Weeknd is going all out for this year’s Super Bowl halftime show.
The 30-year-old singer will put $ 7 million of his own money into this year’s performance, according to Billboard.
This happened after Pepsi, which sponsors the halftime show, announced that it was teaming up with other advertisers to curtail its Super Bowl 2021 commercials. The soft drink company said it would instead focus on its halftime show with the Grammy-winning singer and dance inspirer TikTok, “Blinding Lights”.
Last year’s break program, headlined by Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, drew some 102 million viewers.
But with more fans forced to stay home this year – and probably stuck to their TVs – The Weeknd said he hopes to make his show a “more cinematic experience,” he told Billboard.
He led the show with his own money to “make the halftime show what he imagined,” said his manager, Wassim “Sal” Slaiby, 41.
The singer remained silent about exactly how the money will be spent, or the setlist he hopes to accomplish. However, a teaser of the show features a montage of fans enjoying “Blinding Lights”, including a grocery worker and a pool cleaner dancing to the music as if no one is watching.
Billboard said on Thursday that the show would be twice as long. However, the singer’s representatives told The Post that this was incorrect and that he would perform for the normal duration of about 13 minutes. Billboard issued the following statement: “An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that The Weeknd’s Super Bowl halftime performance would be 24 minutes. As in previous years, it will take about 12-13 minutes. “
The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, has staged an elaborate preparation for his performance at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida, appearing in public with his face increasingly bruised. The schtick brought his latest video for “Save Your Tears”, which featured him with disturbing CGI plastic surgery. Although he later appeared to have his old face back in a Super Bowl trailer, fans began to wonder what new look he could reveal at this year’s show.
The hype surrounding his now longer performance at the break follows a disappointing lack of 2021 Grammy nominations, despite the commercial success of his latest album, “After Hours”, which spawned countless viral dance videos on TikTok with the single “Blinding Lights”.
Typically, the interval show, valued at about $ 13 million, requires months of planning to run. This year’s show comes with the added complication of the coronavirus pandemic, which has reduced the size of the stadium’s audience by about a third.