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Organizers sure worked a lot into roughly 12 minutes during the Super Bowl Halftime Show on Sunday in Miami.
The offerings ranged from pole dancing to children’s choirs, from reggaeton to Led Zeppelin, and from fireworks to massive dance routines.
And, of course, television viewers got to witness two big-name celebrities — Shakira and Jennifer Lopez — co-headline the whole fandango as they waited for the second half of the game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs.
It turned out to be a colorful, vibrant and enjoyable showcase of the two stars’ talents.
Shakira took the stage first, greeting the crowd with a big “Hola Miami!” and then quickly moving through such fans favorites as “She Wolf” and “Whenever, Wherever.”
The worldwide icon, having racked up more than 2 billion views for her YouTube videos and 75 million album sales, showed her versatility as she boogied alongside what appeared to be dozens of other dancers, played some guitar (and drums later on) and grooved to some of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir.”
Following a high-voltage version of “Hips Don’t Lie,” it was J. Lo’s turn and she kept the good times rolling along, mixing song and dance (and even a reference to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”).
The multimedia powerhouse even incorporated a bit of pole dancing into the show, perhaps as a nod to her recent smash “Hustlers.” And she shared the stage for a time with her 11-year-old daughter Emme, who sang and danced and led a kids’ choir. So the show even had an awww… moment.
After Lopez rocked through the likes of “Get Right” and “On the Floor,” Shakira rejoined the party and the two multi-platinum-selling artists joined forces and closed out the Halftime Show with “Let’s Get Loud” and “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)”
“Muchas gracias,” Shakira said.
“Thank you so much,” Lopez added.
Also performing in the mix were reggaeton stars Bad Bunny and J Balvin.
Lovato’s sensational national anthem
Talk about excelling in high pressure situations.
For her first public performance since her 2018 drug overdose, Demi Lovato performed before millions of television viewers on “Music’s Biggest Night” at the 2020 Grammy Awards in January.
As a follow-up, she performed in front of a much, much bigger worldwide television audience when she sang the national anthem on Sunday before the San Francisco 49ers faced off against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV in Miami.
And she’d excel in both of those incredibly high pressure, high profile situations.
At the Grammys, Lovato was so emotional that it took her two tries to get through the emotionally personal ballad “Anyone.” Forrtunately, she would have no such problem at the Super Bowl as she soared through “The Star Spangled Banner” in Miami.
Indeed, it was one of the best versions ever performed at the Super Bowl, ranking up there with the likes of Idina Menzel (Super Bowl XLIX, 2015, Glendale, Arizona), Jennifer Hudson (Super Bowl XLIII, 2009, Tampa), Alicia Keys (Super Bowl XLVII, 2013, New Orleans) and, yes, Whitney Houston (Super Bowl XXV, 1991, Tampa).
Her version was wonderfully powerful, yet still restrained. She was in complete control through every lyric, masterfully underscoring the meaning of the lyrics as she sang. Nothing was over the top. Nothing was showy. And she left an audience of thousands inside in the stadium, and millions watching on TV, in awe.
While Lovato sang, Christine Sun Kim performed the national anthem in American Sign Language.
Yolanda Adams also took the field to deliver “America the Beautiful,” a song that has been sung prior to the national anthem at every Super Bowl since 2009.
It is often a highlight of the musical offerings, especially when sung by such vocalists as Leslie Odom Jr., John Legend and Jennifer Hudson.
And that once again turned out to be the case as Adams — who has been called the “Queen of Contemporary Gospel Music” and “First Lady of Modern Gospel” — sang a stirring rendition of this patriotic number.
#SuperBowlHalftimeShow @JLo @shakira rock Miami https://t.co/nKG4OJ70Yu
— Jim Harrington (@jimthecritic) February 3, 2020
Wow. @ddlovato delivers one of the GREATEST #NationalAnthem versions in #SuperBowl history. @ddlovatoSpain @ddlovatoargen @DdlovatochileSt @ddlovatopanama @DDLovatoNewsPL #SuperBowl2020 #SuperBowlnaESPN https://t.co/SjJjFiIJxD
— Jim Harrington (@jimthecritic) February 2, 2020
Hey @49ers fans: Get even more fired up for #SuperBowlLIV by listening to the team's official "For the Faithful" playlist HERE. @LevisStadium https://t.co/ArMQizBynk
— Jim Harrington (@jimthecritic) January 22, 2020
#GRAMMYAwards2020 – Here are the 7 best performances of #GRAMMYs #Grammys2020 @bts_bighit @Camila_Cabello @ddlovato @LilNasX and more https://t.co/vt4gVQQ1Ad
— Jim Harrington (@jimthecritic) January 27, 2020
Remember the old "We're the @49ers" anthem from the '80s? Well, it's been updated for 2020 by @NaradaMWalden just in time for #SuperBowlLIV …. Check it out here. @LevisStadium https://t.co/IQimDl2wAX
— Jim Harrington (@jimthecritic) January 29, 2020