The Weeknd promised a “cinematic experience”, and indeed, the unsettling, if daring, selfie interlude for I Can’t Feel My Face in a funhouse filled with bandaged (in the Covid era, it might be more appropriate to say “masked”) dancers felt like a PG attempt at simulating a bender. (Twenty years after Janet Jackson was fined and blacklisted for accidentally exposing her breast during her Super Bowl performance, courtesy of Justin Timberlake, we have the theme of the R-rated Fifty Shades of Grey film performed – genuinely well, with gravitas – as the ballad of the halftime show). Wearing an oversized red glitter jacket, black leather gloves, and black-and-white brogues – in keeping with the 80s lucid dream of his After Hours era – the Weeknd riffed through several of his (censored) hits from across his near-decade of fame, ranging from his days of dark, drug-fueled R&B as a star on the Toronto underground scene through his synth-laced pop hits of more recent albums.Īfter blitzing through The Hills, I Feel It Coming, Save Your Tears and an unsettling performance of I Can’t Feel My Face, the Weeknd slowed things down, and stretched out the vocals, to one of his breakout hits, Earned It, backed by a violin orchestra. The 30-year-old Toronto native began with a stage set in the stand, the city of Tampa’s skyline (which hosted this year’s Super Bowl) styled like the Vegas strip, backed by a masked choir that immediately brought the requisite hyped energy. The Weeknd’s 14-minute set made the most of its half-empty stadium and lack of audience by playing, sometimes chaotically but never boringly, with his staging and the audience’s point of view. (A good portion of his audience were cardboard cutouts, as the NFL adheres to social distancing guidelines.) The brooding R&B crooner, who put m of his own money toward a show in line with the surreal, dreamy-but-anxious vision of his 2020 album, After Hours, largely delivered on a difficult task with a sometimes unnerving, rousing performance for a bad trip of a year. Which makes the decision by the Canadian R&B-pop singer the Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, to perform the 2021 halftime show sans guest stars doubly ambitious, given that he was already facing the constraints of a diminished audience and the pall of the ongoing pandemic. Most stars recruit extra help – Katy Perry brought in Missy Elliott, Coldplay essentially (and wisely) ceded their 2016 show to Beyoncé and Bruno Mars, last year’s headliner Jennifer Lopez pulled a two-hander with fellow Latina superstar Shakira, and Maroon 5 got assists from Travis Scott and Big Boi in 2019. H eadlining the Super Bowl half-time show has always been a tall order, a challenge not only of slinging a medley of hits but of charisma, choreography and a nearly too-broad appeal. "It’s all a progression and we watch The Character’s storyline hit heightened levels of danger and absurdity as his tale goes on," he said. He followed that by wearing bandages during his live performances, all while in the same red suit. In the "Blinding Lights" video, he's shown being smacked around and ending up with cuts and bruises after a rough night out. "The significance of the entire head bandages is reflecting on the absurd culture of Hollywood celebrity and people manipulating themselves for superficial reasons to please and be validated," he told Variety on Wednesday. The Weeknd shared the message behind why he has been sporting a bandaged face in recent videos and live appearances. Watch TODAY All Day! Get the best news, information and inspiration from TODAY, all day long. The Weeknd is trying to get a message across with all those bandages on his face.Īhead of his anticipated halftime performance at Sunday's Super Bowl, the 30-year-old singer shared the reason behind his appearance in a story arc that began with last year's video for his hit "Blinding Lights" and continued with a "Saturday Night Live" performance and then one with his face bandaged up at the American Music Awards.
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