Some of my favorite highlights from the Super Bowl did not involve football, but the musical performances before it even started. H.E.R. had a beautiful performance of, “America the Beautiful.” She has such a beautiful deep register that gives me chills, not to mention she ended up doing a guitar solo at the climax of the song. Her talent is truly immaculate, and I wish I was as talented as her. She seamlessly hit every note and made it sound haunting and magical, I had so many chills.
The other performance of the night was Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church singing the National Anthem. Eric started off strong with his intro guitar and vocals, but Jazmine honestly outshined him with her powerhouse vocals. Their harmonies, however, worked so much more than I was expecting. With a monumental ending that was concluded with fireworks and the air force zooming across the sky above them, I once again had chills.
Finally, the Halftime show featuring The Weeknd. After a grueling first half (at least in my house), we needed a break and although the performance itself was a little empty feeling, it was still visually pleasing. A lot of his funds I could tell went into the light fixtures and dancers. When he was alone on stage it felt so off, because usually there’s a whole band, and it was just the dancers behind him in a stand-like backdrop. His vocals held up better than I expected, and the beginning and end was better than the middle bits, in my opinion. Overall, under the circumstances, I think he did quite well. Although in our house it was quite a disappointing game, those performances and the classic commercials kept our spirits temporarily afloat.