Yesterday (November 23) was Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving means NFL football, and NFL football means halftime shows. The sports league booked a nice roster of performers for this year’s festivities, with Jack Harlow playing the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions game, Dolly Parton performing at the Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys match-up, and Steve Aoki taking the contest between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks.
It was Parton and Harlow who drew the most attention, though, but for different reasons.
Dolly Parton performs during the halftime show of the Commanders-Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game in Dallas pic.twitter.com/HFkyBBNFby
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) November 23, 2023
Parton gave it her all, donning a Cowboys cheerleader uniform on a massive stage as she delivered rousing renditions of her own “Jolene” and “9 To 5” and Queen’s “We Are The Champions” and “We Will Rock You.”
Total budget for Jack Harlow halftime show = $49.99 pic.twitter.com/EinPJ2gphr
— Dr. Johnny (@drjohnny__) November 23, 2023
Harlow, meanwhile, was decidedly more scaled back with his production, running through four songs on a small igloo set.
Harlow’s performance happened earlier in the day, so after Parton’s went down later on, the internet was full of comparisons between the two showings, pretty much exclusively in favor of Parton. One X (formerly Twitter) user commented, “Beloved American icon Dolly Parton showing the world how to do a halftime show only hours after Jack Harlow borrowed the set from a local middle school’s production of Frozen for his.”
Beloved American icon Dolly Parton showing the world how to do a halftime show only hours after Jack Harlow borrowed the set from a local middle school’s production of Frozen for his. pic.twitter.com/7MYd7VtU4I
— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) November 23, 2023
Check out clips of the two performances above and find some more reactions below.
Dolly Parton to Jack Harlow. pic.twitter.com/N2kcBKS8fn
— Evan Daniel (@itsmrevandaniel) November 23, 2023
Dolly Parton is up 35-0 on Jack Harlow at halftime.
— Paul Pabst (@PaulPabst) November 23, 2023
Dolly Parton is making Jack Harlow look like the least talented person on earth.
This halftime show is electric.
— Willie Lutz (@willie_lutz) November 23, 2023
Dolly Parton Showing Jack Harlow How You Do A Proper Halftime Show pic.twitter.com/HOp66X08w2
— HARD FACTOR (@HardFactorNews) November 23, 2023
If Jack Harlow was smart, he’d come on here and simply tweet, “Miss Dolly ate me TF up during halftime didn’t she?” pic.twitter.com/dwXT2PxZSS
— Sassington, M.D. (@MissSassbox) November 24, 2023
Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.