Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime Show

Was Rihanna’s performance exceeding everyone’s expectation?

2016 Super Bowl pregame ceremony with Blue Angels flying over the stadium.

Millions of eyes on the TV worldwide. Everything is set, the music, lights, and stage and Rihanna is about to take one of the biggest stages in her life. The Super Bowl halftime show is one of the most anticipated events all year, aside from the game itself (of course).  For some people, the halftime show is the main event. Moreover, the anticipation for who is performing the halftime show is huge. Questions arise, ‘Who will be better than the last show?” “Who will exceed the expectations?” “Who is going to take the stage?” The expectations tend to be high every year once the artist who is performing is announced. Many speculations and rumors were floating around on who it could be. No one was disappointed when Rihanna was announced for the halftime performance, that was for sure; but, did she perform to the expectation created?

Rihanna performing on her tour Last Girl on Earth in 2011 in Sydney, Australia.

As the Super Bowl got closer, the suspense grew bigger. People were predicting what her setlist would be like, what she’s going to wear, etc. Finally, the suspense came to an end once she was shown on the screen. She opened with “B—- better have my money” and ended with “Diamonds” but by the end of the show, there were questions unanswered and a lot of opinions were voiced. Many people said that this show didn’t exceed their expectations and it was very underwhelming, but then there are other people who loved the show and thought it couldn’t have gotten better. There were also people who didn’t think it was extravagant, they thought it was good but could be better. There definitely was some debate, but was there more she could do? A lot of people were disappointed in the way the show was executed. People also wished she did things differently, whether it was bringing a guest out to sing with her or wishing she sang a specific song, it is unclear what the people truly wanted. Aside from the setlist, people had more to critic on, like how they wished there was more done to the stage layout, wished she didn’t do some of the dance moves she did, etc. But hey, she had floating stages, that’s pretty cool! Aside from the negatives, a lot of people loved the show. They loved her, the setlist, and her performance. There were easily thousands of tweets preaching her performance during and after the show.

For Rihanna, these opinions don’t matter. She just performed in front of million and millions of people. She gained over 1.5 million Instagram followers in less than 24 hours after the Super Bowl. She even announced that she is expecting a second baby with A$AP Rocky at the Super Bowl! The future is huge for Rihanna and she has accomplished a lot. Maybe she will release new music soon? Rihanna… the fans are patiently waiting whenever you are ready!

Now that Super Bowl LVII is over, the anticipation on next year’s Super Bowl arises. Which two teams will make it to the biggest football stage, but more importantly who is going to be the main event in between the break of the game?