The Super Bowl is pop culture; so who should headline the Halftime Show next year?
(if you know me, you already know my answer)
The superbowl is a clusterfuck of American idealized pop culture; the performance of the game is measurable to some oscar nominees, it, of course, involves sports and music, and overconsumption through Superbowl ads. Nothing is more American than advertising Mountain Dew and CGI-ing Seal…onto an actual seal while singing Kiss from a Rose. That’ll haunt me forever, by the way. Of course, you couldn’t pay me an arm and a leg to give a shit about football, unless it was the puppy bowl, which I watched before Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show.
Lamar’s halftime show is jam packed with cultural and political callbacks and symbolism. I could truly write a whole article about how well thought out and fun this performance was. But I won't, because in all honesty, there’s people doing that better than I ever could, and it’ll always spiral into my top superbowl performances where, unfortunately, Lamar doesn’t make the cut despite how much I liked his performance (i’m sorry, but Lady Gaga jumped from the roof of the stadium. Get back to me when Kendrick does the same).
It does raise an interesting question about the Super Bowl halftime show, which, surprisingly, is a more modern tradition of the Super Bowl. In fact, the first superbowl half-time performance was an Elvis impersonator in the late 80s. How did we go from Elvis impersonators to cultural icons? Who’s next? Or better yet, who’s more deserving of being next?
One thing that fascinates me about the Super Bowl halftime is that the performances chosen follow a trend. In the beginning, these halftime shows were dances and visual art displays by big companies like Disney…actually, exclusively Disney. Disney had four Super Bowl halftime shows, all of them beyond fucking terrible. The first pop star to really headline was Michael Jackson in 1993. This trend “followed” (with few exceptions) until the 2004 Super Bowl Halftime show where Justin Timberlake accidentally flashed Janet Jackson. Then the NFL started gearing more towards older, more rock/rock adjacent acts like The Who, Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, and Prince (who also had one of the best halftime performances ever). Then came the pop renaissance with Madonna, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, and more. Then, since 2021, the superbowl has been honoring hip-hop, rap/trap, and r&b artists like the Weeknd, Usher, Rihanna, the west coast medley with Snoop Dogg et al, and Kendrick. However, will there be another pop renaissance? Considering that most popular artists of today fall into the pop category?
Immediately, I’ll tell you who shouldn’t headline. For some of these, not yet anyways.
Sabrina Carpenter
Miss Coffee girl was in her bag this past year, and has all the makings to being a very successful popstar. She is an enigmatic performer and a pretty good vocalist. However, Sabrina does not have an extensive catalog of hits yet to headline such an event. I believe, in the future, this will be different. However, for next year, I highly doubt it. This same can be said about Chappell Roan, Tate McRae, and Olivia Rodrigo, as talented as these girls are, they are still relevantly new to the industry and need more hits to even be considered.
Billie Eilish
The day Billie Eilish headlines the Super Bowl is the day where I know we, as a country, are in dire need of cognitive behavioral therapy. Might as well book Lana Del Rey while you’re at it. I do believe Billie has the starpower to be a headliner, however, to have the stage presence of one is something I highly doubt. Same with her catalog. If Billie was huge in 2001, I would’ve booked her for the 2002 Super Bowl and no, I won't expand further on that.
Taylor Swift
It’s not that Taylor Swift doesn’t have the catalog of hits to be a headliner or the starpower, but something I’ve recognized is that the public, especially the public that is into the NFL, has Taylor Swift fatigue. I don’t blame them. I also believe she does not have the stage presence of a headliner at all. When was the last time Swift headlined something like Coachella or Lollapalooza? Sure, the Eras tour was successful, but not because Swift is a decorated performer, let alone vocalist, but because she marketed her tour to be about all of her past albums which is clearly for her fans, who are not in the stadium booing her, by the way. Do you really want to see this take center field?
