“It’s not an illusion. The rumors are true. This year the SUPER BOWL goes GAGA!”
This was the message posted on Instagram by the world famous superstar, putting questions and wonderings to rest. After performing the Star-Spangled Banner at last year’s Super Bowl, Gaga is now planning to truly rock the football world February 5 when she performs at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show at NRG Stadium in Houston.
Rumors spread around in August that Adele was to headline, but Adele and NFL both later confirmed that she was neither asked nor considering it. Other performers being rumored were Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and Eminem.
During that time, Gaga was planning on releasing her fifth studio album, “Joanne,” in October. An article in Billboard mentioned that she was in talks with NFL for doing the show, but NFL later stated they were still considering other options.
Guess they either changed their minds or were trying to keep it under wraps until they were ready. Either way, on September 29, 2016, the above-mentioned message was posted causing LittleMonsters (Gaga’s fan following) everywhere to rejoice.
Gaga has been reportedly very hard at work to try to make this show the best one yet. She has not confirmed a playlist yet but has stated she is planning to do a mix of old and new songs, meaning fans could hear some old favorites like “Paparazzi,” “Poker Face” and the still ever popular “Bad Romance.”
Since this January, more news has been popping up on media, including the fact that Gaga is hoping to perform on top of the stadium dome, though her team is still working on the details due to safety concerns, and that she plans to not have any guest stars for the show – a major deviation from others in the past.
Gaga has also been kind to her fans, launching the “Guest of Honor” contest with Pepsi and NFL where, if fans uploaded a 15–60 second long video on Instagram or Twitter with the hashtags #GOHContest and #PepsiHalftime by December 15, professing their fandom for Gaga, they could win the chance to see the show from the stage sidelines.
The question as to who would headline the show next was a big question for many fans after last year’s halftime. Featuring Coldplay with special guests Beyoncé and Bruno Mars (both of whom had already performed for Super Bowls XLVII (47) and XLVIII (48), respectively), the show featured a display of song, dance choreography and ended with a montage of performances of the national anthem and other halftime shows at Super Bowls past.
Though the show received mixed reviews, with Beyoncé and Mars being praised but Coldplay being criticized, it was still quite popular since it set a record as the third highest watched halftime show in history with a whopping 115.5 million viewers.
With Gaga’s tendency to go all out with her performances and the Patriots and Falcons facing off, this Super Bowl could be very memorable indeed.
Jacob Kusnerik
Intern