He kicked it off with “Starboy,” and he immediately broke into “The Hills.” “Can’t Feel My Face” was dizzy and nauseating, and he continued with “I Feel It Coming,” where one could barely hear him sing.
Equally forgettable were “Save Your Tears” and “Earned It.” The sound quality for this performance, as a whole, was horrible. He would have benefitted substantially by featuring several special musical guests (ex: Ariana Grande or Daft Punk) to help bring his dull Super Bowl halftime show to life.
The sole decent performance was his closing number “Blinding Lights,” which stayed at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. He rounded out his set with this chart-topper but by then, it was too late to save this mess of what was The Weeknd’s Super Bowl halftime show.
Hopefully, next year, the NFL will book a classic or modern rock act to perform the halftime show. Solid choices would be Queen and Adam Lambert, AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Foo Fighters, Billy Joel, Elton John, or Guns N’ Roses.
The Verdict
Overall, The Weeknd’s halftime show was lame, somewhat satanic, horrid, and boring. It will go down in history as one of the weakest Super Bowl halftime shows in the 21st century.
In fact, Miley Cyrus’ Super Bowl 2021 pre-show with Joan Jett and Billy Idol was leaps and bounds better than The Weeknd’s terrible performance, since they were high-octane and utterly fantastic.
On a lighter note, quarterback Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl LV, where they stunned the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9.