Singer Weeknd wows crowds at Super Bowl, with dancers' faces wrapped in bandages

Gulf Today Report

Some gala spectacles always come out with something, well, unusual or spectacular. In the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony in London, 'James Bond' Daniel Craig escorted Queen Elizabeth from Buckingham Palace before parachuting into the Olympic Stadium alongside her. Of course, the Queen was played by a stuntman in a wig for the second part of her cameo.

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Now, it was the turn of Canadian pop singer The Weeknd. He enthralled the crowds at the Super Bowl on Sunday, amid coronavirus restrictions, with a performance that has earned a lot of praise.

The artist, real name Abel Tesfaye, was the first Canadian to headline solo at the event. He opened his performance on Sunday with the 2016 tune "Starboy". Shortly afterwards, viewers got a glimpse of The Weeknd with a group of dancers whose faces were wrapped in bandages – an aesthetic the artist has explored recently, which he views as a statement on celebrity, according to the Independent.

 The Weeknd performs during the halftime show of the NFL Super Bowl 55 football game. Reuters

The concert culminated when The Weeknd and a large group of bandaged dancers took over the field for a performance of "Blinding Lights" with an accompanying choreography. Viewers showered The Weeknd with praise on social media, deeming his show "brilliant" and "amazing".

The Independent deemed the show "a thoroughly produced, brilliantly escapist 10 minutes" that "helped a deeply divided country – however briefly – dance away the pain of this past year".

Earlier in the evening, country star Eric Church and R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan performed the national anthem, while R&B artist HER was on hand to sing “America the Beautiful”. Their performances were also met with accolades.

Poet Amanda Gorman, who read during Joe Biden's presidential inauguration last month, read a poem during pre-show festivities, paying tribute to a teacher, a nurse, and a Marine Corps veteran during the coronavirus pandemic. Viewers called her performance as "phenomenal", "uplifting", and "inspirational".

In the afternoon, Miley Cyrus performed in front of selected healthcare workers for a special pre-game show. She was joined onstage by Billy Idol and Joan Jett.