Super Bowl LVII

Travis Kelce To Make “SNL” Hosting Debut

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Just weeks after the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl, tight end Travis Kelce is traveling to New York City to host Saturday Night Live on March 4. This will be his hosting debut on the show. His episode will also be the debut appearance of musical Guest, Ballerini. She will be promoting her new EP, Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, and its accompanying short film. The short film was released on Valentine’s Day. Ballerini is also promoting the “Heartfirst” United States tour, which begins in March.

Now welcoming Kelce, this season of Saturday Night Live has had a star-studded lineup of hosts and musical guests. There has been Miles Teller and Kendrick Lamar (Oct. 1), Brendan Gleeson and Willow (Oct. 8), Megan Thee Stallion (Oct. 15), Jack Harlow (Oct. 29) in October. Amy Schumer and Steve Lacy (Nov. 5) and Dave Chappelle and Black Star (Nov. 12) took to the stage in November. Keke Palmer and SZA (Dec. 3), Steve Martin and Martin Short with Brandi Carlile (Dec. 10), and Austin Butler and Lizzo (Dec. 17) hosted in December. Aubrey Plaza and Sam Smith (Jan. 21) and Michael B. Jordan and Lil Baby(Jan. 28) held the stage in January. Most recently, Pedro Pascal and Coldplay (Feb. 4) kicked off the February hosts.

Travis Kelce’s New Gig

Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs looks on against the Philadelphia Eagles during the first quarter in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium on February 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Before Kelce, Woody Harrelson will host the show on February 25. He will be promoting his new film Champions, which releases to theaters on March 10. In the film, Harrelson plays a minor-league baseball coach who has legal issues. His community service leads to him becoming a coach for the Special Olympics basketball team. Jack White will serve as a musical guest in his fourth solo appearance on SNL (fifth if you include his performance with The White Stripes).

A week after Kelce’s hosting debut, Jenna Ortega will also mark her hosting debut on March 11. Ortega’s appearance occurs the same weekend her film Scream VI will release in theaters. She’s also promoting the hit Netflix series Wednesday just prior to the Emmys. During the SNL episode, The 1975 will return for the second time as a musical guest. The band will come to the show promoting their tour and album, Being Funny in a Foreign Language.

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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.

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 Explained What Pushed Her To Do The Super Bowl Halftime Show After Previously Rejecting It

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Rihanna, ASAP Rocky, and their first child have graced the new cover of British Vogue, complete with an interview that sheds light on how the singer’s doing.

While she just headlined the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show over the past weekend, Rihanna faced some initial pushback. She had been previously critical of the organization for its treatment of Colin Kaepernick and turned down a performance opportunity in 2018.

“So what changed? There’s still a lot of mending to be done in my eyes, but it’s powerful to break those doors, and have representation at such a high, high level and a consistent level,” Rihanna explained about her decision to finally perform. “Two Super Bowls back-to-back, you know, representing the urban community, globally. It is powerful. It sends a really strong message.”

“Of course, raising a young Black man is one of the scariest responsibilities in life,” she added. “You’re like, ‘What am I leaving my kids to? This is the planet they’re gonna be living on?’ All of those things really start to hit differently.”

Rihanna admitted that she was approached again to headline shortly before the official announcement but waited to give them a direct answer.

“It’s this knowing that you can do anything, even things that seem the craziest, like, ‘I’m going to say yes to the Super Bowl in the middle of postpartum?’” Rihanna described, and, as we now know, she used the event to reveal her second pregnancy. “What the heck am I thinking? But you’re geeked on a challenge like that because you know what your body just did. You feel this sense of ‘Nothing is impossible.’ It was almost like an out-of-body experience. I have not been on stage in seven years. Seven years! From zero to Super Bowl? That’s mental.”

Super Bowl LVII Ratings Hit Six-Year Audience High

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Super Bowl LVII was a smash hit– with the Kansas City Chiefs holding a tight victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. The game was broadcast on Fox and aired on additional digital platforms. The program averaged 113 million viewers, according to early Nielsen data. That makes this game the most-watched Super Bowl since 2017’s Patriots vs. Falcons match, which was also telecast on Fox. Additionally, the audience views skyrocketed to 118.7 million viewers at the time of Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime Show. This marks the most-watched halftime show since Katy Perry’s 2015 performance, complete with sharks. Rihanna’s halftime show is the second most-watched Super Bowl halftime show in history

Super Bowl LVII took place at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Kickoff began just after 6:30 p.m ET/3:30 p.m. PT. The audience for the 2023 game is a relatively small rise from the 112.3 million viewers that watched 2022’s match between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals. Last year, audiences tuned in to NBC for the game, so Fox gets bragging rights for significantly beating its own viewership results from the last time airing the program in 2019. That game, Super Bowl LIV, took place in Miami and brought in 102 million viewers.

Super Bowl LVII

Kansas City Chiefs Patrick Mahomes (15) in action, limps and hobbles in pain vs Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium. Glendale, AZ 2/12/2023 CREDIT: Kohjiro Kinno (Photo by Kohjiro Kinno/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X164304 TK1)

When it comes to digital statistics, Fox says that Super Bowl LVII had about 7 million streams. That makes it the most-streamed Super Bowl in history. That’s an 18% increase from last year’s super bowl, and a 103% increase from the last time Fox took the reigns in 2020. That year held 3.4 million streams. Fox Deportes aired the Spanish-language version of the Super Bowl. They set a record for the most-watched Super Bowl game in Spanish-language cable television history. 951,000 people watched, which is a 25% increase from Fox Deportes’ views from 2020. This year’s Super Bowl was also the most-watched non-soccer event to be viewed in Spanish-language cable history.

