Loading ...

By RILEY RADOBENKO
Columnist

One hundred million people watched the 2018 Super Bowl, but I can guarantee a fair share of them tuned in to see the entertaining commercials, and, more importantly, the half-time show.

In many cases, the half-time show has actually gotten better ratings than the game itself. But to keep those numbers up, the National Football League (NFL) needs to do a better job finding acts to perform.

The half-time show is the ultimate one-off gig, and most musical acts consider it an honour when they get asked to perform.

During Super Bowl 53, Maroon 5 will take the stage because nothing says football like a live rendition of She Will Be Loved. They will be joined by rappers Travis Scott and Big Boi, and you probably don’t know who they are if you’re over the age of 35.

These performers have to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Coldplay. Those are some of the biggest names in music and the production value they brought to the performance was electric.

Some people argue that Maroon 5 isn’t as relevant and recognizable as the act could be – which they aren’t – but in all fairness to the league, they asked Jay-Z, Rhianna, Cardi B and Pink to perform. With the exception of Pink, the rest declined in support of the controversial quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

But there had to be a fallback option better than Maroon 5.

Many people have been pushing for Weird Al Yankovic be the headliner for years. In fact, a petition was started in favor of letting him perform the show. Imagine the production value he would bring.

In 2011, the NFL seemed to shift their focus for the half-time shows from legendary classic rock artists to mega pop stars who bring a high production value. That’s fair. They want the half-time show to have good ratings, and current pop stars would relate better than somebody who hit their peak in the 70s.

With that being said, I thought the recent half-time shows have been hit or miss. I thought Lady Gaga was phenomenal compared to the Black Eyed Peas and Beyonce, who were both terrible. At least when they had classic rock bands, fans knew what they were getting musically as that was the purpose, and you knew they would put on a good show strictly based on stage presence, despite the smaller production value.

Imagine an entire NFL stadium singing along to Piano Man with Billy Joel. How epic would that be?

Bruce Springsteen is the perfect example. In my unbiased – OK, slightly biased – opinion, he’s in the best three half-time shows of all time. The fans knew he would perform his big hits, such as Born to Run and Glory Days, yet he still managed to put on a good show just by jumping on the piano and crotch-sliding into the camera.

I have a gut feeling that Maroon 5 will be stuck in the middle.

It’s tough for me to say how they will be musically because although they have a couple good songs, they haven’t been relevant in a few years compared to select other artists. And because it’s a band of seven, I don’t really see them having a big production. Not an ideal situation.

Based on these things, I really don’t see them putting on a great show, but I could be completely wrong. It could be the best performance in 10 years, and that’s what makes the Super Bowl so exciting. You never know what you will get from the half-time act.

But if the league wants to maintain the high ratings, it’s important to factor in all the things I mentioned and I don’t think Maroon 5 will be able to do that.