I don’t know if Bill Hader’s Stefon character was necessarily the target audience for the Super Bowl LVIII halftime show, but the easiest way to review thefrom Glendale, Arizona, last year, but in terms of overall showmanship, it was in a different league. I’d say Usher put on the best one-mansince Bruno Mars a decade ago and Beyoncé the year before that He danced solo, meshing in perfect choreography with dancers in groups of different sizes. He sang solo.
It was Usher’s show, but his friends were everywhere, breaking up the Usher’s-greatest-hits format. As fun as it was to see the cameos from Lil Jon and Luda and the rest, the cameos weren’t about adding star power to the event. They were celebrity sleight-of-hand, offering glitzy distraction for each of Usher’s various costume changes.
The thing I appreciate most about Usher is that he made the whole thing look easy, but he didn’t make it look TOO easy. There were slightly imperfect notes, just to let you know that he was doing some of the singing live. By halfway through, he was bathed in sweat. At no point did you ever lose track of how hard Usher was working and how every creative decision was paying off.
After a very, very sloppy first half of football, where on-field injuries were frequently upstaging on-field athleticism, Usher was smooth and boundlessly energetic. Hopefully, the Chiefs and 49ers caught enough of the action to raise their own level of polish in the second half.Sign up for Now See This for recommendations on what to watch and why from THR’s chief TV critic. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services.