This previous Sunday, Super Bowl 58 welcomed eight-time Grammy winner Usher as their halftime performer. Usher held the record for the longest halftime performance at almost 13-½ minutes.
All 13 minutes were jam-packed with the 20-year iconic career hits. The show opened with a seemingly Renaissance theme ensemble with the songs “My Way” and “Caught Up” performed by what looked like cirque du solis dancers and tricks. The show then continued on to a seemingly Michael Jackson-like nod to the songs, “Superstar” and “Love in This Club.”
Usher also had a large variety of guests like Alicia Keys, H.E.R., Jermaine Dupree, Will.i.Am, Lil’Jon and Ludacris.
Although many viewers had mixed reviews about Alicia Keys’s performance, I personally found the inclusion of so many artists refreshing. With so many senior artists being against teamwork, Usher taking so much care and importance to show support to other amazing artists who helped him get to where he is was a beautiful show of community.
However, it was very obvious that the singer relied on popups from other artists and visual effects to distract from the obvious lip syncing, which was extremely disappointing to see from a world renowned vocalist.
Usher closed the performance with his two best party songs “Yeah!” and “O.M.G”; however, it may have served him well to start his performance out with either of the two instead of a ballad and closing with “Let it Burn” as a way to get the crowd singing along together.
The singer relied mostly on a backtrack for his performance, which was really a let down considering all of the slow, vocal based songs that he decided to include in his performance.
All in all, the performance was underwhelming to say the least. With so many songs in such a short amount of time, I found it hard to truly enjoy the walk down memory lane with Usher and friends, and the performance did not reach the high expectations I set for the iconic performer. Hopefully, this is something that he can work on before his upcoming “Past, Present, and Future” tour.
