Gaga lights up Super Bowl
Pop diva sends subtle inclusion message with choice of songs
LADY Gaga dazzled the Super Bowl with a high-tech, tightly choreographed halftime show celebrating American diversity and unity as she chose the power of showbiz over direct provocation.
Performing at American football’s title match – generally the most watched US television event of the year – the pop diva electrified NRG Stadium in Houston with a pulsating medley of her greatest hits.
From the outset, Gaga served notice this was no ordinary halftime show – she began her performance from the lip of the stadium, an army of 300 drones forming a twinkling American flag in the sky. Then she took flight.
The singer, clad in a sparkling silver bodysuit and knee high boots, leapt from the edge of the retractable roof onto the stage with the help of some sturdy wires – and the performance was nonstop from there.
Ahead of the show, all eyes were on Lady Gaga to see whether she would use the platform to rip into President Donald Trump at a tense time in US politics.
Even with Vice-President Mike Pence in attendance, Gaga – a sworn foe of Trump – kept with the game’s guidelines to steer clear of overt politics.
Instead the singer, known for her audacious outfits, delivered what seemed to be a more subtle message.
“How are you doing tonight, Texas? How are you doing tonight, America?” Gaga asked.
“We’re here to make you feel good,” she said.
She opened with This Land is Your Land, the anthem by leftist folk legend Woody Guthrie that has come to be seen as an alternative national anthem for the United States.
Gaga then mixed up her biggest songs – from Let’s Dance and Poker Face to Born This Way – an anthem of inclusion in which she speaks of acceptance of people regardless of ethnicity or sexual orientation.
With just 13 minutes at her disposal, Gaga could not pull off many changes of costume but by the end stripped off her metallic dress to perform in hot pants, football shoulder pads – and the stiletto-heeled boots.
Her dancers made up for Gaga in terms of outfits, switching from flashy club attire to placid white.
Gaga literally dropped the mic – and caught a football at the end of the show as fireworks shot into the air.
Super Bowl performances are rarely directly provocative, although last year Beyonce startled many by playing her single Formation. Its video had a message against police brutality. — AFP