SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOWS

Usher Announced New Album ‘Coming Home,’ Which Will Coincide With His Headlining Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show Performance

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Usher’s Vegas residency may be coming to an end, but Sin City hasn’t seen the last of him. In February 2024, the musician will take the stage as the featured headliner during the Super Bowl LVIII Halftime show. Although fans are looking forward to him playing the hits, Usher wants to give the world a taste of something new.

Following the news of his upcoming performance, Usher’s official Apple Music page revealed the release of his next album, called Coming Home. The site reveals its cover, expected release date, and the number of songs set to appear. So far, the only named track is his single, “Good Good,” which features Summer Walker and 21 Savage.

During an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Usher shared the title’s meaning and talked about the album’s creative vision. “[This album] is a love letter to the legacy of my career. I’ve been coming home in a lot of different ways,” he said. “The choice of music. Reconnection to some of the people that I’ve worked with from my past and people who I’ve always wanted to work with… In a sense, I’m coming home because I am in that comfortable space.”

Coming Home is out 2/11/2024 via Mega/Gamma. Find more information here.

Rihanna And Kid Cudi Are Pumped About The 2023 Emmy Nominations They Received

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The nominations for the 2023 Emmy Awards were announced yesterday (July 12), and the music world was well-represented. Kid Cudi’s Netflix series Entergalactic is nominated for Best Animated Program, while Rihanna’s Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show picked up five nods. Since then, both artists have shared their reactions to the news.

Rihanna shared a gallery of photos from the performance on Instagram and wrote, “pull up breed up 2 d bashment… 5 EMMY NOMZ is craaaaazzzyyy!!! Im so grateful for every single person involved in creating these memories!” The official account of the NFL commented, “deserve em all [trophy emojis].”

Meanwhile, Cudi justifiably spent pretty much the whole day being excited about the news. His initial reaction was the tweet, “ENTERGALATIC IS EMMY NOMINATED!!!! YES YES YESSSSSSSSS!!! OMG WTF THIS IS INSANE!!!!! [crying emojis] THANK U GOD [folded hand emojis].” He followed that with, “Love to all the homies that hit me and showed love about the emmy nom. Trav [Travis Scott] hit me first before anyone sayin congrats. It feels good to know I got real homies, real family out here that support me always.”

He later tweeted, “THIS IS HUGE!!! CONGRATS TO THE WHOLE TEAM WHO BUSTED THEIR ASSES FOR 3 YEARS AND BROUGHT THIS BAD BOY TO LIFE!! @netflix #entergalactic Now, the big question: What to wear??” He then thanked folks involved with the show: “Kenya Barris, Elizabeth Porter, Mike Moon, Mike Penketh, Fletch Moules, Maurice Williams, Ian Edelman, Karina Manashil, Dennis Cummings. This is the Entergalactic team behind the scenes that made my dream come to life and I am so thankful for each and everyone of these amazing people.”

He concluded, “Thank u for all the love for the emmy nom yall. Really means so much to me [folded hands emoji] #Emmys2023 #entergalactic.”

Jay-Z Could Win An Emmy Thanks To Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime Performance

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The recently announced nominations for the upcoming 75th annual Primetime Emmy Awards include a very big name from the music world that is rarely associated with TV. Jay-Z, who prefers to operate from behind the scenes rather than in front of the camera, is nominated for Outstanding Directing For A Variety Special for The Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show Starring Rihanna alongside Hamish Hamilton. The special is also nominated for Outstanding Production Design For A Variety Special, Outstanding Music Direction, Outstanding Variety Special (Live), and Outstanding Technical Direction and Camerawork For A Special.

The other nominees Jay finds himself up against include Paul Miller for Carol Burnett: 90 Years Of Laughter + Love, Joel Gallen for Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, Glenn Weiss for the Oscars, and Linda Mendoza for Wanda Sykes: I’m An Entertainer. It’s Jay’s second nomination for an Emmy; he was nominated as Outstanding Executive Producer/Performer in 2015 for the HBO concert film, Beyonce And JAY Z On The Run.

Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime Show was incredibly successful, reportedly bringing in more viewers than the game itself. The show was notable for revealing Rihanna’s second pregnancy.

The Emmys were originally planned for September 18, but with the ongoing WGA strike — and the impending strike by the SAG — that date will most likely change.

A Group Of Senior Citizens’ Perfect Rihanna Super Bowl Halftime Show Remake TikTok Caught Rihanna And Jay-Z’s Attention

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2023 has already been huge for Rihanna thanks to her kicking the year off by performing the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Some folks thought the performance was obscene enough to file complaints with the FCC, with at least one viewer likening it to pornography. Residents at Arcadia Senior Living Bowling Green in Kentucky were apparently cool with it, though, so much so that they re-created the performance themselves (and earned the attention of Jay-Z in the process).

