MONTHS OF PLANNING FOR 12-MINUTE SUPER BOWL HALF TIME SHOW

 

Many Americans will turn on their televisions or computers Sunday to watch the championship game of professional American football. In 2019, about 200 million people tuned³ in to the yearly⁴ sporting event called the Super Bowl.

Most of these viewers probably are football fans. However, other people watch to see the Super Bowl halftime show. The musical performance takes place during a 12-minute break in play in the middle of the game.

Over the years, the halftime show has presented many kinds of music, from New Orleans jazz, to Latin⁵ and Caribbean sounds, to Motown. From hip¹ hop⁶, to hard rock, to country and pop.

Audiences have enjoyed legendary⁷ singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett. They have heard international superstars – Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones, Madonna and Beyoncé – and boy bands such as NSync and New Kids on the Block. The shows have also included non-musicians like comedy actor George Burns; Cirque de Soleil circus; and even Olympic hockey players.

“You kind of tune² in to the Super Bowl to be surprised,” says Peter O’Reilly, a top events official with the National Football League, or NFL. “…Game day is about moments, creating moments that pull people together and that they talk about forever.”

On February 3, the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs will face each other in Super Bowl 54. The battle will take place in Miami Gardens, Florida.

And when the players head inside for a mid-game rest, entertainment superstars Jennifer Lopez and Shakira will help fill the center with sound, light and movement. Hundreds of people are involved directly and indirectly⁸ with making months of hard work into as perfect a performance as possible.

Super Bowl performers are not paid for their appearance. But, most artists recognize the professional value of commanding the Super Bowl’s massive⁹ audience. For others, playing the halftime show is also a personal goal.

“Ever since I saw Diana Ross fly off into the sky at the halftime show, I dreamed of performing at the Super Bowl,” Lopez said earlier this year. “And now it’s made even more special not only because it’s the NFL’s 100th season, but also because I am performing with a fellow Latina. I can’t wait to show what us girls can do on the world’s biggest stage.”

Mark Quenzel is the NFL’s top vice¹⁰ president of programming and productions. He says choosing performers for the show is difficult. “The Super Bowl draws such a broad audience,” he says, adding, “Who is going to do the show that is the most interesting to 200 million people?”

Finding¹¹ big performers is not the hardest part of putting together the concert. The NFL usually decides on the stars months before the football season begins. For example, league planners have been considering the 2021 Super Bowl for several months already.

The real difficulty is in organizing the show. Planners have to create performances that do not interfere¹² with the play schedule, that avoid damaging the field and that keep the huge audience entertained. At the same time, the needs of the entertainers must be considered.

Quenzel says the planners work a lot with the performers.

“We want them to do a show they are comfortable with. A show the majority of the 200 million people watching will know the songs they are singing,” he said.

“We want them doing what the audiences have never seen before. These performances are driven by the artists. Our job is to pull it all together — in 12 minutes, by the way.”

Words in This Story

audience – n. a group of people who gather together to listen to something (such as a concert) or watch something (such as a movie or play) : the people who attend a performance?

legendary – adj. very famous or well-known?

stage – n. a raised platform in a theater, auditorium¹³, etc., where the performers stand?

entertain – v. to perform for (an audience) : to provide amusement for (someone) by singing, acting¹⁴, etc?

comfortable – adj. feeling at ease¹⁵ and happy: not worried or troubled?

1 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

2 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

3 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 yearly   

adj.每年的，一年一度的；adv.一年一次地

参考例句：

• The flower show is a yearly event in our town.我们镇上的花展一年举行一次。
• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。

5 Latin   

adj.拉丁的，拉丁语的，拉丁人的；n.拉丁语

参考例句：

• She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
• Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。

6 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

7 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

8 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

9 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。

10 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

11 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

12 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

13 auditorium   

n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂

参考例句：

• The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
• The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出，伸入观众席。

14 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

15 ease   

n. 安乐,安逸,悠闲; v. 使...安乐,使...安心,减轻,放松

参考例句：

• His mind was at ease and he felt confident in the future. 他心情舒畅,对前途很有信心。
• You should ease up on the child and stop scolding her. 你应该对那个孩子宽松些,不要再骂她了。