Super Bowl Halftime 2019: Bittersweet Victory

Typically for those not extremely interested in sports, the halftime show is the highlight of their Super Bowl. No matter the artist or group performing, the show is sure to be an unforgettable sight—an exciting one for music fans everywhere. But, many have come to agree that this’s year’s show turned out to be disappointing with a sub-par performance.

This year’s lineup featured the pop group Maroon 5 and rappers Travis Scott and Big Boy as they set the stage for the annual performance. Since the artists all had very different styles of music and represented varying demographics, they did not mesh together well as a group performance. Maroon 5 played their hits from the early 2010s and were targeted more toward a younger audience. This was nostalgiac since Maroon 5’s prime was earlier this decade. The songs played by Travis Scott and Big Boy were more current and appealed more to teens. Commonly featured on the radio’s pop stations, music that has a trap beat or is in the rap category is well-liked among youth. Although the amount of rap showcased during the halftime show was small, it was presented in a way that was unimpressive and could have been improved upon artists that had more current hits.

For the many, disappointment with the outcome of this performance came from a Spongebob clip that was shown on screen to introduce the next artist performing. To make the transition, a short segment from an episode of Spongebob was shown to play the introduction of a song from the show, Sweet Victory. The song from the particular episode was coincidentally a halftime performance as well; it was a good way to include it for nostalgic and entertainment purposes. Many viewers and fans of the cartoon believed was a tribute to the creator Stephen Hillenburg, who passed away in late 2018. Instead, the clip provided an introduction for Travis Scott to perform his most popular song Sicko Mode which also happened to be the only track he performed for this event. Since Hillenburg has created a long-lived cartoon for all generations to enjoy, it was appropriate to honor him in such a major event like this. most fans of Spongebob were disappointed with this outcome and thought that they were cheated out of something that they were expecting due to social media postings. Sophomore Ariel Rose believes, “it was extremely disgraceful to Stephen Hillenburg because he gave his entire life to create a childhood for us and it [the halftime show] dedicated three seconds to it.” Although Hillenburg got the recognition he deserved, it was executed in a way that upset fans.

All in all, this was a bittersweet victory.