Tom Wood
Fans have been going wild for Rihanna’s performance during the Super Bowl halftime show, even though she didn’t bring out any special guest performers.
Rihanna performed dressed all in red atop a pretty impressive set of floating platforms, rattling through a great number of her hits at lightning speed.
OK, so she didn’t bring anyone extra out like previous Super Bowl halftime show performers have, but most observers seem to be of the opinion that she didn’t need anyone but the large cabal of dancers that she had alongside her.
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One person tweeted: “Rihanna said ‘I don’t need any guest performers.’
“What a performance.”
Another wrote: “I don’t want to hear that Rihanna should’ve had a guest performer.
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“No she didn’t.”
A third said: “No guest stars needed.
“Just a celebration of the live return of Rihanna and her absolute bangers!
“What a brilliant spectacle.”
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There were a couple of opportunities for Ri-Ri to bring out a number of stars that she has collaborated with over the years, but – as has been covered extensively online – she didn’t seem to need anyone other than herself.
She played ‘Work’ and could have brought Drake out for that, but managed along without the Canadian rapper.
Then, she played a couple of songs that have Kanye West on the studio version, but she’s obviously not going to get him out onto the stage, and with good reason too.
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Still, it must have been a bit nerve-wracking beforehand for Rihanna, knowing that she was going to have to pull it all off on her own.
She agreed to perform after boycotting the 2019 version of the event because of racial inequality as highlighted by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
In a pre-game press event, Rihanna explained why she’d decided to reverse that stance and agreed to perform.
She explained how she wanted to use the platform – several floating platforms, as it turned out – to represent 'immigrants, represent for my country, Barbados, [and] represent for Black women everywhere'.
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She added: “The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world. As scary as that was because I haven’t been on stage in seven years, there’s something exhilarating about the challenge of it all.
“It’s important for me to do this, this year.
“It’s important for representation. It’s important for my son to see this.”
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She continued: “That’s a big part of why this is important for me to do this show: representation.
“Representing for immigrants. Representing for Black women everywhere. That’s key for people to see the possibilities.
“It’s a long way from home, right? It’s a beautiful journey that I’m on.
“I could have never guessed that I would have made it here, so it’s a celebration of that.
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“I’m really excited to have Barbados on the Super Bowl stage.”
Well, she certainly excited the crowd.