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Vapid Super Bowl Performance

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#202
two fingers said:
My daughters like his music.

I watched zero minutes and zero seconds of anything to do with the Superbowl. Mrs. Fingers and I made nachos and watched a few episodes of Cobra Kai Season 3 during the whole.... "thing".

I heard pregame was "a bunch of PC fluff" (whatever that means) having little or nothing to do with football. The game was boring. And several friends said "Some of the commercials I just didn't get." Nobody even mentioned halftime. That tells me all I need to know about how exciting it was.

I too skipped the whole thing for the first time ever. Glad I didn't miss a single thing worth mentioning.
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There doing Nickelodeon Kids segments during the games now, and female refs (***)
 
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#207
Jeff Hughes said:
I think we are becoming fairly immune to spectacles of any kind. Superbowl Halftime shows are just another thing to watch on a big screen while casually multi-screening on our phone or tablets.

I think the halftime show hit its stride in the late 80s and early 90s when seeing a famous artist live on TV was still somewhat of an occasion. Now you can watch numerous live performances on youtube whenever you want.

Given that, I think The Weeknd has songs that will stick around since they aren’t really stuck in any era or moment in culture. I think the problem with the performance is that perhaps it was a little too challenging for the audience from an artistic standpoint.

The Weeknd emerged as a silhouette from a cavern of light with a stage full of programmed robots exalting or promoting him? Hmmm.

Then he moves to the “trapped in the hall of mirrors” section where he runs into the mob of bandaged people. Perhaps a reference to vanity and our desire to see ourselves reflected endlessly? Or is it a reference to the algorithm echo chamber that media and the internet provide creating dupes and reflections of nothing new except ourselves and what we already are?

There was another section that was just him on a stage.

For the finale, he takes the field with his mob of white-bandaged clones, and they alternate between orderly choreography and sudden disorder.

Given recent events in The United States, all of this imagery has a lot of relevance, yet I think the casual viewer probably won’t look into it this deeply. And perhaps I am reading too much into it.

I give the show props for not putting the stage in the middle of the field as is usually the setup. Also, they had a few musicians at one point, but I like how they didn’t make a charade that people were playing instruments except at one point where I saw a few people playing real instruments, I am not counting the pretend violining.

It was still more interesting than the Bruce Springsteen or Red Hot Chili Peppers performances from a few years back.
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100%
 
#210
I've never watched a football game all the way through, either live or tv. Or baseball, basketball, etc. I saw a whole hockey game once at the War Memorial; thought the ice polisher machine was interesting.

Tom
 
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#211
Peteyboy said:
I'm saying this, as a man who daily takes Centrum Silver, from the center of your front lawn:

It smells like Ben Gay inside this grandpa bubble.
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tenor.gif
 
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#212
Not my thing and I'm from his country. I prefer bands where you can actually see the musicians playing their instruments and not a bunch of people dancing, but that's just me and I'm old now. lol

Apparently this guy put seven million of his own money into this. My guess is, he thought it would help him become more popular in the U.S.

The sad thing is, this is what people like in North America these days. Gene Simmons is right, rock is dead, well at least on radio and in the media.

We can only hope that next Weeknd is better.
 
#214
350125g0 said:
The Weeknd has been around and fairly popular for about 10 years now. Obviously his music isn't to your taste, and that's fine. I'm not really a big fan either.

What makes his music/performance feel "vapid" to you, and what about it does not feel "authentic" to you, though? Is it just because it's something you have trouble identifying with or understanding?

Also, has the Superbowl halftime show ever truly been a showcase for the pinnacle of artistic achievement? Why does it need to be anything loftier than people just having a good time?
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You know, they just can't keep wheeling "The aging rocker star that you've heard of" out of the home once a year for the Superb Owl. I will agree that The Weekend's performance was tepid and very one dimensional, and left me with zero desire to go looking for his music. At least he had a live mic during the performance. Watching the violinists fake their parts was painful. The whole show felt lazy, as other than people in red jackets, nothing was actually on the field. And what was with those guys prancing around with jock straps on their faces?!! I guess COVID may have had something to do with it, but it just seemed like past half time show were much more of a spectacle, regardless of what you may have thought of the music.
 
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#216
Gabbs said:
Among the world's best-selling music artists, with over 75 million records sold,[11] The Weeknd has won three Grammy Awards, five American Music Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, nine Juno Awards, and has been nominated for an Academy Award.[12] He holds several chart records, being the first artist to simultaneously hold the top three positions on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart with "Can't Feel My Face", "Earned It", and "The Hills".
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I had no idea who he was. I guess I'm living in my own private Idaho.
 
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#218
trevcda said:
You know, they just can't keep wheeling "The aging rocker star that you've heard of" out of the home once a year for the Superb Owl. I will agree that The Weekend's performance was tepid and very one dimensional, and left me with zero desire to go looking for his music. At least he had a live mic during the performance. Watching the violinists fake their parts was painful. The whole show felt lazy, as other than people in red jackets, nothing was actually on the field. And what was with those guys prancing around with jock straps on their faces?!! I guess COVID may have had something to do with it, but it just seemed like half time show were much more of a spectacle, regardless of what you may have thought of the music.
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SPECTACLE.

THAT is the operative word. The half time show is supposed to be a SPECTACLE. It's an entertainment event, not a recital to prove competent, technical musicianship.

And in that regard, I say "mission accomplished".
 
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