Over 100 million Americans watched the Super Bowl this past Sunday, including the half-time show. Though I’m not sure she needed to grab our attention, Katy Perry started out her performance on a massive metallic tiger. She carried the reigns while wearing a dress that appeared to be flaming and singing, appropriately enough, “Roar.”
After dismounting, Katy stepped onto a chess set that seemed like something out of the first Harry Potter movie. Only Katy’s chess pieces could dance. Though short, their hip-hop routine was hot, with a lot of quick body isolations and visually appealing metallic costumes.
Next, we met our first surprise performer: Lenny Kravitz. But, he didn’t sing his own hits “Are You Gonna Go My Way” or “Fly Away.” He covered Katy’s first hit “I Kissed a Girl” giving it a harder edge than the song usually has. While I didn’t neeeeed Katy to grind against Kravitz, it didn’t turn into a full-on Miley-esque twerking show, so really it’s alright. Maybe just one too many ponytail flips for the one-minute clip of the song.
Afterwards, the dramatic resetting…onto a beach straight out of a children’s TV show. You’d think I’m kidding, but I’m sure you have seen the smiling sharks and beach balls on YouTube if you didn’t watch it live. Katy made a quick costume change into a lighter dress, and launched into “Teenage Dream” where instead of a boy, she contented herself with her costumed sharks and beach balls, all of which had oddly nervous faces. Oh, well. It was still fun.
Staying on the beach, she launched into “California Gurls,” but not before ten or so girls came running out in bikinis to play Katy’s “gurls.” To be fair though, I have no complaints with the dancers. The bathing suits were high-waisted and with relatively long tops so you can’t say the ladies were scantily clad. And, the Super Bowl has seen much more skin. The Red Hot Chili Peppers coming out shirtless last year? Scandalous.
Then we reached the awkward part. I’m sorry if you’re a Missy Elliot fan. I am not saying that I’m not. But I don’t think it’s hard to agree that Katy and Missy don’t exactly align style-wise. Not only was the transition awkward – dancing beach balls to hip-hop dancers dressed in black – but Katy Perry attempting to dance along to a Missy Elliot song made me a little uncomfortable for her. I don’t think they were a match made in Super Bowl Heaven. Sorry.
But Katy redeemed herself with fireworks (what else!). Though cliché, the fireworks display was big and beautiful, and I’m sure exciting for all of the fans in the stadium. Who could blame Katy for wanting to go out with a bang? She was quite excited for the performance, she even got the number of the Super Bowl (XLIX) tattooed onto her arm.
Overall, I thought Katy maintained laudable vocal strength. (I don’t think of her as the best live artist, so I was really impressed by her vocals throughout.) I enjoyed her song selection and the fact that she didn’t make any of the songs drag on too long, and I appreciated her energy – not that it’s hard to find energy amidst a Super Bowl crowd.
If you haven’t seen her performance, I’d check it out. You can find it here!