Rihanna’s Navy undoubtedly put down their Fenty makeup products and rejoiced last night! Barbados’ bad girl Rihanna took the Superbowl stage by storm this past Sunday during the Superbowl LVII halftime show and left everyone speechless during her gravity-defying performance. The pop star effortlessly glided through her hits in performance fans will surely remember by fans of football and the singer alike. From chart toppers to fan favorites, the megastar left no crumbs behind and even surprised the world with some unexpected news.
As the NFL announced the the pop star’s arrival, the singer gave the viewers an intimidating but inviting smirk, assuring all of us of a visual and sonic spectacular for 13 minutes straight. As the singer began with the 2016 hit “B**** Better Have My Money”, at-home viewers could see the camera pan out, revealing the in-air performance. Both Rihanna and her dancers are set atop practically floating stage pieces, with the singer dressed in red and her dancers all in white.
Throughout the performance, the singer and the dancers were raised and lowered in the air, never losing their stride. After the opening song, Rihanna sang through her diverse catalog, from “Where Have You Been”, to “Only Girl (In the World)”, to “We Found Love” and so on. The pop star even sang her portion of the fan-favorite Kanye West song “All of the Lights.” Despite not dancing as much as the dancers, Rihanna’s stage dominated the arena.
Once all the bangers were delivered, Rihanna closed out the show with a stunning performance of her ballad “Diamonds”. The crowd collectively turned on their phone lights and gave a sparkling backdrop to the performance while fireworks atop the stadium blew up. As Rihanna took in her accomplishment, the crowd relentlessly cheered for the star.
Taking the reception of the performance online, fans appeared pleased with both the set list and the performance as a whole. Twitter users praised the singer’s vocals and theatrics, but many pondered if the singer was also showcasing a pregnancy reveal. To their credit, the singer kept on a giant puffy jacket that suggestively was left open around her stomach, indicating a possible pregnancy.
Rihanna, as some fans pointed out, also danced very little and dominated the stage as much as possible by moving through the stage instead of dancing. Representatives of Rihanna later confirmed this rumor, and fans were even more frenzied by the news.
In recent years, Superbowl fans have increasingly been treated to high-profile performers with even more extravagant stunts, including Lady Gaga, J-Lo and Shakira, The Weeknd, and the list goes on. This year’s halftime performance sandwiched between the Chiefs v.s. the Eagles game surely has been another one for the pop culture history books.