The Super Bowl Halftime Show Tier List

every year after the Super Bowl draws to a close and the Lombardi trophy is hoisted football fans have to face a dark realization now they'll have to wait for months on end to get a brand new Super Bowl halftime show I mean it's what the people want clearly on the official NFL channel all of their top 10 most viewed videos ever are from halftime shows but if you're only paying attention to the most viewed anything then you're bound to miss out on some underrated gems so today I want to strap in and go on a journey through every halftime show in the modern era that way you know which of them are actually worth your time when you go to make that 2AM YouTube search at some point in the future it has been a long road though so let's get this thing started so the Super Bowl itself has been going on since 1967 but before the mid-1990s things were a lot less star-studded and a lot more marching bands we don't even have decent footage of a lot of these early performances but by the time decent video quality rolled around things were getting borderline cultish in the halftime scene [Music] but hey I don't think it'd be fair to just LeapFrog the evolution of halftime shows in entirety so let's kick off our journey in the year 1989. just to see what halftime looked like before we were spoiled by big names [Music] [Applause] [Music] say hello to Elvis Presto that's right there's an Elvis impersonator performing at the Super Bowl keep in mind Elvis had been dead for just over a decade at this point Presto does some sick birthday party magic tricks which as you know always plays Super well in a stadium setting but his best trick by far is that he's able to sing without having his mouth match the words [Music] F tier for Elvis presto moving into the 1990s we've got our first colossal name in entertainment with Snoopy the dog wow what a great birthday party okay this one caught me off guard considering the peanuts are probably at the bottom of the barrel for who I'd ever want to select as a halftime performer let alone for a New Orleans themed halftime show credit where credit is due though because I kind of just watched this one with my mouth half open and wondering if I was hallucinating the entire time [Music] woman d-tier solely for not being Elvis presto 1991 brings us to our first Disney tie-in of the list this wasn't their first foray and a half time shows but it was definitely one of them [Music] the New Kids on the Block are supposed to be the star headliner here but they happen to get upstaged by surprise guest President George H.W bush because America is in the middle of the Gulf War tonight the real hero are in the Middle East found the greatest embodiment of 1991 American culture you just don't get Roger Rabbit Shenanigans followed by U.S military montages anywhere else [Music] everywhere d-tier for Disney and Desert Storm 1992 spectacle in the Minnesota Metrodome would kill the halftime show format as it had been previously known by showcasing a 13-minute mess with the title to summarize it looks like Jack Frost projectile vomited on a local parade we've got Olympic figure skaters trying to perform on a stage that's the size of a parking space and then since it is the early 90s there's some kind of horrible hip-hop thing about Frosty the Snowman [Music] chilling out Standing Tall Gloria Estefan shows up at the end but no one is left to care in fact the broadcast bled out viewership to an episode of In Living Color by 22 during halftime and people just didn't bother to come back F tier I would rather have watched the Metrodome collapse so after the ratings embarrassment that was winter magic the NFL decided they would finally pay up a little so that that would never have to happen again foreign [Applause] the first 90 seconds of this performance consists of Michael Jackson literally just standing there doing nothing and the crowd still has more energy than every previous show combined instead of the TV ratings taking a nosedive this marked the first time that ratings actually increased during a halftime show in Super Bowl history there's a lot of MJ's biggest hits that are missing from this set list but given that it was performed in California following the 92 LA riots children singing We Are the World kind of understandably gets priority so as the first ever performance big enough to feel like an event independent of the Super Bowl we've got ourselves our first entry in the a tier 1994 brings us a country medley of Clint Black Winona Judd Tanya Tucker and Travis Tritt now I know that sounds like I found a country artist name generator and refreshed it four times but I promise you these are real people [Music] if you're a mid 90s country fan then maybe this is your thing but we are still talking about the Super Bowl here so following Michael Jackson with a set list that's straight out of the speakers at Cracker Barrel is just a little underwhelming [Music] we'll place them comfortably in the d-tier on the other hand 1995's halftime show is one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen so the background for this show is that the Indiana Jones ride was opening at Disneyland in a few months so Disney decided to make that the entire theme of the Super Bowl halftime show you've got Patti LaBelle and Tony Bennett just kind of awkwardly stuffed