Rihanna staged her comeback performance after a several year hiatus from the music industry on Feb. 12, with her announcing her participation in the Super Bowl halftime show on Sep. 25, 2022. Her return to the stage was highly anticipated by many around the world and was likely a main factor in this year’s Super Bowl recording the largest viewership in six years.
Reviews of the halftime show were mixed on social media, with some praising Rihanna’s performance while others criticized it as underwhelming in comparison to previous artists’.
Raushan Oshan is a senior who watched the Super Bowl and halftime show with his family and thought highly of the performance.
“Rihanna’s show was captivating and entertaining,” Oshan said. “The music was high-quality, the lighting and pyrotechnics helped create a great experience and the choreography was creative and engaging.”
Rihanna being one of the preeminent performers of the century with a long list of well-known songs no doubt aided massively in peoples’ ratings of her performance. However, for some, this wasn’t enough and they didn’t think much of the overall show. Rehan Rao is a freshman and is part of the camp that thought the performance was underwhelming.
“I’d give it a 7/10, because while it was good, there were elements of it that were unsatisfactory. The choreography was bad and the performance was overhyped beforehand since she was making her return after a long hiatus,” Rao said.
Junior Ahmed Guggsa was excited when he heard Rihanna would be performing at the Super Bowl.
“I thought all the songs chosen were very good and that the production was fine. I didn’t really like the dancing though,” Ahmed said. “‘We Found Love’ was my favorite song played.”
Some claim Rihanna’s act was not as enjoyable as previous shows, such as those of Prince, Michael Jackson or even the collaboration between Coldplay, Beyonce and Bruno Mars in 2016. Despite this, it will be remembered pretty fondly by most music lovers due to the reemergence of one of the world’s biggest stars.
The selection of who will perform at the Super Bowl halftime show is a decision that holds much weight. The show is judged by millions around the world and can make or break careers and solidify or tarnish legacies. The aim is to provide something unique to that of all previous shows and pull out all the stops to electrify the country. There is no doubt future halftime show performers will look at all previous performances, including Rihanna’s, in preparation for the biggest moment of their careers.
