The Raw Talent in Usher’s Halftime Show
Designing a Super Bowl halftime performance is, in many ways, an exercise in sacrificial concision: Artists must whittle decades of songs into a crowd-friendly, roughly 13-minute reprieve from athletics and multimillion-dollar commercials. It’s no wonder that many sets end up feeling like lackluster interruptions of the main events.
But during tonight’s Super Bowl LVIII halftime show, the veteran R&B singer Usher breathed life into the annual musical, Usher took over Allegiant Stadium with all the panache of both Sin City and his beloved Atlanta. He kicked off the show from a mirrored throne—lest there be any questions about the 45-year-old’s standing in R&B and pop—decked out in a dazzling monochromatic white-and-silver outfit. Yet despite the theatricality, Usher’s performance underscored the value of his raw artistry. It was a rollicking, sequin-studded, sexed-up celebration of a singular showman.
