No one knew what to expect for this year's Super Bowl halftime show, which was headlined by rapper Bad Bunny entirely in Spanish. But with plenty of world class latin singers to pick for a surprise appearance, his guest star left fans stunned.
Six-time Grammy winner Bad Bunny, real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, had a lot to live up to going into the all-important show, with previous musicians like Kendrick Lamar, Shakira and Rihanna all blowing away football fans in recent years.
Ocasio's Spanish-only halftime set was, as you'd expect, suffused with his passion for his native Puerto Rico and saw the artist dressed all in white as he navigated a sugarcane field in a performance that swung between carnival and formal wedding.
But as his roughly 15 minute set reached its crescendo, spinning wedding dancers parted to reveal an extremely familiar face in a blue dress, Mother Monster herself, Lady Gaga.
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Ocasio joined Gaga for a rendition of her track Die With a Smile, with the pair briefly dancing together before Bad Bunny launched into his next song.
The surprise celebrity appearances did not stop there, though they were subtle. As well as briefly singing with legend Ricky Martin, at one point the rapper dropped through the ceiling of a house, only to emerge dancing with a number of well-known faces.
That included Cardi B, Jessica Alba, Karol G, Young Miko and Pedro Pascal.
His set ended with the singer switching to English to say 'God bless America', before blessing every other country in Latin America, in a poignant finale to a groundbreaking Super Bowl halftime show
The rapper has now made history as the first Spanish language performer to solo headline the biggest day in America’s sporting calendar. But the decision to make him the featured artist at this year’s halftime show has not been without controversy - even being one of the reasons President Trump stayed away.
The president told the New York Post last week that the game was ‘too far’ and he had never heard of Bad Bunny. He said: “I’m anti-them. I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in October: “He’s one of the most popular entertainers in the world.
“That’s what we try to achieve. It’s an important element to the entertainment value. It’s carefully thought through. I would say I’m not sure we’ve ever selected an artist where we didn’t have some blowback or criticism.”
If Bad Bunny was not playing the halftime show to millions around the world, he told the media on Thursday that he would simply be ‘watching the Super Bowl at home.’
Topics: Bad Bunny, Super Bowl, NFL, Lady Gaga, Music, Donald Trump
William Morgan