After every Super Bowl Halftime the Internet floods with hate and praise (as well as some terrific memes put together with eerie swiftness), and this year was no exception with Rihanna’s Oompa Loopma weather balloon back up dancers.
Honestly, I thought she put on a decent show, but I haven’t been completely blown away by any halftime since Prince and that marching band brought the entire house down with that epic performance in 2007.
I’m sure the tasking of picking and arranging a halftime performer (or performers) for Super Bowl isn’t easy, but I would love to take a crack at it. I may have only helped promote artsy concerts in my little corner of the world, but I love music — all kinds of music — and I have some ideas for next year’s Super Bowl Halftime:
Heavy Metal/Hair Band Spectacular
Every time they bring in a hard rock or metal band, they always team them up with something distinctly NOT metal. Slash had to play with the Black Eyed Peas, Aerosmith with Brittany Spears, and Kid Rock played with Janet Jackson during “that” performance. They gathered the 90s rap and hip-hop icons up last year, so why not pack in some old school metal and hard rock? Get some acts like Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, Lita Ford, Def Leppard, Poison or Cinderella. Hey, they might be older, but a lot of these guys are still touring today. And, dare I say they look a lot better than Madonna.
Foo Fighters
It is so weird to me one of the most versatile, prolific bands in rock and roll hasn’t played a Super Bowl. The body of quality music these guys have cranked out is mind-boggling, and even after the loss of member Taylor Hawkins they are still going strong. This year, we did get to see frontman Dave Grohl in a commercial, and he performed an intimate concert in Phoenix the weekend of the game. Yet, these guys need to be on stage during halftime.
They don’t need any “special guest” or mega elaborate sets. Just set up the stage and let these dudes go to town. It will be just a straightforward, hit-filled half hour of rock and roll. So, so, so many hits.
BTS
You heard me. This K-Pop group is my number one draft pick for Super Bowl Halftime.
If we had to endure other boy bands like N’Sync, and girlie acts like Katy Perry, BTS deserves their time at Super Bowl. They have rabid and avid fans around the globe, and their live concerts are incredible. There’s no doubt the stage, set, effects and performance value of a Super Bowl show would be through the roof.
They were entered in the 2022 Guinness World Records Hall of Fame for breaking at least 28 music records from Most Viewers of a Premiere Music Video to (108.2 million views for “Butter” in 24 hours alone) to Most Streamed Act on Spotify (16.3 billion plus streams). Yeah, there are a few fans out there would tune in to this.
And, you know what? I would guarantee BTS would break yet another record on viewership if they played the Super Bowl, no matter what you think of them.
Watch this Grammy performance and tell me this doesn’t outclass every attention seeker performing this year by a thousand percent?
I know. I know. The attention to Super Bowl halftimes is too hyped up. Some say they are too woke and others gripe about not enough (fill in the blank) representation. People should be tuning in for the game. Not commercials or music. Well, you can’t un-ring a bell and the halftimes are here to stay.
As long as they take my suggestions….