Usher is no blusher with halftime Vegas strip
Usher knew he had to bring it to reclaim the Super Bowl spotlight and whipping off his shirt during U Got It Bad did the trick.
As did his excellent roller-skating skills, perfected during his Vegas residency over the past year.
The supreme R & B superstar delivered a careerspanning set which generously heroed his costars including Alicia Keys, Lil Jon and Ludacris but minus the rumoured Justin Bieber cameo.
Keys took to the stage behind a futuristic red piano in a stunning catsuit to open her part with her hit If I Ain’t Got You, reportedly an added moment which led to Usher demanding extra minutes for his halftime set.
The pair then swayed together with beaming smiles as they sang a slinky slice of their 2004 duet My Boo. Usher kicked off with a clutch of midtempo favourites before ramping up the energy with Love In This Club which features the kind of lyrics that get you in trouble with the strict American television censors.
The halftime star certainly wasn’t phoning in the choreography, working up a sweat within a few minutes of bursting on to centre field.
Another special guest was American R & B guitar-slinger H.E.R. who owned the stage with her solo during Bad Girl.
Lil Jon and Ludacris joined for the final third of the set which had the entertainers highlight a bit of Turn Down For What before launching into the song everyone was waiting for, the 2004 smash Yeah!.
Dancers assumed their positions to spell out Usher as the show reached its crescendo.
It was lucky during the jampacked finale that the stage didn’t collapse as it could be seen buckling as dozens of dancers bounced on the floor.