I never like to root for Tom Brady, but the man earned all the press about him. The Weeknd, on the other hand, wasn’t the halftime performer we’re used to. But he put his money where his mouth is, that’s for sure.
Set at the Raymond James Stadium, the 30-year-old hitmaker appeared on stage in a floating black convertible surrounded by flashing neon signs reminiscent of Sin City.
Emerging from the vehicle, The Weeknd belted out the lyrics to his most infectious hits in front of a sequin-clad robo-choir and an ultra moody cityscape.
In the weeks leading up to his epic halftime show, The Weeknd several dropped hints about his performance, including that he shelled out $7million of his own cash for the ambitious endeavor.
While most halftime shows require 5,000 staffers for setup and breakdown alone, the coronavirus has changed production efforts, forcing designs to be scaled back.
‘It’s a total of 1,000 people, and they can’t touch the field,’ an insider revealed to Page Six last week.
‘How do you pull off a show that’s not on the field and is as impactful as it’s ever been with same level of entertainment?’
The source added: ‘Wait till you see it, it’s beautifully done. It’s different and it’s historic.’
It was pretty cool.
