By Ashlene Lebrón
Watching Lady Gaga’s performance at this year’s super bowl was a rollercoaster of emotions. I promised myself, while watching the show, that I was going to be 100% truthful with my opinions. So here it goes:
I’ve been a Gaga fan since 2008. I’ve always loved what she stood for and the genuine love she has for her fan base. I was always the nerd, rocker and weirdly strange girl growing up, thus I felt judged or looked upon because of my eccentricness. When she blasted into the music scene, we were shocked by the girl, who wasn’t afraid of being different and expressing herself creatively. Gaga embraced her quirkiness and used it to her advantage. So, when the news broke out of her halftime performance, I was thrilled. I couldn’t wait to see what she would do creatively. I mean, as she does have a reputation of putting together memorable performances.
Leading up to the Super Bowl, she released teasers revealing she will be singing her greatest hits from previous eras (“The Fame”, “The Fame Monster” and “Born This Way”). This, of course, had me ecstatic to listen to the songs, the ones which made her an icon.
The performance started with her on the roof, giving a great message on how we are all a part of America, a place of liberty and justice. Then, slowly descending towards the stage, she sung “Poker Face,” one of her most popular songs to date. Once on stage, she slowly transitioned to singing “Born This Way,” where she highlighted the diversity in the world and took the mic to the audience to sing the iconic line “cuz baby you were born this way.”
However, thinking that everything was going to be high energy and dance numbers, with hits like “Just Dance,” she moved to her piano and sung “A Million Reasons.” The whole stage was flooded by fans holding lights, moving to the beat of the song. When the cameras zoomed out, you could see a beautiful sun filled by fans and Gaga in the middle, pouring her heart out. At one point she looked at the camera and said “Hi mom, hi dad.” I instantly died, it felt like she was saying, “Look mom and dad, I made it.”
Then, she went to her fans. She sung to them, held their hands and even hugged a fan. In that moment, anyone could see the genuine love she has for her little monsters, the ones who love her for providing a voice and campaign for those who are different and unique.
However, I started panicking when finishing “A Million Reasons,” she played a song from her last album, I thought the end was here. Yet, it was far from over. The camera zoomed to the stage and Gaga came out wearing a costume, reminiscent to her music video “Bad Romance.” I think it was my favorite number out of all. I felt like it was 2009, me watching the last minute of her music video, watching the exact same choreography. It was everything!
At the end of her performance, she and her dancers went up a set of flowing stairs, Gaga looked at the camera, rejoiced the event that is the Super Bowl, dropped the mic (which was EPIC), caught a football and threw herself off the stairs. It was an amazing finale, she truly had fun and gave her fans a performance of a lifetime.
However, I only have three complaints about her halftime, which are following: I wish she would have included ArtPop. Even though it wasn’t as successful as her previous albums, it was still part of her career, creativity and era. Secondly, I wish she would have included one more song from her album, Joanne. I thought, it was the perfect time to introduce a new single. Then lastly, with all the situations happening currently in the US, and being the activist that she is, she could have used this televised event, to highlight, bring awareness and stand up to Trump’s malevolence. There were undertones in her production, but not enough. She played it safe, compared to how she was on Election Day. Maybe she just wanted to “Love Trumps Hate” and not add fuel to the fire. Regardless, I wish she would have done something more intricate, than the sly/metaphorical political undertones. Nonetheless, she spoke about it, which is all that matters.
Overall, it was an epic performance and if you don’t believe me, the 41,000 tweets per minute throughout her performance will change your mind. Thus, I leave you with a link to watch….Lady Gaga’s Halftime Show. I hope y’all enjoyed it. Until the next Super Bowl!