In a spectacle that began in the stands and then entered the stadium before taking over the entire field, The Weeknd won a high-octane medley of his hits during the Super Bowl LV rest time program. While things seemed to go smoothly, the Grammy-winning artist still attracted a lot of social media attention.
He was the only artist.
Twitter users immediately set to work creating memes and comparing different aspects of the set – from the backup dancers who looked like robots in the stands to the golden room in which The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye is, sang his hit. song “Can’t Feel My Face”, to the connected dancers who took over the entire field for the finale.
The R&B singer’s set continued his “After Hours” character’s storyline. It started with Tesfaye in a sparkling red jacket – the image continued to be inspired by his “After Hours” character and previous awards – with a large choir with glowing eyes. While many consider it whimsical, the series also resulted in memes from Star Wars’ Jawas and C-3PO:
At one point, it looked like Tesfaye had entered the stadium, braided through a golden maze of mirrors and executed a dizzying series. More memes and comparisons submitted:
By the end of ‘Can’t Feel My Face’, The Weeknd had dancers dressed the same, except for the bandages on their heads. He made his way to the field and turned what would have been a space full of fans into one big dance party. When his hit song “Blinded by the Lights” started playing, the backup dancers created even more feed for social media, with many tweeters asking them if the artist wanted to make a statement, including former surgeon general Jerome Adams:
Others provided more pop-cultural references:
Mummies were called:
And other characters:
The Weeknd spent $ 7 million of its own money – on top of what the NFL came up with – to deliver the halftime show. The league also released a live visual album featuring the entire set, along with pre-game performances of “America The Beautiful” by HER and “Star Spangled Banner” by Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church.
