Lady Gaga’s halftime show for Super Bowl 51 was a tour de force from the opener, to the very last mic drop. She was dressed in a silver jumpsuit with oversized shoulders and multi-colored sequins with matching boots. Butterfly wing-inspired makeup framed her eyes with sequins and jewels to complete her look.
The Mother Monster started her performance up on the roof of NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, against a pitch black night time sky. She began with a medley of “God Bless America,” and “This Land Is Your Land,” as the sky lit up with glowing red and blue dots. This was an obvious color choice for the sponsor, PepsiCo., and it was also a not-so-subtle allusion to the division in the United States caused by the most recent presidential election. As she sang, the dots swirled and combined, blending together in cohesion.
She then spoke the closing words of the Pledge of Allegiance, “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” as the swirling dots behind her formed a red, white, and blue American Flag.
Gaga then took a breathtaking leap from the open roof to the stage set up down below and launched into “Pokerface.” After launching herself down to a rectangular-lit stage, the star burst into “Born This Way,” her personal anthem about LGBTQ rights. The song resonated with many viewers, many tweeting their immediate support of the choice of song.
That song has always been about acceptance so I’m here for it. ??
— Meg Thee Scallion ? (@onedankmom) February 6, 2017
Lady Gaga then switched up to “Telephone,” using a piece of stage as a prop as she ran through the fans, much to their delight. After a quick costume change into a gold spiked jacket, she then transitioned into “Just Dance” while playing her keyboard.
Gaga then made her way over to a piano and launched into her latest single, “Million Reasons,” from her new album Joanne . At some point during the transition, she also removed the sequin mask. In a touching aside, the singer took a moment during the first bridge to say hello to her dad and mom. The crowd on the field held up amber lights during the performance.
After the song ended, Gaga transitioned into the fan favorite “Bad Romance” with a full field of backup dancers all clad in white glittery football-inspired outfits. The choreography was on point, with the influence from Richy Jackson evident as the performer danced and spun to her hit.
After the song ended, Lady Gaga made her way to the ramp, and shouted, “Super Bowl 51!,” dropped her spangled microphone, caught a bedazzled white football, and jumped out of sight, ending her performance.
Social media lit up during her 13 minute performance, with the majority of fans applauding her show.
EPIC! LADY GAGA KILLED! AMAZING! THE BEST! SHE DESERVES THE APPLAUSE! SHE IS THE QUEEN!
Performance mais que aclamada na mídia! pic.twitter.com/oFMehSBpwd
— RDT Lady Gaga | Fan page (@RDTLadyGaga) February 6, 2017
There were those who weren’t so enamored of course, and they let their confusion and displeasure be known.
Weird Al Yankovic went the humor route, tweeting and wondering why Lady Gaga went with the unfunny version of his song.
Wonder why @ladygaga decided to do an unfunny version of my song?
— Al Yankovic (@alyankovic) February 6, 2017
Other famous stars got in on the congratulations. Chris Pratt, star of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 , tweeted his congratulations.
Dancing hard. Singing live. Ends it catching a football! I always liked #Gaga . Now I love her. Sorry not sorry. That was freakin’ awesome.
— Chris Pratt (@prattprattpratt) February 6, 2017
Tony Bennet gave his congratulations, calling her performance amazing.
. @ladygaga Lady…the most super thing about the Super Bowl was you….just amazing!
— Tony Bennett (@itstonybennett) February 6, 2017
In a Super Bowl party that most of us wish we could have been a part of, Ellen DeGeneres tweeted a photo of her, Ryan Seacrest, and Portia all hanging out, telling Gaga that they all loved it.
We loved it, @LadyGaga ! @RyanSeacrest @PortiadeRossi pic.twitter.com/fqbkgwbwqt
— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) February 6, 2017
Katy Perry requested jumping gifs while telling the star, “Bravo.”
I want jumping gifs stat! Bravo @ladygaga ??
— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) February 6, 2017
In the closing moments of the show, the secret behind the glowing lights in the sky was revealed to be hundreds of drones, powered by Intel, a moment that wasn’t lost on some fans and even one of the players.
Those drones were unreal. Alright let’s get back to business! pic.twitter.com/7SvlkfFPEM
— Chris Gronkowski (@Chrisgronkowski) February 6, 2017
You can watch the entire performance below if you missed any of it
WOW. Amazing. @ladygaga ‘s #PepsiHalftime Show! ? #SB51 https://t.co/z9vCKRBKkC
— NFL (@NFL) February 6, 2017
What did you think of her performance? Did you like it? Or would you have preferred someone else? Let us know in the comments below.
[Featured Image by Charlie Riedel/AP Images]