between Indiana Jones fight scenes where he steals the Lombardi trophy which is made out to be like some kind of indigenous artifact this guy's face summarizes how much everyone here wants to be involved in this ad but it is hilarious that Disney thought that they could just pull this off well and then F tier for uh we'll say face melting 1996 brings us to Diana Ross's performance and in contrast I think this show is a great standard for what a high quality halftime show should try to bring to the table [Applause] you have a great medley of her hits and some popular covers mixed in there's an ungodly amount of dancers including this guy to remind you it's definitely still the 90s and just enough oomph to make it memorable for years to come like a helicopter lifting your headliner off into the sky let's go with B tier for Diana Ross that brings us to 1997 and as we've seen throughout the 90s the halftime show could not stop themselves from taking one step forward and then two steps back [Music] all right I've got a level with you here I was really confused when I saw this name because growing up I always thought the Blues Brothers were a legitimate old school musical act and nothing more than that I saw these statues in a House of Blues somewhere and I just never questioned it so you can probably imagine my surprise to discover they originated from an SNL skit back in the 70s by 1997 over two decades later the act's cultural relevance was gone and not to mention one of the original members John Belushi had passed away now replaced by his younger brother and John Goodman for some reason so you as a rational person might be wondering why in the hell are they performing at the Super Bowl well they had a movie they wanted to promote and obviously some pretty good connections yeah save they do fine for performers that can't sing or dance James Brown and ZZ Top show up and are instantly the best part of the performance but then the Blues Brothers return for the finale and everything sucks again and if anyone's wondering the movie also bombed D tier above the peanuts I guess 1998 brings us a salute to Motown which featured classic artists like Smokey Robinson The Temptations Queen Latifah and was headlined by Boys to Men [Music] now there are parts of this performance that I really enjoyed and it is a good change of pace from what we've been dealing with but it lacks basically any energy at all due to the song lists chosen it's pleasant but it's just not really half time show material oh and there are also parts that I really did not enjoy still above the Blues Brothers the year 1999 marked a time to reflect and write past wrongs before the inevitable societal collapse that would occur once Y2K happened so it felt right to bring Gloria Estefan back for another shot after you know [Music] now in Miami this time she teamed up with Stevie Wonder to deliver a medley of their biggest respective hits it's nothing too wild but it lives up to exactly what you were probably expecting I didn't find myself cringing at it as we do with many of these so I'd say this clears the mark for pre-apocalypse Redemption [Applause] Gloria and Stevie land in the sea tier now if you're impatient you might have spoiled that the world didn't end in 2000 if you check the publishing date on the video but rest assured something far worse did occur Endless Possibilities awake behold the great Millennium walk there's actually a really solid cast of singers involved here however there is also a familiar presence lurking over the entire thing to once again make things weird again we are promoting a theme park this time it's an Epcot parade I think at any rate it amounts to another well-produced but really corny Disney slog Fest and it makes for a truly uncomfortable viewing experience watching Christina Aguilera and Enrique Iglesias duet on original songs even though Disney has the biggest back catalog of recognizable songs possible there is one redeeming factor in that Phil Collins comes in to do a song from the heater that is the Tarzan soundtrack but it can't change the fact that this is already an alien mess it is a fleeting moment of Happiness though you know what at this point we're going to create a new tier for all of the mouse Affiliated performances because I feel like they need to be separated from the rest of the pack before this starts spreading any further we'll just put this here for any future instances all right that looks good 2001 brings us to Aerosmith and in sync which is as insane a combo as it sounds foreign [Music] bear with me but there's an unexplainable quality about this show that just puts the biggest smile on my face from everybody sprinting to the stage at the start to Justin Timberlake and Stephen Tyler doing this goofy back and forth thing at the start of Walk This Way [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] not to mention this song includes one of the most chaotic sequences in any halftime show with Mary J Blige and Britney Spears showing up to sing in the finale and then out of nowhere Nelly appears too for summer it doesn't make any sense today but this is easily one of the best fragments of the early 2000s and I will take the necessary smoke to stand by that for that reason I'm gonna place this performance in the full denim outfit tier where it truly and rightfully belongs