The final image of R&B superstar The Weeknd’s Pepsi\u00ae Super Bowl Halftime Show performance was a statement on the current state of COVID-19 affairs in the United States.<\/p>\n
Completing his performance with number one hit song \u201cBlinding Lights,\u201d an army of bandaged and bloodied white-masked dancers collapsed on their backs in the center of Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium <\/span><\/span>bathed in an eerie red light. The message was unmistakable, a bleak, direct referencing to the over 450,000+ dead in the United States from the COVID-19 pandemic. [Today, February, 23, of course, the C-19 toll has zoomed to 501,663.] Makes one wonder if America will bingo 1 million by end of the year if not the spring.<\/p>\n For his part, in interviews with outlets such as <\/a>Variety<\/em><\/a>,Weeknd said the bandages and spotted blood surrounding them represented a \u201ccharacter\u201d who was \u201chaving a really bad night.\u201d In the same interview, the singer also said the bandages served as a commentary on plastic surgery in Hollywood. Hmmm?<\/p>\n Were the white KN95 face masks<\/a> paired with the bandaged ensembles purely utilitarian, worn at the request of directors fearing for performers\u2019 safety? In a vacuum, maybe. But paired with what can only be described as a staged mass death at the center of a gathering of 25,000 people during our deadliest year, expecting the audience to read anything other than a COVID reference would be just plan dumb.<\/p>\n Before that final moment, the audience was zoomed through a catalogue of hits from the Canadian singer\u2019s catalogue, along with a cacophonous journey from city-skyline set to all-gold blinged-out fun house, culminating in the dramatic denouement at center field.<\/p>\n The staging, choreography, lights and sound were impressive, albeit paired-down from the usual center-field placed stage surrounded by screaming fans. The audience had a strange and intimate experience within that gold fun house as the Weeknd performed with a \u201cselfie stick,\u201d giving us an almost-too-close glimpse at the performer while spawning thousands of memes online<\/a>.<\/p>\n The irony of a singer known for his songs about sex and drug use performing at a \u201cfamily\u201d event was not lost on this reviewer. Lines such as \u201ccut that ivory into skinny pieces,\u201d from the hit song \u201cStarboy,\u201d may have left little Billy asking mom and pop just what the singer meant by that?<\/p>\n\u00a0 [Click here for more info<\/a>.]<\/strong> [Click here for Superbowl 55 Ticket Prices.]<\/a><\/h3>\n