FEB 6, 2025 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | By Anya Potsiadlo
With just a few days to spare before Kendrick Lamar and SZA take the stage during halftime of Super Bowl LIX this Sunday, February 9th, I decided to take a trip down memory lane and watch back all the performances from the past 10 years.
2015
In my exploration of the pinnacle of American pop culture performances, the Super Bowl halftime show, I started with perhaps one of our generation’s most memorable halftime shows: Katy Perry’s. As the Patriots took down the Seahawks in Arizona, Perry delivered truly iconic moments all within the span of her 12-minute performance: riding a giant animatronic lion, introducing the world to internet sensation “left shark,” a duet with Missy Elliot and a ride atop a giant shooting star with fireworks shooting out the back of it.
Even though a lot was going on, it felt like everything was tied together by the sheer grandiosity of it all, so it never felt like it was directionless. Even though bringing back old icons to do the Super Bowl is a strategy that the NFL typically employs, I appreciate a halftime show pick who is truly representative of what was being played on the radio at the time, and Perry was a perfect example of that.
2016
The second I pressed play on Coldplay’s performance at the 2016 Broncos vs. Chiefs Super Bowl I was immediately struck by the fact that it was light out, which makes sense after further consideration that the game was played in Santa Clara, Calif., where kickoff was at the ripe hour of 3:30 p.m. I imagine executing a good performance in daylight would be harder, but I think Coldplay successfully overcame this obstacle. Lead singer Chris Martin gave an energetic performance of some of their most popular songs that felt like an ad for world peace for some reason.
Then, five minutes in, a seamless transition to Bruno Mars singing “Uptown Funk,” followed by an entrance from Beyonce, who sings Formation. Backup dancers and the two icons surrounding both eventually meet onstage for a Dance Battle of sorts. Martin retreats to a piano and starts singing a mashup of his song “Fix You” and songs performed at prior Super Bowl as montage plays of performances from years past.
After all, this was the 50th Super Bowl, so this homage was certainly well placed, and even though most of them were before my time, this was still super nostalgic and made me wish I was watching all 50. I’d like to return to my previous point about world peace and say that this performance suggested to me that the halftime show might be the key to it. I didn’t remember this performance before I watched it but afterwards, it’s safe to say I thoroughly enjoyed it.
2017
Lady Gaga started her Super Bowl 2017 performance by singing “God Bless America” and “This Land is Your Land.” Right off the bat, I was a huge fan of the Lady Gaga brand of patriotism and if there’s a time and a place, I would argue the Super Bowl is the perfect one. In a fashion that was not surprising in the least bit given this is Gaga, she spent a lot of time flying through the air as she sang, and her dancing was such that it made me think this was the kind of performance you would have to train extensively for from a purely fitness perspective. I was happy for her when she finally sat down to play the piano.
Everyone in the audience looked really happy to be there, and Gaga gave us what we knew she could. Insane vocals, dancing, special effects and choreography. She was clearly born to perform, but I think this show lacked a theme or single memorable moment.
2018
If you were to Google “Justin Timberlake Super Bowl halftime,” you’d probably have to scroll a while before you find anything about his performance in 2018. That’s because at the 2004 Super Bowl when Timberlake performed with Janet Jackson, he caused a national uproar when he exposed her boob to the entire world as they sang together. For this review, the most important thing to remember about that incident was that it occurred in 2004, 14 years before his 2018 performance. So when the Patriots played the Eagles in Minnesota and skeptics said Tom Brady was passing his prime, that statement was definitely true for Justin Timberlake. Although he admittedly kept up with the high-energy choreography and got the crowd going with some throwbacks, I was rather unconvinced that he was ‘bringing sexy back.’ Timberlake also sang “I Would Die 4 U” in honor of Prince’s then-recent death in 2016. I enjoyed this part, but it left me wondering how Prince would feel about his tribute being carried out by Timberlake of all people.
2019
2019 saw not only the lowest-scoring Super Bowl of all time with the Patriots defeating the Rams by a measly 10 points, but also one of the worst halftime shows of the last ten years in my opinion. It’s definitely impressive that Maroon 5 is still together, and I do really like their songs, but I’m not sure they needed to be shown on this stage. They sounded good and the sing-along quality was high, but this performance desperately needed a wow factor and Adam Levine taking his shirt off didn’t suffice. Despite being a band, we really don’t see much from the other members and Levine takes a front seat role. I’d really like to see the other guys stand up for themselves. I was honestly relieved to see Travis Scott show up to sing “Sicko Mode,” but he didn’t sound great, to be honest. The other feature was Big Boi, who completely threw off the vibe when he showed up and contributed to the general lack of cohesiveness of the performance.
