The Weeknd: Impressive performance at the 55th Super Bowl

The Weeknd brought out the heavy artillery to entertain the millions of viewers watching the Super Bowl on Sunday night. Spectacular from start to finish, his performance lacked warmth, however.

AFP

Fireworks, a choir, a huge wall illuminated like a megalopolis, a choreography set to the quarter turn... The Weeknd certainly did not deliver a lazy performance.

On the music side, the Canadian singer offered 8 songs in 12 minutes. No need to mention that it was a frantic succession of excerpts. During this crazy race, we could hear Starboy, The Hills, Earned It, I Feel it Coming and Save Your Tears.

The climax? The irresistible Blinding Lights, offered as a closing act. A good dose of light fun on which you could finally indulge yourself.

The disappointment? Can't Feel My Face, too stunning because of an overexcited camera. 

The sound also left something to be desired. On the spot, maybe it was better, but in front of our TV set, it lacked relief. And often we lost the singer's voice. It's hard to understand how such a great event could be given such a mediocre sound.

Visually, on the other hand, it was magnificent. Even cinematographic.

Since the stands at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium were one-quarter full due to health restrictions related to coronavirus, The Weeknd had a huge amount of space to express itself. And it took advantage of it.

After taking over part of the stands to deliver his first songs, the 30-year-old artist descended to field level with a small army of dancers whose faces were covered with white strips to close his show. Every square meter was occupied.

Arranged Marriage

Before the game, the U.S. national anthem was the subject of a collaboration between Jazmine Sullivan, a soul singer, and Eric Church, a country singer. This improbable duet exceeded our expectations.  

This arranged marriage between two completely different musical genres certainly symbolized the efforts to unify the post-Donald Trump United States.

For her part, singer-songwriter H.E.R. took on America The Beautiful. Punctuated by an electric guitar solo, her re-reading gave a salutary shock treatment to the patriotic piece.

In a pre-recorded video presented just before the kick-off, poet Amanda Gorman, who lit up Joe Biden's January inauguration ceremony, recited a text in which she honored two key workers and an army veteran.

Miley's Tailgate

Presented on CBS and TikTok live from Tampa, Miley Cyrus' concert livened up the mid-afternoon pre-match fan preview. 

Dressed in what could be described as a debauched cheerleader's uniform, the singer performed for an audience of 7,500 "guardian angels" vaccinated against VIDOC-19, including several nurses from nearby hospitals.

For almost an hour, Miley Cyrus sang her own songs (Nothing Breaks Like A Heart, Prisoner, We Can't Stop, Party in the USA), as well as offering a few vitamin-packed covers of hits from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, including Nine Inch Nails' Head Like A Hole, Blondie's Heart of Glass, Dolly Parton's Jolene, and Bikini Kill's Rebel Girl.

Especially in vocals, the star also received the support of two former punk rock idols: Billy Idol for Nightcrawling and White Wedding, and Joan Jett for Bad Reputation and I Hate Myself For Loving You.

The 28-year-old artist concluded her performance with Wrecking Ball, which she was forced to repeat to release an overflow of emotion.

Source: AFP