BY BRANDON RICKETTS
Staff Reporter
Super Bowl 53 was a hard-fought battle between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams.
“The game wasn’t very exciting, as it was a defensive game, but as the saying always goes, ‘defense wins championships,’” said sophomore Eugene Figueroa.
A crucial part of the Super Bowl outside of gameplay and commercials is the halftime show. This year’s halftime show featured performances from Maroon 5, Big Boi, and Travis Scott.
“I think Maroon 5 did their thing for sure. Travis Scott’s performance on the other hand was questionable, I didn’t really like his set.” said senior Justin Ricketts.
There were mixed reviews on whether the artist should have accepted the opportunity to perform.
“I think Travis Scott taking the Super Bowl halftime performance after all the Colin Kaepernick issues was a cold move for the community.” said Ricketts. “Now, for business he made the right move if his focus was to feed his family. As for the rap community, they’ve expressed their disliking to his agreement to perform amidst the Colin Kaepernick protests.”
There was controversy pertaining to Colin Kaepernick’s attempt to stand up to (or rather kneel down against) racial injustice in the United States during National Anthems in the 2016 preseason, which led to his dismissal and choice to opt out of his contract on Mar. 3 2017.
Before this era of solo and feature performances during halftime, there was a span of college marching bands and tribute performances.
Michael Jackson took the stage for his first NFL Super Bowl halftime performance at the Rose Bowl in 1993 which shifted the pattern for future halftime performances.
Since Michael Jackson’s halftime performances, there has been an evolution of performances from big artists in the music industry. Artists ranging from Patti Labelle, Diana Ross, and Janet Jackson to Beyonce, Bruno Mars, and Katy Perry.
Some Sacred Heart students feel that one of the most memorable halftime performances was by Katy Perry during Super Bowl 49.
“Katy Perry absolutely flourished throughout her whole set,” said junior Sindi Collaku. “Nobody will ever forget how Left Shark stole the show during her ‘Teenage Dream’ and ‘California Gurls’ set though.”
Left Shark was one of the dancers dressed in a shark costume that was in the routine for both songs and appeared to dance outside of the choreography that the other dancers were doing.
Another memorable halftime performance, according to students, was M.I.A. during Super Bowl 46, where she gave the middle finger to the camera for a few seconds of her performance.
According to CBS Sports, M.I.A. was later sued by the NFL for millions of dollars after the performance.
“M.I.A. flipping her middle finger was controversial, which is why it was so much more memorable,” said Figueroa. “Memories are created with some of the most spontaneous things that draw people’s attention and words.”
