Not a luxury version, as previously reported.
Photo: AMA2020 / Getty Images via Getty Images
Update, 15:15: According to a correction of Billboard, the Weeknd’s Super Bowl halftime show will actually be the same length as normal. “As in previous years, it will be about 12-13 minutes long,” according to the magazine. A Pepsi representative also confirmed to Vulture that the show will last the normal duration of 12 to 13 minutes. But the Weeknd can certainly still fit multiple red suits in that time.
Original story: If you somehow did not get enough of the Weeknd’s red suit, his halftime performance in the Super Bowl will change that. According to a Billboard Cover story, the Weeknd’s performance will be twice as long as a typical rest time show, which engages in 24 minutes. This is a mini concert! An entire episode of a comedy series! Longer than the whole Weeknd My Dear Melancholy EP! The move follows after Pepsi, which sponsors the rest-time program, cut down on its ads during the game to make way for a longer performance. It also comes in the middle of a pandemic when you have nothing else you can do, so of course you look at the whole thing. The Weeknd’s performance will take place in person at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, with a 22,000-seat live audience. “We really focused on engaging home fans and making performances a movie experience, and we want to do that with the Super Bowl,” said Abel Tesfaye, or the Weeknd. Billboard. No word yet on which guests could fill the extra time of the program – Ariana? Lana ?? Beyoncé?!? – but the magazine did add that Tesfaye increased the show’s normal production budget by $ 7 million from its own money. I think the red suits do not come cheap.