DYNAMIC DUO’S SUPER!
J.Lo, Shakira combine on scorching Latin pop night in Miami
No way, no how were Shakira and Jennifer Lopez going be ignored. They seized their big nationally televised Super Bowl halftime moment and likely stopped more than a few million viewers from making a run to the refrigerator for more beer and spinach dip.
This was less about music than it was eye-catching spectacle, a sea of constant motion filling TV screens across America with an air of smiling, shimmying exuberance. It was Latin pop night at the Super Bowl, with two ready-to-conquer dancer-singers-entertainers as hosts.
In the pantheon of Super Bowl extravaganzas, usually hollow events long on special effects, it demolished all efforts to resist its considerable charms. Prince’s 2007 Super Bowl performance is still king of halftime, but Shakira and J.Lo were certainly the most undeniable performance since then.
Beyond the sheer entertainment value, this was also a moment that resonated for a community. The two artists helped launch the Latin pop wave in American pop two decades ago, with Lopez’s 1999 debut album, “On the 6,” and Shakira’s first Englishlanguage album, “Laundry Service” (2001). Between them, those albums sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.
Their dual appearance marked the first time in the Super Bowl’s 54-year history that two women headlined the halftime show. In addition, it was the first time the showcase event was topped by two Latina performers. Recent years have seen an explosion of artists with Latino roots on the pop charts, including J Balvin, Bad Bunny, Cardi B and Ozuna. In turn, the NFL has significantly increased its advertising aimed at the 52 million Hispanics in the United States. Forbes reported a 60% increase in the NFL ad budget from 2010 to 2015, to $243 million.
As for the show, the multifaceted, bilingual Shakira ruled. There she was belly-dancing between Mariachi horns, pounding the drums, playing guitar and leaping into the audience, born aloft by dozens of grasping fans. She mashed together hints of bossa nova from Brazil, cumbia from her native Colombia, tejano from Mexico, Middle Eastern rhythms and African accents. For good measure, there were snippets of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”
Shakira looked and moved like an athlete with her wrist bands and body-bending flexibility. Lopez turned her leather-clad pole-dancing entrance into her own contortionist display, though she was no match for Shakira’s musical adventurousness. But
when the two joined forces as the whirlwind set hit the home stretch, they very much looked like a couple of rock stars, with their mounds of hair flying in the Miami night.
The prelude to the Super Bowl on Sunday was certainly pleasant enough, with on-point versions of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “America the Beautiful.”
In these days of the endless melisma, anything under two minutes qualifies as a minor victory for those of us who value concision over showoff singing when it comes to the national anthem. And pop star Demi Lovato, who checked in with a 1:51 version, delivered. The singer, who only a week ago at the Grammys made her first stage appearance since being hospitalized in 2018, sounded sure of her intentions from the outset and kept things focused on the song rather than histrionics. She added some spice to a few key words, notably a soaring “free” and the closing “brave.”
Veteran gospel singer Yolanda Adams, standing on a football-shaped mini-stage, also exuded generosity and poise with her “America the Beautiful.” A choir offered counterpoint harmonies as Adams gracefully extended a few syllables, and then nailed the “shining sea” punctuation point.