The Super Bowl LIV halftime show, officially known as the Pepsi Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show, took place on February 2, 2020, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, as part of Super Bowl LIV. It was televised in the U.S. by Fox. It was co-headlined by Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, and included guest appearances by Bad Bunny, J Balvin, and Lopez's daughter Emme Muñiz.
The halftime show received critical acclaim including four Primetime Emmy nominations, winning one. It was also received many other awards, winning "Best Live Performance" at the 2021 Premios Nuestra Tierra credited to Shakira.
Background
In August 2019, it was announced Jay-Z's company Roc Nation had entered a deal with the NFL for him and his company to produce the halftime show in the wake of his and others' backlash against the previous year's musical acts Maroon 5 and Travis Scott seen as strikebreakers to the politics around Colin Kaepernick.
On September 26, 2019, the selection of Shakira and Jennifer Lopez to headline the show was announced; according to reports, the selection was intended to reflect the Latin culture of the host city Miami. This was the third time Latin music artists headlined the Super Bowl halftime show; Gloria Estefan headlined both the Super Bowl XXVI halftime show in 1992 and the Super Bowl XXXIII halftime show in 1999. For months, rumors Lopez might be chosen as a halftime show act had circulated; she had expressed her interest in doing so in July 2019. Jon Pareles of the New York Times also wrote in his review of the show that booking the two "steered the halftime show away from black-and-white racial tensions and toward the joys of motion and seduction." Multiple big acts have paired before: Aerosmith and NSYNC in 2001 and Coldplay, Beyoncé, and Bruno Mars in 2016.
Development
Roc Nation served as producers and creative directors of the show; their producers included Dan Parise. Ricky Kirshner served as the show's executive producer and Hamish Hamilton served as director.
Adam Blackstone, the musical director of the show noted that the show intends to cement what both women represent. Calling Shakira a "global phenomenon" he says he had to think about the singer's global fan base. For Jennifer, he says the intentions were to represent her as an icon in acting, music, and dance. His vision and mission were to make the two acts feel cohesive and a part of the same show.
Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo served as the creative directors and choreographers for Lopez's half of the show, which included approximately 130 dancers. which was choreographed by Tabitha D'umo and Parris Goebel. Jaquel Knight, Nadine Eliya, and Maite Marcos were the creative directors and choreographers of Shakira's half. In mid-January, the producers announced they would recruit approximately 600 field team members to assist with the performance. Ultimately, 670 team field members were enlisted.
Among the equipment used for the show were 565 ROE CB5 tiles, 8 Brompton SX40 4K LED processors, 22 Brompton Tessera XD data distribution boxes using 8x optical fiber runs, 4 4K video feeds—two main and two for backup—and 8 LED techs. The pyrotechnics for the show used 5,350 pieces of product, which were launched from 32 roof locations and 16 special locations, using 80 firing modules. A FireOne control system was used. Twenty-four 30W Arctos Systems lasers were used in the show.
Fashion
Reviewer Chris Willman of Variety wrote "Costumers deserve almost as much credit as the choreographers here." Shakira's set had three costume changes; each piece was custom-made by Norwegian designer Peter Dundas. Her first was a red, cropped bustier with a cross-straps top that was paired with a removable corset and fringed skirt, each of which were covered with 123,000 Swarovski crystals in three shades of red. This was paired with crystal-accented leather cuffs and knee-high boots that were made by the designer Daniel Jacob. The boots were covered with 30,000 Swarovski crystals and took ten days to create. Shakira then made a mid-performance costume change to reveal a fringed, feathered skirt that was previously hidden under a sarong. Her final costume was an entirely new ensemble consisting of a bomber jacket covered in gold sequin embroidery and gold-and-white Swarovski crystals on a matching gold sequin crop top, which she wore with matching high-waisted hot pants and Dundas-customized Adidas Superstar sneakers.
Lopez's stylists were Rob Zangardi and Mariel Haenn, her makeup artist was Scott Barnes, and her hairstylist was Chris Appleton. Her set involved five costume changes; all of her looks and those of her dancers were custom-designed by Versace and approved by Donatella Versace: Lopez was the face of Versace's Spring 2020 campaign. Haenn noted; "Every look has to be layered one on top of the other because she never really leaves the stage". Lopez's first outfit was a Swarovski crystal-and-gold-studded, biker-inspired black leather Medusa bodysuit paired with a pink satin ball gown skirt. Her backup dancers also wore black leather biker jackets paired with pleated miniskirts trimmed with black lace. During the set she tore off her skirt to reveal black leather chaps. Lopez later took off this outfit to reveal a custom-made body-hugging silver catsuit coated in crystals and tiny mirrored panels. She next changed into a metal-mesh-and-crystal-fringed bustier with bondage-harness details, topped by a feather cape around her shoulders that depicted the U.S. flag on the outside and the Puerto Rican flag on the inside. Lopez later revealed that the Puerto Rican flag's inclusion in the show was a secret, "The flag — I didn't even show it to anybody until the last minute because I didn't want anybody telling me I couldn't do it", adding: "I just had the American flag on the outside and during rehearsals".