A TikTok video shared back in February starts with two rows of white-clad seniors lined up, parting to reveal the Rihanna of the video, wearing all red and enthusiastically mouthing along to Rihanna’s “Rude Boy.” The clip was a viral hit and has since been viewed over 30 million times.

@arcadiasrlivingbg

Our halftime show > Rihanna’s halftime show 💃🪩🏈🤍🎶🎤 #seniorlivingcommunity #halftimeshow #SuperBowl #rihanna #fyp

♬ original sound – Brian Esperon

Jay-Z was apparently tickled by the video, as he sent a bouquet of roses to the Arcadia Senior Living memers. Arcadia resident Sue Evans told Bowling Green’s WNKY, “There’s 100 of them. And they’re from Jay-Z. My granddaughter was worried and she told her mother, ‘I hope she knows who Jay-Z is!’”

Fellow Arcadia resident Dora Martin also said, “My grandchildren and I watched and there were flips and flops and I was standing there thinking, ‘Wow, I wish I could do that,’ and then I did do that.” She added, “I went to the doctor the other day and the nurses, as soon as I walked in there, knew who I was.”

Martin also said of Jay-Z’s gesture, “I thought that was wonderful, very nice of him!”

Rihanna sent flowers as well, according to a post on Arcadia’s Facebook page.

Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Was Apparently Porn-Like, According To Some Of The 103 FFC Complaints It Received

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Like the passage of time and Pusha T dropping a Cocaine Bear remix, FCC (Federal Communications Commission) complaints about major TV events are an inevitability. So, it turns out that some people out there didn’t particularly care for Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime Show earlier this month, so much so that they let the FCC know about it (as TMZ reports).

The publication notes that of the 103 FCC complaints made about the Super Bowl broadcast on February 12, “almost all of them” were about Rihanna’s performance. One viewer wrote in their complaint, “This year the halftime show was so indecent I had to turn off the TV because of the pornographic content.” Another compared it to Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” performance at the 2023 Grammys, writing, “I don’t care what someone worships but children shouldn’t be exposed to pornography and as an adult I don’t wish to see it. […] Where has decency gone? How about respect for others and self?”

Others made note of “overtly sexual dancing” in the performance, with one person saying Rihanna’s background dancers had moves that “were patently offensive and completely inappropriate for children.” Another person noted of Rihanna, “She spread her ass cheek at the crack. She rubbed her pants where her labia were three times.”

As TMZ notes, though, this is nothing to the infamous Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake wardrobe malfunction at the 2004 Super Bowl, which drew 540,000 complaints at the time.

Here’s How Rihanna’s Levitating Backup Dancers Rehearsed For The Super Bowl Halftime Show

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Rihanna’s Super Bowl LVII halftime show performance still has the world talking (including radio pundit Howard Stern). Whether the public is raving about her pregnancy reveal, the clothes she wore (inspired by the late fashion icon André Leon Talley), the high-energy ASL performer that translated for her, or making memes about her floating set design, the “Work” singer is a trending topic across the internet — not just Spotify’s music charts.

Now, the Oscar nominee’s featured background dancers during Super Bowl LVII are providing fans with a behind-the-scenes look at how they prepared for the elaborate moving set design. One dancer by the name of Siah Helise, took to social media to share raw rehearsal footage with a lengthy caption outlining her personal journal as a dancer as well as how she and others were prepped for Rihanna’s set.

“Week one, I was learning these steps on the ground, and the next week I was told I would be dancing 60 ft in the motherf*cking air on a platform,” wrote the dancer, adding, “This footage is super rough this is one of the first couple of days of being on the platforms. This ish was NOT easy.” Ultimately, Helise was unable to perform at the Super Bowl due to COVID, but she wanted viewers of the big game to know how much work went into the 13-minute mini-concert.

Helise wasn’t the only performer sharing clips. The choreographer Parris Goebel, who’s worked with Rihanna in the past for her annual Fenty Fashion Show, also uploaded clips of rehearsal, thanking Rihanna for tapping her once again for such a major career milestone.

The Kansas City Chief players may not have been banned from watching Rihanna’s set live, but they now have both the full performance clip and behind-the-scenes teasers to look back on.

Rihanna Didn’t Call Katy Perry, Friend And Fellow Super Bowl Halftime Show Performer, For Advice (Which Perry Understands)

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Rihanna is of course fresh off performing the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Just a few years ago, though, it was Katy Perry’s turn in the NFL spotlight, when she put on a memorable Super Bowl performance of her own (never forget Left Shark) in 2015. Rihanna and Perry are friends, but despite having a former Super Bowl halftime performer at her disposal, Rihanna opted not to seek advice about the big show from Perry (which Perry totally gets, by the way).

