone away with their 'Jolene' duet at the Grammys
Country icon was honoured at the Grammy awards with a special all-female performance
Speaking of Dolly, she rewrote the lyrics to one of her best-known songs, "9 to5", for a Super Bowl ad this year. The new version is titled "5 to 9" and consists in a – slightly divisive – ode to the side hustle:
Dolly Parton rewrites lyrics to 9 to 5 for Super Bowl ad
Iconic anthem is now a tribute to side hustles
SURPRISE GUEST ALERT! Joan Jett is in the place. They're duetting on "Bad Karma", one of the songs on Miley Cyrus's Plastic Hearts album. The studio version also features Jett.
Viewers can't get enough of the Miley Cyrus-Joan Jett duo. It's not hard to understand why. Can these two go on a whole tour together (as soon as touring can safely resume)?
Miley's now singing her 2013 hit "We Can't Stop", which became her first UK Number One single the year of its release. See below for a blast from the past:
Miley Cyrus tells the crowd she's single, and when the pandemic is over she'll be ready to get her head back in the game – but not until it's safe to do so.
And now for everyone's favourite karaoke anthem... (no? just me?): "Party in the USA"! The 2009 anthem was recently revived during celebrations of Joe Biden's electoral victory:
Huge crowds filmed celebrating in joyous street parties across America as Biden defeats Trump
For millions of Americans, today is a good day.
Miley Cyrus is getting emotional singing the 2013 "Wrecking Ball". "Never gets any easier," she tells the crowd during the song. She's now saying the tune is about "feeling completely broken".
Miley Cyrus just wrapped up the show with a heartfelt thanks to healthcare workers. This was a great show! And clearly, I'm not the only one who thinks so:
More on Super Bowl adverts: Wayne’s World stars Mike Myers and Dana Carvey have been reunited.
A clip unveiled on Sunday last week features Myers and Carvey sitting next to each other and riffing about the annus horribilis that was 2020.
“2020, man, that was a great year,” Myers declares. Both he and Carvey then add a drawn-out: “Not,” before agreeing that 2020 was not good.
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