2020
This is the show that should be talked about way more. We start off with an iconic performance from Shakira. The NFL should just defer to her to do the halftime show every year. As she showed at the Grammy’s a few nights ago, she is still fit for the job, and this performance in 2020 had a similarly timeless nature. Headlining alongside Shakira was J Lo, another woman who was made to perform at something of this scale. She did a pole dancing routine for one of her dances, and the choreography was impeccable overall. The energy onstage was truly electric, and the features of Bad Bunny and J Balvin fit the vibe perfectly. Everything about this show made up for everything that was lacking from last year. It was the definition of performance. In the end, J Lo’s daughter showed up and for a second the show was reminiscent of the “Flashlight” scene at the end of “Pitch Perfect 2” (I mean this in a good way). Finally, J Lo and Shakira are onstage together to sing “Waka Waka,” a much awaited song that I consider to be Shakira’s best work. This was a powerful grand finale before lockdown and stands alone as one of the few good things to come out of 2020.
2021
Before I give the 2021 Super Bowl performance by The Weeknd a somewhat scathing review, I will give a disclaimer that this was deep into the pandemic and he had to abide by a ton of restrictions so he kind of got the short end of the stick. Do I think he did a good job abiding by those restrictions? I do not.
The performance features a combination of boring shots of him on the stage singing by himself with little choreography and shots of him inside, surrounded by masked figures in maze-like rooms that felt more like a music video than the Super Bowl performance that we came to see. As a viewer with little context for his artistic vision, I could see an immense amount of effort being put forth to curate some kind of aesthetic, but it was unclear what that aesthetic is and it therefore came off as unsettling.
After doing some research in hopes further understanding would redeem this performance, I found out that The Weeknd was alluding to the ongoing storyline across all his performances in the era following the release of the “After Hours” album. The storyline, which often shows him in a bandaged face, is a commentary on celebrity culture of altering one’s appearance. Though I respect his commitment to this vision, I’m not convinced that the Super Bowl stage is the place for a convoluted social commentary that requires context to understand.
2022
The 2022 Super Bowl took place in Los Angelos, Calif., and the vision for the halftime show was clear and well-executed. Some of the industry’s biggest icons — Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem and 50 Cent — delivered an innovative performance that was a love letter to LA and West Coast hip-hop culture. The stage was modeled after a strip mall in Compton with iconic local spots, with the ground being a light-up map of the neighborhood. This was a perfect example of the halftime performers trying something new, with an unconventional stage setup and very clear thematic elements, while still retaining the important elements of what makes a Super Bowl halftime exciting: backup dancers, fun costumes and recognizable songs. I was paying extra attention to Lamar’s performance in hopes of gaining some insight into what he might bring to the stage this year, and I think it’s safe to expect that he will bring a similarly passionate stage presence where he injects even more life into his vocals and his music’s strong messaging.
2023
Rihanna’s performance during halftime of the Chiefs-Eagles game in Arizona in 2023 still feels fresh in my mind. Rewatching it after revisiting all of the other performances, I am particularly struck by how her sets are contrastingly consistent throughout the performance. There aren’t any outfit or set changes, not to mention no featured artists, and yet the show was visually interesting in its simplicity. This performance goes down in history as the most iconic pregnancy reveal of all time, and the white puffy costumes worn by all of the backup dancers as they executed an extremely eye-catching choreography were almost as memorable. The entire set was so perfectly engineered in a mesmerizing way, as if it had been rehearsed millions of times. Rihanna’s insane vocal range and ability was also a huge part of the show. Draped in a red gown and suspended alone on a high-up platform near the end of the show, she sang “Diamonds” in a way that might have a martian looking upon Earth confuse it for the national anthem and her for our supreme leader. I think she deserves 100% of the title as the most watched Super Bowl halftime performer of all time.
2024
Many people would agree that Usher at the 2024 halftime show was simply underwhelming. I don’t think there was anything inherently wrong with his show, and it was great to hear some of his throwbacks, but it didn’t come close to clearing the high bar required for what is arguably the single most important musical performance of the year. Following two groundbreaking shows in 2022 and 2023, Usher’s set was definitely more conventional and he lacked the energy to keep it interesting. There were too many moments of just him singing on stage, and Alicia Keys joined him for far too short a time. I feel as if his performance let boredom set in far too early and by the time the roller skaters came onstage, albeit a fun spectacle, it was too little too late.
Looking forward to 2025
As for the 2025 halftime show, based on the expertise I’ve gained from watching two hours’ of halftime show content, I don’t see a world in which this show isn’t life-changing. After being disappointed with some performances where the artists seemed random and out of context, I think it’s important that SZA and Kendrick have both been hugely relevant this year, namely with Lamar’s beef with Drake and the resulting “Not Like Us” diss track that became the most decorated song in Grammy’s history last week. Not to mention the two artists have collaborated together multiple times, most recently with “gloria.” and “luther.” from Lamar’s 2024 album, so they will definitely be avoiding the fate of two performers who don’t make sense together.
My final vote of confidence for this halftime show is that Lamar and SZA both have strong artistic visions but also have great stage presences, so I think they will create something that strikes the perfect balance between thought-inspiring ingenuity and top-tier performance quality.