right between a and b alright but pause the fun for now because before the 2002 halftime show an event happened that forever altered the US and world so there was no chance that the performance could avoid the moment in that respect the sky despite being an Irish band U2's tribute to 9 11 victims definitely Rises to the occasion with an uplifting setlist and a scroll of the names that were involved in the tragedy even as somebody who was too young to experience this live the emotion is still palpable watching on video and Bono revealing the American flag under his jacket at the close is really an all-time moment all right [Music] simple but incredibly effective we're gonna place you two in the a tier sorry to interrupt from the editing room but I wanted to let anyone who saw my original tier list videos know that you are not insane I am changing the ranking on this one because I think that I got it wrong last time around this also happens one more time later on in the video too but then I'll just tell you on screen instead of interrupting okay sorry back to the show moving on to 2003 Shania Twain look I'm not gonna lie to you Shania is one of the lowest energy performers in halftime history Stevie Wonder is literally blind and moved around 20 times more during his set fortunately for those that remained awake Gwen Stefani and no doubt show up and actually put some effort in and then sting appears to duet Message in a Bottle to close things out foreign it's nice and considering the beginning it could have been a lot worse overall mostly though it's just forgettable which is arguably the single worst thing you can be as halftime show D tier if 2003's show can be criticized for being forgettable though you certainly cannot say the same for 2004. [Applause] Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction is all this halftime show is remembered for which is ultimately a shame because it was a bizarre and interesting spectacle even before nipplegate occurred Jackson provides a solid opener with all for you and then you've got Nelly back again this time he's on some type of Mario Kart vehicle Diddy's on stage already Kid Rock has got an entire American flag on uh by this point it's completely off the rails [Applause] you figure it's probably almost over but then Janet Jackson performs Rhythm Nation and from the center of the stage Justin Timberlake emerges just like he's ready to do a mock job interview in his fifth grade class of course that is not what he is here to do and the ensuing controversy from his mistake would completely tank Janet Jackson's career while basically doing nothing to Timberlake's own reputation if you want to take a silver lining from a shitty situation though it's credited by one of the founders of YouTube as the incident that spurred the creation of the website we find ourselves on today so maybe in a backwards way the most divisive halftime show in history brought us all together after all we'll go with the B tier for broadcast yourself The Fallout of 2004's show prompted the Super Bowl to go in a very different and safer Direction moving forward and what's safer than an old white guy don't actually answer that foreign McCartney provided the halftime show with the insurance from controversy it desperately wanted and while it's very different it's not like the performance is necessarily bad there's no special guests or theatrics here just a handful of Paul McCartney and Beatles familiars Hey highlight of the set with the whole Stadium singing along but overall it doesn't really try to reach any higher than what the event organizers were aiming for clean so top of C tier for Sir Paul 2006 stayed the course for safer acts with the Rolling Stones being chosen even though locals in Detroit were hoping to see any shred of influence from that area this mummy could have done it Super Bowl One you know but everything comes to him who Waits in a similar vein to Paul McCartney's performance a year earlier any and all Glitz is stripped back and the show is far more a standard concert than spectacle and that would be fine but the stones only rolled out three songs total one of them being a new release that fans neither then nor now are familiar with this must go rough Justice the set being the shape of their iconic lips logo is definitely a nice touch but for the massive stage that is Super Bowl this one doesn't really resonate for me sorry middle seat here to this point we've seen the halftime show come a long way from campy to Classic and everything in between but in 2007 the tradition hit a high that very well may never be topped we are dedicated a day to get through this thing called life [Applause] [Music] if there's one performance I recommend watching and it's full it's definitely this one everything about this is the peak of what you can fit into the show's restrictive format from kicking off with We Will Rock You to flowing between Classics from both Prince and other Legends like Bob Dylan and the Foo Fighters [Music] kept a view everything connects so cleanly without losing the audience for a single second famously it's also the only Super Bowl halftime show to date that took place in a downpour which couldn't have made Purple Rain a more perfect finale [Music] you know watching all these shows there's always one comment that's exactly the same on every halftime