Was the main event the football game or the halftime show? It depends on who you ask.
For me it was the highly anticipated halftime show featuring platinum-winning artist The Weeknd. The performance took on extra significance after the artist was left off the list of Grammy Awards nominations.
The Weeknd began his show with his hit song “Starboy.” That song was the lead single for The Weeknd’s third studio album by the same name.
The second song of the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime show was “The Hills,” from The Weeknd’s second album “Beauty Behind the Madness.”
For his third song, The Weekend moved into a maze of lights with a first-person camera view. He was joined by backup singers wearing white bandages on their face as The Weeknd performed “Can’t Feel My Face.”
The bandaged dancers and singers remained a theme throughout the show and there was a meaning behind the mask. The Weeknd said it was part of his message about celebrities getting plastic surgery and self love.
The mask theme continued with the following songs, “I Feel it Coming” and “Save Your Tears.”
During the song “Save Your Tears,” the guitarist next to The Weeknd was wearing the same mask he was wearing during that song’s music video. In the music video, everyone in the audience was wearing this mask.
The most emotional moment of the performance came during the song “Earned It,” which began with an orchestral introduction.
The Weeknd’s performance ended on the field surrounded by dancers and backup singers with the same signature bandaged faces. The final song was The Weeknd’s smash hit “Blinding Lights.”
