Katy Perry is used to being the center of attention. When she takes the stage, the night is all about her. But when the Seattle Seahawks tied up the Super Bowl two seconds before halftime, she must have known that would be a hard act to follow.
So what does Perry do?
She rides in on a three-story-tall metal lion. And from the moment she appeared in the center of University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona, she did everything she could to take the country’s mind away from the tight football game: fireworks, LED floors, inflated glowing balls, Lenny Kravitz, Missy Elliott, flying.
Perry opened the 12-minute medley of hits with “Roar,” one of the songs that she said would bring a powerful message to the NFL’s biggest night of the year.
It’s a welcome intention given the NFL’s off-field headlines this season. And Perry made the song count, illustrating her point with a roar and blasts of fire at the end. But once she hopped off her lion, Perry fell into a mid-performance rut that included a rather forgettable “Dark Horse” and an awkward take on “I Kissed a Girl” with Kravitz. His spot was brief, adding some power chords to the track and giving it an arena-rock vibe.
After her first — and impressively fast — wardrobe change, Perry danced with beach-themed props, and the performance had the feeling of a stop on her tour, rather than the biggest televised concert of the year. That is, until Elliott made her “surprise” appearance. Though it had been leaked on Twitter, Elliott likely came as a shock to most watching at home. Though Elliott’s voice could have been hotter in the mix, her presence added a little edge to Perry’s safe approach.
Perry ended her show flying through the stadium on a shooting star as she sang “Firework.” And, yes, she lit up the desert sky with the song’s namesake. Presumably, the athletes were fine playing with the smell of gunpowder fresh in the air.