video it's nice that artists allowed a football game to be played at their concert but Prince is the exception that it's actually true for very easily s tier it seems like the suit's in charge essentially agreed that this was a total anomaly because instead of chasing the dragon it was decided they'd go with another classic rock act the next year with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers [Music] [Applause] so we're right back to the straightforward concert shows and the thing about any given one of them is that it's really just a matter of preference if you're not already a fan of Tom Petty there's nothing here to blow you away but if you love him maybe this is your favorite of all time ultimately I think it's only fair to group McCartney the stones and Tom Petty altogether given they were all invited for the exact same reason and delivered exactly what was expected but as executive curator here Tom Petty has the best show of the three it is close though next up in 2009 is Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band [Applause] as someone who didn't at all grow up on Springsteen's music I fully expected this performance to fall in the same vein as that previous grouping of three but right from the jump I realized that is not what's happening here I want you to step back from the guacamole dip I want you to put the chicken fingers down and turn your television the way he delivers that is so perfect and I've watched it like 20 times but that's what sets this show apart from the other acts in the 60 years in up Club it's the insane level of energy sure the songs are recognizable but you've got a knee drop you've got a stage slide and you can see that everyone performing alongside Springsteen is just having a blast and that always carries over to the audience relax yeah this guy is the boss it makes sense now sorry for doubting uh a tier so far in our journey through halftime history we've definitely seen a lot but we've also learned that the acts chosen to perform are usually cut from a similar cloth right until there's a show so poorly received that the organizers have no choice but to go in a different direction [Music] the who are undeniably rock Legends but by 2010 they were very clearly too tired to put on an electric Super Bowl halftime show every time Roger adultery sings it sounds like he's doing irreversible damage [Music] but the worst part has got to be how painfully fake the sections where the crowd is supposed to be singing are [Music] so it was a good run for aging rockers but considering this was the show that would kill off the trend I think we need to place the who's performance in the retirement home tier I'm sorry I'll visit as often as I can I promise the thing that's tough about change though is that even when you know it's absolutely necessary sometimes things still have to get worse before they can get better thank you [Applause] the Black Eyed Peas are younger and have far more LED lights than previous acts but they certainly don't sound any better anytime you notice audio mixing during a show the texts have failed at their job but with this mess it's legitimately all you can think about it almost sounds like they planned the entire time to lip sync but then the sound guy got nervous and accidentally switched their mics on at the last second the sound isn't the only poor Mark here though for being militant Partiers there is absolutely zero energy this is supposed to be the youth Resurgence but they're choreographed like Chuck E cheese animatronics at one point slash emerges from the stage and Fergie just completely ruins the moment by walking over to him [Music] Usher appears and does a split which at least shows some initiative but the train wreck is far beyond saving at this point the insane amount of colored lights definitely looked cooler than than it does now but I guarantee you after this the executives were frighteningly close to throwing youth in the trash and just booking the Eagles for 2012. f tier for the Black Eyed Peas so now we're at a Crossroads aging rockers have exhausted their welcome and their pop Superstar replacement was somehow worse well [ __ ] it let's try an aging pop Superstar [Music] [Applause] [Music] from the visuals and choreography of this show alone you can tell Madonna actually understands what people expect at the Super Bowl and I think this performance actually kicks off a golden age of halftime shows she obviously should have landed this gig decades earlier but even in her 50s she's got energy there's a gymnastics routine guy bouncing on a tightrope over here LMFAO is carrying Madonna around on their shoulders point is it's fun which I think is a good road to take with these many shows [Applause] that said I think the ACT Peaks early and is probably one of the rare instances where the quality decreases as more guest appearances are made but hey CeeLo Green has a funny hat on and M.I.A flashes a middle finger that NBC couldn't censor in time so there is that [Applause] in all I'd say this one stands out as one of the best looking halftime shows and I'd say it still earns High marks across the rest of the board we'll go with the B tier that brings us to 2013. [Applause] [Music] within the first few minutes it's clear this show is in very rare territory there's just so many insane visuals like this one