For football fans, non-football fans, and families all over America, the Super Bowl is one of the most anticipated events of the year. It brings people around the country together, and for most, it is more than just a game. The road to this year’s Super Bowl was a long one, and the additional complication of COVID-19 made it a logistical nightmare. The typical stadium, which in years past had housed 66,000 fans, was allowed to hold about 1/3 of its capacity, or 22,000 selected fans. These attendees were all vaccinated healthcare workers who helped stop the spread of the virus on the front lines and were invited guests of the NFL.

To address the added issue of COVID-19, restrictions on large gatherings, and not being able to have a live audience, the stadium was filled with 30,000 cardboard cutouts. For $100, fans were offered the option of sending in a picture, and their photos would be made into cutouts and placed into the stadium. Fans could show support for their favorite team while still staying safe at home. A-list celebrities like Lady Gaga, DJ Khaled, and Billie Eilish also had cutouts made and appeared in the stands alongside the fans. In the end, the stadium gave the appearance of being full of fans.

Although the Super Bowl is the championship football game of the year, it is much more than that: it is commercials, Super Bowl boxes, parties, giveaways, and entertainment, and the most iconic tribute of all is the Super Bowl halftime show. Each year, top artists are chosen to perform before the second half of the game. Artists like Bruno Mars, Beyonce, Shakira, The Rolling Stones, and even Travis Scott are notable past performers. This year’s performance, though, caused much debate on whether or not the show was truly “Super Bowl worthy.”  

The artist chosen to perform this year was Grammy-winning artist Abel Tesfaye, more commonly internationally known as The Weeknd. He was first discovered after posting several anonymous YouTube music videos online. His videos grew in popularity and were brought to the attention of top record labels and even rapper Drake himself. He gained significant popularity after the release of his songs “Can’t Feel My Face” and “I Feel It Coming.” He was a 2015 MTV Video Music Award performer, and his song “Blinding Lights” was the number-one song on the Billboard charts in 2020. With over 1.6 billion streams, “Blinding Lights” even inspired a very popular TikTok trend.  Sophomore Alyssa Inserra commented, “The Weeknd definitely gained a lot of success this year, and his songs got so popular that it made sense that he would be the halftime performer.” 

The artist was confirmed as the Super Bowl halftime entertainer in November 2020, prior to the big game on Feb. 7. People all over the country were confused and questioned why The Weeknd had been chosen. Headlines began to appear questioning the choice. The Weeknd, a solo performer, seemed to be an unusual choice considering that the halftime show has in years past been performed by a group or a collection of multiple musical artists. In keeping with Florida’s COVID–19 guidelines, it was difficult to put on a show of that magnitude in Tampa while following state and city guidelines.

His performance told a story, one that had been months in the making, finally “wrapping up” at the Super Bowl. After the release of The Weeknd’s album After Hours, the artist was seen at several award shows and events wearing a signature outfit. He would appear in the same red suit that was featured in his various music videos and on the face of his album cover. He began his story when he appeared at an event in the same red suit with SFX makeup on. His face was bloodied to appear as if he had been beat up. At the American Music Awards (AMAs), the artist steered away from SFX makeup and had his whole face bandaged, to imply he had received plastic surgery. In his most recent music video, he appeared with exaggerated prosthetic makeup. At the Super Bowl performance, The Weekend appeared bare faced, without prosthetic makeup. His dancers, however, wore bandaged faces much like what the artist wore at the AMAs. The bandages had built-in K95 masks, so it provided extra protection from the spread of COVID-19. The significance of the bandages held a larger and more personal message; it tried to relay the stereotypes in the world of Hollywood and fame. “The significance of the entire head bandages is reflecting on the absurd culture of Hollywood celebrity and people manipulating themselves for superficial reasons to please and be validated,” The Weeknd told Variety ahead of his performance. “It’s all a progression, and we watch The Character’s story line hit heightened levels of danger and absurdity as his tale goes on,” he added. 

It has truly been unique to watch an artist put so much effort into his act. After months in the making, people online started to believe that The Weeknd had actually had cosmetic surgery, and many memes were born from his performance. The artist told Billboard that being physically attractive was not important, but having a compelling narrative was. During his NFL press conference, The Weeknd talked about how he wanted to display a cohesive story while keeping it PG-rated for the families watching at home. He also revealed that there was more coming and that this era of The Weeknd was not over. 

The halftime performance opened on a stage that was built like a heightened version of a Las Vegas strip. The stage was colorful and filled with neon light — it was what is imagined when one thinks of Las Vegas. He was joined by a dancing choir onstage wearing helmets modeled after one of his collaborators, Daft Punk. The artist started off by singing his 2016 hit “Starboy” and “The Hills.” He moved onto a gold-themed room filled with mirrors. As he began singing his number-one 2015 hit “I Can’t Feel My Face,” the room was flooded with members of his bandaged army. They were dressed identically to The Weeknd, and the scene was chaotic. It seemed as if the artist was holding the camera himself while surrounded by dancers running in circles around him. Entertainment Times revealed that at the time, the camera had a special lens called a fish-eye that made the performance look as if he were performing in a fishbowl. The scene was overwhelming and seemed to convey the artist was being “blinded by the light.” When he emerged back onstage, he was joined by a dancing orchestra, and he sang one of his earliest hits, “Earned It.” As he moved from the stage to the field, he performed another one of his earliest hits “House of Balloons” and ended with his chart topper “Blinding Lights.” During his rendition of “Blinding Lights,” he was once again joined on the field by his bandaged army of dancers. The ending was spectacular, and his performance was outstanding considering the strict guidelines. 

The Weeknd’s publicist told the New York Times that The Weeknd put seven million dollars of his own profit into the performance to ensure that it was a hit. Freshman Samantha Lang commented, “I really enjoyed the performance! I thought it was so interesting that all this time, The Weeknd was telling a story to his audience. I’m eager to see what he produces in the future!” 

Since his performance, the artist’s streams and profits have skyrocketed. The Weeknd moved from the eighth spot to second spot on the Top-500 Artists chart, and according to Rolling Stone, the Super Bowl halftime performance delivered a triple-digit increase in his sales. Even with the debate on whether the artist was “fit” to perform at the Super Bowl, he is now doing extremely well in his career. Freshman Elena McDonald commented, “I don’t think The Weeknd was fit to perform at the Super Bowl because he wasn’t well known enough. Besides this, I really enjoyed the performance because he sang exceptionally!” 

After the year we all had, The Weeknd had emerged with a few of his songs topping the charts from 2020. This performance was a spectacular way to kick off a hopefully more positive year, making up 2020.