On Sunday, January 28, 2024, the NFL conference championships took place. The suspenseful games determined that the 49ers and Chiefs would be the two teams facing each other in Super Bowl LVIII. The huge event took place on Sunday, February 11, 2024, at the Allegiant Stadium. Other than football, the Super Bowl is known for its funny commercials and the amazing halftime show. The halftime show is always a favorite part of the Super Bowl, making the crowd go wild.
This year, eight-time Grammy-winning singer Usher headlined the halftime show. It had been his dream for forever, and the show was expected to be amazing. In past years, there have been other amazing shows like Rihanna’s show in 2023 or Shakira and Jennifer Lopez in 2020. His amazing vocals and songs helped him thrive during this show. Not knowing much about the show, he may have brought out special guests like Justin Bieber or Mariah Carey to help sing his top hits. Many people were very excited to see what he would do. “I hope it was one of the best shows!” said UC student Kate Labarge.
Before the show, media information released that Alicia Keys would be one of Usher’s special guests, making people very excited. Usher kicked off the halftime show singing his hit from 2004, “Caught Up”. After singing “U Don’t Have To Call”, “Lovers and Friends”, and “Love This Club”, he showed his first guest, Alicia Keys, who sat at a big red piano. She opened with a solo song of hers, “If I Ain’t Got You”, and then sang “My Boo” with Usher. Other than Alicia Keys, Usher brought out a couple more special guests that caught people by surprise like H.E.R, Lil Jon, Ludacris, the Black-Eyed Peas’, Will.I.am, and Jermain Dupri.
The 13-minute show started off a bit slow and boring, some may say, until he did a quick wardrobe change and came back out on roller skates. This was one of the moments that stood out the most during the whole show. With his talent, he skated around and sang with his backup dancers who were also on skates. After this part, the show became more upbeat as Lil Jon sang his hit, “Turn Down for What”, which went into “Yeah!” with Ludacris. People had many different opinions about his show. Many people were disappointed that he didn’t bring out Justin Bieber to sing one of his top songs, “Somebody To Love.” Though he didn’t bring him out, Usher’s set up was very crazy with people getting thrown in the air, pole dancers, a band, and dancers in crazy costumes. Being a show to remember, his dance moves stood out the most.
The crazy halftime show overall was a hit. Usher, who hasn’t been too active lately, was able to cram his biggest hits from the past couple of decades into a short 13-minute show. Starting off slow, Usher slowly got the crowd going with bringing his special guests, roller-skates, taking his shirt off, and crazy dancers. His biggest standouts of his choreography were singing “Yeah!” with Lil Jon and Ludacris, and his roller-skating skills. “I think that was one of the top shows” said Keira Schroppe. Usher definitely entertained his older fans who have been listening to him for the past 30 years. Overall, he had a great set up, set list, special guests, and show in general. I wonder if the next halftime show will top his.