or this one or this one and Beyonce gives the greatest hybrid performance of vocals and dancing in the show's history [Applause] things open up with a Vince Lombardi voiceover about Excellence to set the stage and then you get a Non-Stop barrage of Beyonce's hits even if you aren't a fan of her music which I'm not really even personally it is impossible to ignore just how much intensity this performance has Midway through the other members of Destiny's Child are catapulted to the stage for a quick Cameo and after Single Ladies Halo caps off one of the greatest halftime shows of all time [Music] this is another one that I recommend watching in full if you haven't already definitely up in s tier for me 2014 had a hell of an act to follow but we are finally back at the point in Super Bowl history where headlining feels like a big deal again [Music] [Applause] [Music] we kick things off with Bruno on the limited edition motorized drum set and I think this is a fresh and unique way to open things up and once he finds his way to the stage he rolls through some of the hits from his early albums that fit for the more traditional and Sleek concert Bob he's going for about yourself Bruno wasn't quite the mega star he is now back in February 2014 so we are looking at a more limited catalog but I can't begrudge the man for landing the damn Super Bowl early in his career what is he gonna do turn it down something I can begrudge though are the Red Hot Chili Peppers being shoehorned in as the guest because seeing them Jump Around shirtless for give it away right before Bruno closes with a montage of the troops and just the way you are is definitely weird and unnecessary this song goes out to my beautiful bride Nikki [Music] overall we'll put Bruno in the low B tier next up we land in 2015 with Katy Perry and at this point the format is really hitting its stride with another of the biggest pop stars in the world [Music] this is another show that's just a ton of fun Katy Perry is obviously not the same level of performer as a Beyonce or an MJ but she really seems to understand that she just lets her rainbow set and list of number one hits to be the real star of the show there's obviously the left shark that forgets the routine he spent weeks memorizing as soon as the cameras roll but let's not forget the other ridiculous moments like this gigantic metal lion she enters in on or the Shooting Star platform on which she exits off into the night sky there's also guest appearances from Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott and while Katy Perry and Missy Elliott have about zero crossover in any aspect of their careers I thought her performance managed to be one of the best parts of the show [Music] we've talked a good amount about the balance between concert and spectacle when it comes to halftime shows and I think this is the best of the full-on spectacles we've seen thus far I'm gonna go ahead and place Katy Perry in the a tier moving on to 2016 brings us Coldplay and to this day I still have no idea whether this was a good or bad idea to have them headlined [Music] all right I mean it's not particular to this show but I've just got to say it ever since halftime shows have become commonly done in a darkened Stadium any show that's performed on the west coast is automatically handicapped by the fact that the sun is out obviously you're not going to start the Super Bowl at 10 pm Eastern but also you can't tell me that these Kaleidoscope props or anything lighting related wouldn't look a hundred times better if it was actually dark in the stadium with that said Coldplay isn't even really the headliner here they're definitely fine but they also chose to feature recent Super Bowl performers that both put on much more compelling shows then and now [Applause] [Music] right Bruno now has Uptown Funk and a lot more energy and Beyonce now has formation and a team of dancers that are dressed like black panthers so after these two share the stage together Chris Martin and Coldplay come back and you completely forgot that they were even there in the first place everything closes out with a sappy Montage of past halftime shows and you know I don't really have any complaints there's just a quality to it that definitely feels disjointed with the three Acts if I was only grading Coldplay here we'd probably land and sea but Beyonce and Bruno have the majority of the initials so naturally they carry it up to B tier moving on to 2017 we continue to see the boundaries pushed forward for what a halftime show can look like [Music] the opening for this performance is just straight up insane you've got Lady Gaga on top of NRG Stadium in Houston singing patriotic songs with hundreds of drones forming the American flag behind her and then she jumps off the roof once she hits the floor though you get one of the single greatest demonstrations of stamina in halftime history Gaga's ability to belt out her hits while doing these high-speed jumping jacks is just insane and you can tell they knew they had something special because there's nothing needed to distract this eye candy here when it's already electric on its own [Music] [Applause] at this point it was long overdue that Lady Gaga be recognized as more than just publicity stunts and this show Absolutely solidified that 13 and a half minutes of insane choreography