By Grace Van Duyn, ’22

Staff Writer

Many people watch the Super Bowl just to see the halftime show, which has over the years featured memorable, if not always enjoyable, over-the-top performances. But while many appreciated and understood Super Bowl LV’s performance by the Weeknd, many people were confused by its bizarre costumes and maze-like set. The Weeknd told Variety, “ the significance of the (dancers wearing) entire head bandages is reflecting on the absurd culture of Hollywood celebrities and people manipulating themselves for superficial reasons to please and be validated.” Super Bowl executive producer Jesse Collins explained how he and the Weeknd planned the show by saying, “instead of focusing on what we can’t do (due to the pandemic), it’s like, look at what the opportunities are because of the cards we’ve been dealt.” This same optimism is what saved the Weeknd from his difficult upbringings. 

The Weeknd, born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye in Toronto, Canada, lived in an apartment with two friends after he moved out of the house he grew up in. They shoplifted food and sold drugs in order to make enough money to survive. The Weeknd began his music career with the hope of making a small amount of money, and he has now gone on to sell award-winning albums and headline the Super Bowl. 

Even if this explanation still leaves you confused or unimpressed about his performance, we can all agree that we have been laughing at the memes and jokes about his performance. Some of the most popular memes about the Super Bowl are about the scene where the Weeknd is in the room with the mirrored walls. 

Here is what HHS students had to say about the show: 

“The halftime show was cool, but not as energetic as it should be for the Super Bowl.” – Anonymous   

“I thought it was cool and I liked the songs.” – Abby Van Duyn

“I thought the halftime show was very dizzy. I felt dizzy after watching it and thought the quality could have been better. I like the Weeknd’s music, but the halftime show was not nearly as good as I was expecting it to be -Anonymous 

“I thought it was boring.” – Maeve Sullivan

“I thought the Super Bowl halftime show was a little weird. I thought the way the dancers were dressed was kind of scary and I didn’t really understand why they were dressed like that. I also thought that the Weeknd could have sung a little bit better, I felt like he was a little off tune at times. Lastly I feel that he should have picked a few more better songs.” – Anonymous 

“I got bored and went to make myself a snack while it was on.”- Morgan Taylor 

“ I thought the concept was cool, but I didn’t really enjoy the music or the costumes they wore.” -Anonymous 

“I didn’t like the halftime show, I felt like it was a dud and there wasn’t much interaction with the audience as others did in the past. I think people like Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars were a lot better. The Weeknd just stood there.” – Abby Smith 

“I thought it was overall good! It was a little boring and I was expecting more because it is supposed to be the biggest show of the year.”- Anonymous 

“I thought it was cool and I liked the music.” – Shannon Taylor  

Featured image: https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/sc-ent-super-bowl-halftime-review-0207-20210208-ie2smv3xwbg45l6vqxc4zrhlp4-story.html