Perry and Lionel Richie were on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night (February 16) to promote American Idol. During the interview, Kimmel asked Perry if Rihanna called her before the Super Bowl looking for some halftime show insight, and Perry said, “She don’t need no pointers: she’s Rihanna!”

The host then wondered if Perry knew about Rihanna’s pregnancy beforehand. She noted that she was filming American Idol in Hawaii on the day of the Super Bowl, and that she had to go to set right when Rihanna was about to start her performance. She continued, “So we were trying to drag our feet, because we all want to see Rihanna play the Super Bowl. We actually had to film and then it happened and we came back, and we found a cut of it, and no, we all saw it then for the first time then, and it was amazing! It was so beautiful.”

Watch Perry and Richie’s Kimmel interview above.

Not Even Rihanna’s Dancers Knew She Was Pregnant Ahead Of Her Super Bowl Performance

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During her Super Bowl Halftime Show performance, Rihanna shocked the world with the reveal of her second pregnancy. It wasn’t just Super Bowl attendees and viewers at home who were caught by surprise, though; not even her fleet of dancers knew what was up before the big game.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, two of her dancers, Laila Hayes and Luhnyae Campbell, said that the cold weather during rehearsals allowed Rihanna to hide her baby bump. In fact, because they were too busy absolutely nailing their elaborate choreography, they didn’t even see it until they watched the televised replay later.

Hayes said, “We were all confused watching it during the real thing when she went up there and was showing her stomach. She wore the same outfit for one of the dress rehearsals but it was zippered up.” Cambell echoed, “I never saw a bump. Not even the day of. I had to rewatch the performance on YouTube to realize.”

@luhnyae

Replying to @koochiepotpie tried to answer most of the main questions with this one! And did we get paid? YESSS AHH #rihannahalftimeshow #fyp

♬ original sound – Luhnyae

The Loewe coat Rihanna wore onto the field — a nod to André Leon Talley — was large enough to cover up, but at the start of the performance, she opened it to reveal the custom molded breastplate that hugged her belly. Fans were left to speculate — and crack jokes — until a representative confirmed the pregnancy just a few minutes after the performance.

Since you’re already here, why not watch it again below?

Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Brought In More Viewers Than The Super Bowl Itself

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Rihanna’s halftime show at Super Bowl LVII between the Philadelphia Eagles and the victorious Kansas City Chiefs was already a massive draw, even with the two teams having incredibly eager fan bases. As she took the suspended stage over Arizona’s State Farm Arena, Rihanna used just minutes to announce her second pregnancy and perform her biggest hits, including “Umbrella,” “Diamonds,” and the powerful opener, “B*tch Better Have My Money.”

According to Fox Sports (via Bleacher Report), Rihanna’s halftime show drew in 118.7 million viewers, while the Super Bowl game itself only got 113 million. And, as someone who switched the channel after her performance ended, it seems I wasn’t alone.

She also reportedly had the second most-watched halftime show in the Super Bowl’s history, trailing right behind Katy Perry (remember left shark?) at 121 million in viewership numbers.

Before her performance, Rihanna sat down for a press conference and noted that she had changed her setlist over 30 times. “You’re trying to cram seventeen years of work into thirteen minutes so it’s difficult,” she said.

“Some songs we have to lose because of that, and that’s going to be okay,” Rihanna added. “We did a pretty good job at narrowing it down. There’s probably been about 39 versions of the setlist right now. We’re on our 39th. Every little change counts.”

The Kansas City Chiefs’ Coach Didn’t Let Players Watch Rihanna’s Halftime Performance

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Sure, it’s a lot of pressure to play in the Super Bowl, but imagine doing so in front of Rihanna. The players were obviously excited to have her on the field, so much so that Brandon Marshall pranked Patrick Mahomes into thinking the “Umbrella” singer called him the greatest quarterback ever. “Whatever Rihanna says is like the gospels,” Mahomes replied earnestly. “So I’m glad that she went with me for that honor.”

Unfortunately, Mahomes explained on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that the Chiefs players weren’t allowed by their coach to watch Rihanna’s halftime performance. “Coach Reid told us, he said, ‘If you go out to watch the performance, just keep walking because you’re not playing the rest of the game,’” he said.

That’s a shame considering how hard Rihanna worked on her iconic performance. In an interview with Apple Music, she revealed that she changed the setlist a whopping 39 times while picking which of her hits to cram into 13 minutes.

She also explained why it was so important to her: “The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world, so as scary as that was because I haven’t been on stage in seven years, there’s something exhilarating about the challenge of it all. It’s important for me to do this year. It’s important for representation. It’s important for my son to see that.”

Watch Mahomes’ full interview above.