and vocal Talent whether or not you're a fan of her there's just no denying that kitar solo costume changes acrobatics between numbers and closing things out by logging the first reception of the second half Lady Gaga goes in the S tier 2018's halftime show would aim to keep this insane run Alive by bringing back a disgraced performer for his third appearance this time though he's headlining [Applause] there's plenty you can say about the decision to bring Timberlake back and people have but I think the most offensive thing about this performance is just how deeply inoffensive it really is obviously JT needed to play it safe to an extent and he is a technically sharp performer but everything here is just so sterilized that I end up feeling nothing in the end I'm sorry Justin but it absolutely is I remember thinking that this was pretty okay at the time and I still mostly do but it's definitely disappointing because Timberlake is a way better performer than this show really demonstrates [Music] oh and I forgot to mention for the entire show Timberlake's mic is just way quieter than it should be it's not his fault but it's symbolic the Prince Tribute is a nice touch in his hometown but I really feel like a goldfish every time I watch this performance because it's already gone from my mind the moment it ends oh well except for this part Super Bowl Southeast seat here [Music] now for the show many people have been waiting for or probably just skip two in the video chapters [Music] [Applause] before the show even started it got substantial heat after multiple artists turned down the gig in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick so much so that the league canceled the press conference leading up to it but Adam Levine and the other members of Maroon 5 that are totally real people decided they were going to completely shift the conversation by putting on the most boring halftime show of all time [Applause] look Levine has been phoning it in for a decade now and this is no different his eyes legitimately look like he's fighting through sleeping pills but at least we get confirmation he's singing live because he does Miss some notes from time to time walking on tons of people were holding out for an appearance of Sweet Victory from SpongeBob after the passing of Creator Stephen hillenberg and while they sort of half commit with an intro we ultimately just end up with the second most tragic performance of Travis Scott's career [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] maybe I'm being just a little harsh but after watching through this multiple times I can genuinely say I'd rather watch Travis Scott fall off the stage with auto-tune than hear him rap without it Big Boy drives into rough Atlanta but at this point he really should have just reversed back into the locker rooms and the whole thing comes to a sad end with Adam Levine writhing around shirtless no one really knows why I mean look into his eyes he doesn't know why either but he's stuck doing it at this point and you're stuck watching it we're gonna Place Maroon 5 in a Purgatory devoid of human emotion so now that we've ventured through 30 years of halftime shows we've finally reached our current decade and while you may not have the highest opinion of the 2020 so far this show is actually a lot of fun [Music] at age 43 and 50 respectively Shakira and JLo have zero issue injecting the energy that has been desperately needed in the halftime show [Music] foreign instruments all over the stage she even crowd surfs during Hips Don't Lie JLo shows off some family-friendly pole dancing and homages are made to the cultures they're proud to represent Bad Bunny and Jay Balvin also make appearances and they're forgettable but they do fit the entire production is really just focused on keeping the energy as high as possible here and as a result the show feels more like a celebration than just a performance overall I think that goes a long way in carrying this one up near the top of the a-tier [Applause] 2021 is up next for us and uh I guess we'll spare the context for afterwards [Music] okay so it would be massively unfair to not mention that this show is the first and most heavily affected by covet regulations because of that it's also the first show to have its majority performed on one of the stadium concourses meaning not here but up here for this reason it's clear the show is set up to translate more to the broadcast and not necessarily those in the stadium which I guess is understandable but it doesn't make it any less weird hey turn around they're actually over there I do really enjoy the show though the things that it lacks as a live performance are actually kind of strengths when you're viewing it as just a YouTube video it is heavily choreographed and stylistic so the lighting and aesthetic is gorgeous and if you pretend there's no audience then it's really just like a Trippy dystopian music video which is cool [Music] the weekend does eventually come down to center field as well but because he's like four stories up it takes almost a full minute to get him down there personally I like to imagine that he was just absolutely hauling ass past the concession stands before jogging out to do blinding lights okay [Applause] No guest appearances though so it really depends if you enjoy the weekend's music or not but for