Charli XCX
Eh, actually, she’s a huge maybe for me. However, I don’t believe that people actually got into the album BRAT, and more so the culture surrounding BRAT. the NFL is sanitized, and bringing your coked up best friend to the halftime show would just be a recipe for facebook moms going ballistic. the grammy performance is beyond iconic.
Britney Spears
Unfortunately, I doubt Spears will ever return to music due to her censorship. She does deserve to be celebrated as a pop artist, or better yet, the princess of pop.
Drake
ew. just. no.
Here are my picks for who should headline the Super bowl to least likely to most likely.
Dua Lipa
Go girl give us nothing! No wait, give us everything! Recently, my best friend Julian told me that Dua Lipa should be in the realm of artists, like Selena Gomez and BeBe Rexha, who just do a hit every once and a while. I highly disagree, because did Selena Gomez have an era that lasted nearly four years and gave her 8 hit singles? No. Though Dua’s album Radical Optimism was not as successful as Future Nostalgia or her debut, it still had some noteworthy songs that hit the Billboard top 20. Dua Lipa could perform; Blow Your Mind, New Rules, Don’t Start Now, Physical, Levitating, Hallucinate, Houdini, Training Season, Dance the Night Away, One Kiss, and so much more. Dua Lipa is not the same person she was when she was twisting her body like a pencil sharpener; she’s leaned in more to choreography for her sets and has a emerging stage presence. View here.
Kelly Clarkson/P!NK
2002 American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson is a powerhouse of a vocalist and has a few hits under her belt. If she were to headline, she’d be great. However, I doubt she could do it alone and would have to share the stage with P!NK, who also never has performed at the Super Bowl. I believe the two of them together would be a rather entertaining show and with all their hits combined, they might as well make it to the actual 15 minutes needed to perform.
Bad Bunny
The last time the NFL celebrated latin culture was in 2020 with Shakira and JLO, where Bad Bunny was also a guest performer. Why not bring it back around? Especially if the NFL wants to keep the rap/trap trend going since reggaeton is in the same wheelhouse as that, just for a slightly different demographic? Since his guest appearance in 2020, Bad Bunny has released Un Verano Sin Tí, nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana, and Debí Tirar Más Fotos. It’s safe to say that Bad Bunny has the catalog, the star power, and the stage presence (with the help of a few dancers) it could be similar to Kendrick's performance. He could even bring out reggaeton legends like Daddy Yankee or someone like Rauw Alejandro. I could see him opening the show with NuevaYol.
Ariana Grande
It’s about time that Miss ponytail gets recognized for her catalog of hits, her stage presence, her vocal ability (she IS the vocalist of a generation) and her raw star power. Here’s just a small list of hits that could be brought to the field; Problem, Break Free, Side to Side, Into You, No Tears Left to Cry, God is a Woman, Thank U Next, 7 Rings, Break up with Your Girlfriend I’m Bored, Positions, Rain on Me with Lady Gaga, Save Your Tears with the Weeknd, Yes And? Hell, she could even perform Bloodline from the Thank U, Next album and it’d be okay. Just imagine hearing “I want it, I got it” while she’s holding a fake Heisman trophy. I could see her bringing out Nicki Minaj or the Weeknd and ending the set with Yes, And? the choreo is amazing.
Tyler, the Creator
This feels like the most obvious choice for who could be next; especially with the NFL’s recent trend of letting rap/trap, hip hop, and r&b artists headline. Tyler could bring out other artists like Doechii, Lil Wayne, and more. Tyler is not only trending and draws in a younger crowd, but has a catalog of hits that seem almost perfect for gameday (New Magic Wand, anyone?) He's a dynamic performer, and if I were in charge, I’d pick him next (but to be fair, just about anyone from this list could give an amazing performance). Just the whole performance for Sticky could make or break whether or not his halftime is good. This performance seals it for me.
To me personally, it’s a three way tie between Bad Bunny, Ariana Grande, and Tyler, the Creator. Is there anyone you’d like to see perform halftime?