Synopsis
Shakira, standing on a platform on the stage and wearing a "tiny red sequin dress", opened the show dancing "Dare (La La La)". She started her set with a performance of "She Wolf", surrounded by a group of dancers, the segued into a performance of "Empire", during which she played an electric guitar and included elements of "Inevitable" and Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir". She then wrapped a rope around her wrists, sang part of the first verse of "Ojos Así", and then belly danced to part of "Move" by Said Mrad with added strings. This was followed by a performance of "Whenever, Wherever", after which guest artist Bad Bunny joined her on stage. Shakira and Bad Bunny performed a cover of his song "I Like It" then they sang a mash up of Shakira's "Chantaje" and Bunny's "Callaíta" together. In the final section of Shakira's set, she performed "Hips Don't Lie", during which she crowd surfed, danced mapalé, and wagged her tongue in an Arabic tradition known as zaghrouta.
Jennifer Lopez then appeared for the beginning of her set wearing a black leather bodysuit. After rising from a "skyscraper-turned-stripper pole", she opened up her performance with a one second sample of Frankie Cutlass' classic Hip Hop song "Puerto Rico" then "Jenny from the Block" then "Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix)", while backed by dancers. Following a performance of "Get Right", Lopez changed her costume for a "sparkling" catsuit and sang "Waiting for Tonight" while pole dancing; her pole-dance routine included a "tabletop move with the dancers writhing underneath". She was then joined on stage by J Balvin, who performed "Que Calor" and "Mi Gente", which were mashed up with Lopez's songs "Booty", "El Anillo" and "Love Don't Cost a Thing" as she danced above. Lopez then performed "On the Floor".
Shakira returned to play drums while Lopez's daughter Emme Muñiz appeared on stage to sing "Let's Get Loud" with an excerpt from Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." as Lopez was in front of an all-female choir. During this section of Lopez's set, she wore a feather cape depicting both the Puerto Rican and American flags while children on the field appeared in "cage like structures", which was interpreted as a statement on the U.S.-Mexico border crisis.
Shakira, who was now clothed in a "short golden outfit", subsequently performed "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" during a dance routine of champeta. Lopez then returned to the stage to perform "Aguanile" by Héctor Lavoe as a "Vegas-style salsa number" and was joined by Colombian salsa dance group Swing Latino. Both of the headlining acts ended their performance with "synchronized shimmies".
Critical response
Reviews
The halftime show was critically acclaimed. Jon Pareles of The New York Times lauded the performance, calling it an improvement over the previous year's halftime. He called the show "a no-nonsense affirmation of Latin pride and cultural diversity in a political climate where immigrants and American Latinos have been widely demonized", called Shakira and Lopez "Latina superwomen, smiling pop conquistadoras backed by phalanxes of dancers", and calling the show "euphoria with a purpose". David Bauder of the Associated Press wrote Lopez and Shakira "infused the Super Bowl halftime show with an exuberance and joy that celebrated their Latina heritage". He also wrote, "Their breathless athleticism matched that of the football players waiting in the locker room" but called J Balvin's and Bad Bunny's guest appearances "superfluous". Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "Prince's 2007 Super Bowl performance is still king of halftime, but Shakira and J Lo were certainly the most undeniable performance since then". Bobby Olivier of NJ.com described the halftime show as "high-octane, relentless Latin pop fun", adding it was "a blazing performance that should challenge Lady Gaga and Beyoncé as some of the best halftime sets of the past decade or so".
Chuck Arnold of the New York Post described the performance as "electric". Greg Evans of Deadline Hollywood wrote, "In a high-energy mix of music, dance and sequins, Lopez and Shakira (and several teams worth of back-up dancers) delivered a spectacle-style show [that is] not without its statements". Alex Suskind of Entertainment Weekly said the performance was "a punchy, political, and flat-out electric 14-minute performance that doubled as a salute to Latin culture and celebration of both stars' careers". Patrick Ryan of USA Today hailed the performance as "one of the best Super Bowl halftime shows in memory." The Hollywood Reporter called the show the most "lively, and smile inducing" halftime show, while Rosemary Akpan, writing for The Grammys, called it "a celebration of Latin culture".
There were also criticisms. John J. Moser of The Morning Call called it the "sexiest halftime show in memory", but also said it was not the "edgiest or most contemporary" halftime show in recent years. Jeff Miers of The Buffalo News wrote, "the Super Bowl halftime show has not really been about music, per se, in a long while. The J-Lo/Shakira throwdown carried that tradition forward, emphasizing spectacle, bombast and flash over music—in this case, an only mildly Latin-flavored pop-dance hybrid". On Shakira's role in the show, Naomi Fry of The New Yorker wrote, "she looked and sounded great, moving fleetly between monster bangers". She also wrote, "Lopez's voice isn't her strongest asset, and she spent minutes at a time dancing rather than singing, but her showmanship was unparalleled", calling the pace of her performance "furious." In Vibe, Desire Thompson praised Shakira's "cultural homages" which were "the most prominent" during the show, referring to her inclusion of mapalé, champeta and zaghrouta.