being dealt the worst possible hand his performances unique and memorable so for that reason for me it goes in the B tier following the weekend's choice to lean into the darker Avenues the halftime show has to offer we fly all the way over to Southern California for our next performance and considering we were now over a year removed from the covid lockdown era I think everybody was ready to just celebrate some better times it happened it's the one and only Dre Japanese this lineup is absolutely loaded with Legends of rap music to try and make up for the fact that somehow there had never been an actual hip-hop-centric headliner in the entire history of the Super Bowl but despite the insane amount of stars here it actually manages to balance all of them out and never really feels overcrowded we are in La so this show does suffer from looking like it was performed at noon but given California ties in so heavily to the performance it's a little more excusable some of the highlights include Snoop Dogg still having the most Charisma of any figure in entertainment 50 Cent looking like he's about to burst like a pinata Mary J Blige belting herself into exhaustion Kendrick Lamar in his prime already fitting into a lineup of all-time greats Eminem performing Lose Yourself while Anderson pack has the time of his life on drums and the entire lineup joining for Still Dre to cap off what was a historic sets this show is significantly better if you slot into the age demographic that grew up with these songs and there are spots where some more energy would really take this thing into the stratosphere but as a love letter to rap music it accomplishes everything that it sets out to do with the NFL being the most sterile corporate Behemoth possible there were naturally rumored clashes with the performers but hopefully this show continues to move the dial because hip-hop being considered too controversial for mainstream audiences like most of these artists have dealt with their entire career is just a brain dead take at this point I'm gonna go with the a tier for Dr Dre and Company so how do you follow up a set of Legends reclaiming the throne after years away from the spotlight I mean why not just do it again [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Rihanna's return to super stardom on the Super Bowl stage was one of the most hotly anticipated halftimes that I can remember considering at the height of her Fame years ago she distanced herself from music in favor of other interests like becoming a mom who is also a billionaire oh and speaking of this show also doubles as the most expensive pregnancy reveal in human history so congratulations to Rihanna and Rocky and congrats on the baby as well no matter what direction Rihanna ended up going with here it was impossible to not have one of the better set lists in halftime history with her catalog and even though Rihanna's understandably Limited in her choreography her background dancers that are wearing the Fenty hazmat suits pack in a ton of energy to help out big credits are the ones that are up top for the entire time too at certain points you might forget that they're up there but you know they're they're doing their thing so this show has some great things going for it but to be honest it does kind of seem content to just Coast on the fact that Rihanna is the one perform warming and that alone is enough when things kick off the visuals are super striking and the floating platforms undoubtedly are an awesome feat of engineering but once the show shifts down to the ground floor you kind of realize there's not a lot else going on with the set which many have pointed out looks exactly like a Smash Bros stage it's also tough to ignore that it feels like there's some real missed opportunities here for some guest appearances Drake would have been perfect to enter in on work or Jay-Z with umbrella or Run This Town hell I saw him in the stadium you should have just handed him a microphone Silver Lining though no features means we did Dodge a DJ Khaled sighting during wild thoughts diamonds is an excellent closing number and Rihanna certainly deserves praise for putting this on in the midst of pregnancy that's just an absurd thing to say out loud with all of that said though I would be straight up lying to you if I said I wasn't hoping for more of an undeniable classic when I first heard that Rihanna was headlining I'm gonna place this one in the B tier foreign so for now that just about wraps it up here are the final results of our journey with highlights across every era and a handful of exceptions made for some exceptional performers this is the most fun I've ever had making a video and assuming that America can stay a country in the coming years there's gonna be more halftime shows so if you are checking in from the future go ahead and look at the description and see if there's any updates to the list while you're down there you might as well hit the Subscribe button just to be safe once I plug my Twitter right here I think that about covers everything so I want to thank you for coming along and sticking with me right until the end see you next time

Channel: Set the Edge

Views: 3,351,229

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Id: duQ-zAriXuY

Length: 44min 35sec (2675 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 16 2023