The NFL had an impressive set of ratings this season, so critics anticipated the impressive Super Bowl LVII numbers. The regular season that led up to the game held record-breaking numbers across Fox, NBC, and CBS. Last month, there were strong ratings for the NFC and ACF championship games. The telecast of the Chiefs vs. Bengals game was the most-watched NFL conference championship game in four years. Ratings were 11% higher than last year’s AFC title game, making it the most-watched TV Program on any network since Super Bowl LVI. This, of course, is no longer true. Super Bowl LVII now broke that record.

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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.

Kodak Black Seems To Back Donald Trump’s Criticism Of Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime Performance

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While the actual game between the Chiefs and Eagles was one of the best Super Bowls in recent memory, the internet seems to have their minds fixated on Rihanna’s performance the most. Her halftime performance even garnered more viewers than the game itself. Despite generally positive reactions from social media and Rih’s fan base, Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform where he ridiculed the Anti singer for her performance.

“EPIC FAIL: Rihanna gave, without question, the single worst Halftime Show in Super Bowl history,” the former President 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!’”

Kodak Black, who was in attendance at SBLVII, posted a video to his Instagram story seemingly echoing Trump’s statements. “Uncle Trump said that shit is garbage, man,” he said before he flipped the camera to show Rihanna performing.

However, this was not the first time Trump attacked Rihanna. Just days before her performance, Trump again took to Truth Social where he wrote: “Without her ‘Stylist’ she’d be NOTHING. Bad everything, and NO TALENT!

Trumps dislike for Rihanna probably stems from her support of Colin Kaepernick in 2016. When everything was unfolding with the former 49ers quarterback, Rihanna said in an interview that she had actually turned down performing at the Super Bowl becuase she supported Kaepernick and did not want to be a “sellout.”

In 2020, Rihanna posed for a picture in front of a graffiti-laden car where she spray painted “Fuck Trump” on it after a performance at Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas.

The post Kodak Black Seems To Back Donald Trump’s Criticism Of Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime Performance appeared first on The Source.

Drake’s ‘Psychotic’ And ‘Illogical’ Super Bowl LVII Bet Actually Paid Off In The Sum Of $1.4 Million

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Apparently, the ‘Drake curse’ only works on people not named Drake. If there’s one thing the “Rich Flex” rapper loves more than his music, sports would be a close second. Whether he is filming a hilarious to congratulate his longtime friend LeBron James for breaking the NBA’s all-time scoring record or being clowned on for his skills by his hometown’s star player — nowadays, sports and Drake go hand in hand.

From time to time, his love for sports significantly pays off. After placing nearly $1 million in bets on Super Bowl LVII, he has earned big. Before the game, the performer to Instagram to share screen grabs of his bets with the caption, “My psychotic bets for Sunday are in @stake. Pls, do not analyze the logic behind these bets. There is none.”

Thanks to the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory, the Toronto native is cashing in over $1 million in earnings. Placing a $700,000 bet on the Chiefs to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles resulted in an estimated payout of $1.4 million. However, his bet that Chief’s quarterback Patrick Mahomes and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster to score the first touchdown didn’t happen. The other losing Super Bowl LVII bets from Drake included the Chiefs would win each half, predicting the Chiefs would win each quarter, and for Travis Kelce and a tight end to win the Super Bowl MVP.

Drake could’ve taken home over $4.5 million, but his estimated winning total is just under $1.5 million for selecting the correct victors.

Jalen Hurts Gracefully Responds To Child Reporter’s Question After SB Loss

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Jalen Hurts is not a Super Bowl champion. The Philadelphia Eagles, who Hurts quarterbacks, fell to the Kansas City Chiefs 38-35 on Sunday (Feb. 12). However, despite a Sul-crushing defeat, Hurts played phenomenally. In his third season in the NFL, Hurts debatably outplayed the league and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes, who has been Kansas City’s QB since 2017, had 182 passing yards while completing 21 of his 27 attempts. This manifested into 3 touchdowns. Additionally, he ran for 44 yards on a bum ankle. Hurts, on the other hand, threw for 304 yards while completing 27 of 38 attempts. He added 70 rushing yards to that with a total of 4 TDs.

The 24-year-old Texan had an incredible evolution this season, and last night’s game was the ultimate showcase of that growth. Philadelphia fans first saw him as incapable of being a starting QB in the league. Now, he is arguably one of the five best in the game. In Super Bowl LVII, Jalen became the only QB in the history of the big game to lose while producing 4 touchdowns. Additionally, Sunday’s 300 pass yards, 50 rush yards, and 3 rush TDs from Hurts was the second time he accomplished those numbers in his career. No other QB in the history of football has had a game with those numbers. Needless to say, he is legit. But, what makes him even more special is how excellent of a person he is off the field.

Jalen Hurts’ Humility

After his tough defeat, Hurts was tasked with going to the podium for a press conference. In typical fashion, players on the losing end aren’t too fond of these postgame pressers. But, when asked by a child reporter his thoughts on the game, Jalen answered with thoughtfulness and grace. “What is one lesson that you learned from this game that you’ll take on to the next?” the kid asked. “I think you want to cherish these moments. You want to cherish these moments with the people that you’ve come so far with. Your family, your loved ones, your teammates, your peers, everyone that you do it with and do it for,” Hurts responded.

“I’m so proud of this team for everything that we’ve been able to overcome.,” Hurts continued. “Obviously we had a big time goal in the end that we wanted to accomplish and we came up short. I think the beautiful part about it is everyone experiences different pains, everyone experiences different agonies of life but you decide if you want to learn from it. You decide if you want to use that to be a teachable moment. I know what I’ll do.” Although he wasn’t a winner on the field Sunday, Jalen Hurts’ winning attitude off of it will continue to pay dividends in the future.