{"id":200749,"date":"2019-02-04T01:41:05","date_gmt":"2019-02-04T06:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=200749"},"modified":"2019-02-04T01:41:05","modified_gmt":"2019-02-04T06:41:05","slug":"review-thank-u-next-maroon-5s-halftime-show-was-basic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/02\/04\/review-thank-u-next-maroon-5s-halftime-show-was-basic\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Thank U, Next: Maroon 5’s halftime show was basic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Adam Levine and friends kicked off the performance as fireworks burst from a stage designed like the letter \u201cM,\u201d which should have stood for \u201cmagic,\u201d because they needed some. (File Photo<\/a>: @maroon5\/Instagram<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are a number of words you could use to describe Maroon 5’s halftime show performance: Empty. Boring. Basic. Sleepy. Skippable. Unfulfilling. Unnecessary.<\/p>\n

And those who came to help save the day didn’t do their jobs: If you blinked you would have missed that Travis Scott and Big Boi performed. Even the gospel choir singer was a struggle \u2014 clearly they let the wrong one sing lead Sunday.<\/p>\n

Adam Levine and friends kicked off the performance as fireworks burst from a stage designed like the letter \u201cM,\u201d which should have stood for \u201cmagic,\u201d because they needed some.<\/p>\n

It started off on the right note, actually. \u201cHarder to Breathe,\u201d the band’s amazing debut rock song, was rousing as fire blasts shot from the sides of the stage. Levine grabbed his guitar for \u201cThis Love,\u201d while other bandmates also strummed away.<\/p>\n

It was all going well until a joke was uttered: \u201cA true musical genius who needs no introduction.\u201d<\/p>\n

That’s when Scott rocketed to the stage. He tried to rap \u2014 most of it was bleeped out \u2014 in a circle of fire, but his inclusion felt more like an interruption. Scott performed his No. 1 hit, \u201cSickomode,\u201d and Levine awkwardly danced beside him, which looked almost as bad as Katy Perry dancing next to Missy Elliott at Super Bowl 49.<\/p>\n

But there was one Scott highlight: He fell backward into the audience and faded away.<\/p>\n

The rest of the performance went downhill like Scott’s body did. Maroon 5 performed the very terrible hit \u201cGirls Like You,\u201d making the already bad song sound worse by mixing in a gospel choir, led by a singer whose voice would make you walk out of church (sorry, girl).<\/p>\n

Each transition during the halftime show didn’t feel smooth, and Big Boi appearing on top of a car in a thick mink coat added to the bizarreness of the night.<\/p>\n

When he performed \u201cThe Way You Move,\u201d it just made you wonder what Andre 3000 was doing at the moment. Watching? Sleeping? Probably sleeping while watching.<\/p>\n

You probably had similar thoughts when Scott was onstage and Drake’s vocals played at the beginning of \u201cSickomode\u201d \u2014 wishing the show had a real superstar like Drizzy to give an epic performance.<\/p>\n

Those thoughts lingered again when Levine sang \u201cMoves Like Jagger.\u201d WHERE IS MICK JAGGER RIGHT NOW AND CAN HE PERFORM? Any of the Stones would do, actually.<\/p>\n

Who probably should have headlined the halftime show? Gladys Knight.<\/p>\n

She scored a touchdown with her rendition of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d: The legend’s voice shined brightly as she hit all the right notes ahead of the big game between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams.<\/p>\n

R&B sister duo Chloe x Halle were also in top-notch form: They harmonized like a veteran girl group as they sang \u201cAmerica the Beautiful\u201d at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The group, nominated for two Grammys at next week’s show including best new artist, are signed to Beyonce’s Parkwood Entertainment.<\/p>\n

Noise and controversy surrounded this year’s Super Bowl since some have boycotted the NFL over treatment of Colin Kaepernick, the former quarterback who protested racial injustice by kneeling during the national anthem. Some performers declined participation in the Super Bowl as a result.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are a number of words you could use to describe Maroon 5’s halftime show performance: Empty. Boring. Basic. Sleepy. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":200750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-200749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","category-hollywood","mauthors-mesfin-fekadu","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}