By Claire Latsko | Staff Writer
The 2015 Superbowl has come and gone with a great victory for the Patriots, but it seems that everyone is still talking about this year’s halftime show, which included Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz, Missy Elliot, a ginormous tiger robot, and some adorable sharks.
Over all I would say that Katy Perry sings pretty well live, but the entire time all I could think about was how tight her ponytail was against her head; it looked painful.
She opened the halftime show with her popular hit “Roar” while standing on a moving metal tiger. I was waiting for her to fall off when it lifted its front legs into the air. She was wearing a flame dress; I agree with everyone on Twitter, it looked like Will Ferrell’s costume in Blades of Glory.
The “Dark Horse” number included an electronic moving-chessboard floor that the dancers, dressed like chess pieces, had to stay in sync with. I was pretty impressed with the dancers; none of them seemed to mess up. I know the song is called “Dark Horse” and that there is a knight chess piece, but I didn’t think that was relevant enough to use as the theme of the dance.
Lenny Kravitz joined Katy in “I Kissed A Girl,” and that was it. That. Was. It. One song. I kind of feel bad for Kravitz, he didn’t get that much attention.
The first notes of “Teenage Dream” started and the stage was filled with dancing surfboards, beach balls, palm trees, and two sharks. All of the characters were creepy except the sharks that, in my opinion, were the hit of the entire show. Poor Left Shark forgot his moves at one point, but I thought it added to the fun and lighthearted vibe of the song.
The sharks have gotten much buzz on social media in the past few weeks. I contributed to the shark love as well, tweeting about them and even printing out meme style Valentines with sharks on them for all my friends. The sharks are everywhere!
“California Girls” was everything I expected it to be; fun, colorful, bright, and upbeat. Katy had a dress with beach balls for boobs that even my mom liked, and the back up dancers were all in retro polka dot bikinis. My friend asked me why they all had the same hair and it took her a moment to realize that the girls all had matching wigs on (insert crying and laughing emoji here).
Then Missy Elliot came out of nowhere, and #SuperBowlSunday became #ThrowbackSunday. Missy Elliot and Katy sang Missy’s “Get Ur Freak On” and “Work It.” I did not like Katy’s oversized bedazzled sweatshirt dress, it made me think of a high school freshman wearing her senior boyfriend’s letterman jacket; she was swimming in it.
I thought Missy Elliot did a great job, but the fact that she performed was a very random choice due to the fact that she hasn’t released a full album since 2005. The performance gave Missy a media boost she needed, though, and now she’s gaining popularity once again.
The final number was “Firework.” You always need to finish a show with an inspirational song. Katy made yet another costume change into a dress covered in what looked like, to me, dangerous ninja stars. The floating balls of light made me think of the lantern scene in Tangled. As Katy was pulled into the air on a shooting star platform everyone on social media, including my suitemates and I, made the comment that her microphone looked like a Wii remote attached to her wrist.
Over all I don’t think Katy Perry beat out the sheer perfection of Beyoncé’s 2013 halftime show performance, but I do give Katy props for all of the tech, special effects and visuals that were added to the show. Her performance was very visually appealing, and the flames, fireworks, flying, dancers, and costume changes made for an entertaining halftime show.
A round of applause for all of the special effects people and backstage crew, they really deserved to be acknowledged for their hard work.
So now we all wait for next year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, hoping there will something even funnier to beat out the dancing sharks.
