The halftime act for this year’s Super Bowl has finally been revealed!
And everyone is saying the exact same thing…
Usher has been confirmed the be playing the coveted slot.
The show will take place in February 2024 …
But the internet has had a pretty strong reaction to the announcement …
The day that football fanatics wait a whole year took the internet by storm last year …
The Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles faced off!
And we also got to see Rihanna’s coveted halftime show.
Which has been dominating the headlines ever since.
The Super Bowl is unarguably one of the most watched events every year.
The game continually dominates viewing figures, and this year was no different.
The Super Bowl frequently ranks at the top of the most-watched broadcast in the U.S.
But, why is it so popular and where did it all begin?
The first ever Super Bowl game took place back in January 15, 1967.
Named originally the AFL-NFL World Championship Game, the game saw teams from rival leagues, the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs, take each other on.
To begin, the Super Bowl took place in early to mid-January, however a change in the early 2000’s led the event to take place on the first Sunday in February.
But, recent years saw changes to the scheduling of the anticipated game…
The Super Bowl was played on the second Sunday of February.
It comes despite heavy petitioning to move the game to be played on a Saturday.
The 2023 edition of the Super Bowl took place in February.
The game took place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
It was a long awaited game, that’s for sure.
And, it’s safe to say, it had everyone on the edge of their seats.
Because it seemed pretty evenly matched!
As both teams finished the regular season with a 14-3 winning record.
But it was the Kansas City Chiefs who came out on top.
But, of course, the Super Bowl’s popularity has grown so much over the years that it is no longer about just the game…
While it still is about the football, it is now also about the half-time show, the performances and, of course, the ads!
And 2023 was no different…
This year, we saw Rihanna take to the famous stage for the halftime show.
The impressive concert was hugely controversial – but more on that later.
And of course, who can forget the Super Bowl ads…
It’s not very often that viewers pay attention to ads during a sport event, but that’s not the case for the Super Bowl.
In fact, the Super Bowl is one of the few times that people actually do pay attention to the ads!
So, there’s no surprise how hard brands try when securing a Super Bowl commercial.
And, not to mention how much they have to pay to secure one in the first place…
While the official price of an ad has not been released, rumor has it that spots were selling for upwards of $6.5 million for a 30-second ad.
Yikes.
This year’s Super Bowl commercials are just as great and funny as you’d expect.
The included spots from Melissa McCarthy, Bryan Cranston, Serena Williams, and Danny McBride.
But that wasn’t the only thing that dominated headlines …
Rihanna’s half time show was part of a huge public announcement!
She used the opportunity to show the world her pregnant belly, revealing her bump on stage during her half time show!
Riri welcomed her first baby with A$AP Rocky back in May, 2022 – and it’s now clear baby number two is on the way!
Rihanna had previously opened up about how becoming a mother had spurred her on to do the half time show, as per Joe …
“When you become a mom, there’s something that just happens where you feel like you could take on the world — you can do anything.”
“And the Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world, so as scary as that was…there’s something exhilarating about the challenge of it all.”
“It’s important for my son to see that.”
Rihanna also revealed she had struggled to narrow down her set list.
“That was the hardest part — deciding how to maximize 13 minutes, but also celebrate.
“I think we did a pretty good job at narrowing it down.”
And it seems there was one person who agreed!
She joked: “I’m going just for Rihanna. I don’t give a flying f***.”
And fans were absolutely loving it.
One person wrote: “Adele is just like us. here for Rihanna nothing more.”
Another joked: “Adele at the super bowl just for Rihanna she’s so real.”
Take a look right here.
The show overall received mixed reviews, with one question, in particular, dominating criticism.
Why didn’t she bring out a special guest?
In the past, the special guests have been a huge half-time moment. Who could forget when Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams joined Beyonce?
Well, now the reason Rihanna opted for no guests has been shared.
“I think it was just her wanting to make the statement that she could carry this thing and she did,” producer Jesse Collins told ET.
“People just want to see her and so she had to give em a show and she did.”
“We haven’t seen her dance like that in a long time and I thought it was just spectacular.”
And, we guess she wasn’t really on her own up there.
Previously, she told BBC News: “I’m thinking about bringing someone. I’m not sure, we’ll see.”
And it turns out, the special guest was her unborn baby. How cute!
But there was a lot of criticism following her performance.
People have slammed the “satanic” vibes of her performance.
“Why do all the major live performances by woke artists have a demonic feeling? Sam Smith, now Rihanna, Hollyweird has gone insane,” one Tweeted.
Rihanna fans were quick to hit back, though.
“Does the color red trigger MAGA? There was nothing Satanic about that performance. One of the more mild performances during a Super Bowl I have seen in a while. If this was woke, you need to go back to sleep,” wrote one user.
And while the satainim allegations have been quite easy to dispel, there’s another remor about Rihanna’s performance that has eyebrows raised.
In fact, it seems as though everyone is saying the same thing about the show!
Some fans believe she is lipsyncing!
“Might be the worst #SuperBowl halftime show I’ve ever watched,” one person tweeted. “No energy. Boring. She’s not even trying to lip sync properly. Horrible.”
“Isn’t Rihanna the richest woman alive? Why is she lip syncing? Just do your thing,” another added.
“Rihanna not even having the mic near her mouth while the lyrics are playing. Why bother doing the halftime show if you’re not even gonna try and lip sync, bizarre,” offered another.
“I mean almost all artists these days lip sync at major events but Rihanna is just blatantly obvious lol,” offered a fourth.
“I am sorry but Rihanna knew she was pregnant and not able to sing and dance for the half time super bowl. She should have said sorry I can’t do it please give someone else the chance to entertain everyone in front of millions,” another user wrote.
Even Donald Trump joined in on the pile-on.
“EPIC FAIL: Rihanna gave, without question, the single worst Halftime Show in Super Bowl history,” he wrote.
“This after insulting far more than half of our Nation, which is already in serious DECLINE, with her foul and insulting language. Also, so much for her ‘Stylist!'”, he added.
WWE star Bill Goldberg joined in.
The 56-year-old recently voiced his opinions about the show on an episode of his CarCast podcast this week, where he made it clear he was not happy with her performance.
“I thought Rihanna was frickin’ horrible,” Goldberg said, via Fox News.
“I was disgusted by it. That’s all. Let’s just say that. I thought it was horrible.”
He then went on to praise Christ Stapleton’s earlier performance of the national anthem, saying he liked it because he “didn’t grab his crotch every 15 seconds” or “make it about himself.”
And it seems as though he’s not the only one with complaints.
In fact, the FCC has reported over 100 complaints from the public for the show being too sexual.
“This year the halftime show was so indecent I had to turn off the TV because of the pornographic content,” one Superbowl fan wrote.
Another wrote: “She spread her a** cheek at the crack. She rubbed her pants where her l***a were three times.”
But now, the halftime act for the 2024 Super Bowl has been announced …
Usher is taking the coveted slot next year …
The announcement was made via an Apple Music ad.
And everyone is saying the same thing about the news …
“Yes!!! Oh I’m so excited for this!!” wrote one.
Another agreed: “Yes!! This is going to be a great show.”
Are you excited?