# Super Bowl Halftime Show
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 8, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506 "2016-02-08T01:32:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/21 "2016-02-08T02:40:45Z")
> [@chicagowhitesox1173](#):
>
> Lady GaGa had em all beat.
To be clear: She was fucking amazing. I am not a fanboy, but damn that vocal was well done.
---
### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/22 "2016-02-08T02:53:54Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#):
>
> My reaction as well - I couldn’t figure out why, but I think you’re right about the lighting. I kept thinking that it seemed like people were edited into the shot.
Yeah, it happens to me as a still photographer. Sometimes it looks fine and dramatic; other times it looks like the foreground was cut into the background. You can see a similar effect [in the video here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwoghxwETng) in the first 20 seconds or so (although this is an example with flatter lighting in the foreground, but you have a softer light source for the foreground, and a harsh direct light source for the background.). There’s just a slight visual disconnect between the natural light and the foreground light. You don’t have to know anything about lighting to notice it; it just feels “off” and a bit artificial. That type of effect is what I was seeing in the halftime show.
---
### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/23 "2016-02-08T03:31:14Z")
> [@Frank](#):
>
> Do the people around the stage get paid to jump up and down and clap? Or are they all related to the band?
That was the first thing the Ukulele Lady said. “Are these kids…paid?..Did they at least fly them in?..Or did they drive a dozen empty buses into the Mission and offer any under-25s all the free beer they could drink?”
A few minutes later she announced that Beyoncé has “fat legs.” I said “No, her legs are _goddamned perfect_.”
Is it okay if I sleep on your sofa tonight?
---
### Author:  [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/24 "2016-02-08T03:42:33Z")
So did anyone else have audio problems? The halftime show was so muted, I had a hard time hearing anything, even though the rest of the game was fine. The pregame stuff had the same problem, except I would get occasional “pops” of louder audio then–I never did during halftime.
---
### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/25 "2016-02-08T03:45:18Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#):
>
> A few minutes later she announced that Beyoncé has “fat legs.” I said “No, her legs are _goddamned perfect_.”
>
> Is it okay if I sleep on your sofa tonight?
Tell your wife the resident leg expert here says her legs are not fat. While she has no definition, that’s obviously serious muscle in there.
---
### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/26 "2016-02-08T03:45:18Z")
> [@Frank](#):
>
> OK, I’ll start it.
>
> What is it that is making this look taped to me? I mean, I believe that it’s live, but something about the video is making it look like a taped show.
>
> Do the people around the stage get paid to jump up and down and clap? Or are they all related to the band?
It was still light out. They didn’t have 10,000 pyrotechnic devices or lasers going off in the dark.
As for the people around the stage it’s no different than the other superbowl events except, again, it’s daylight and you can see them.
Personally, I thought the previous shows were getting a bit much. This one was dialed back a bit visually.
---
### Author:  [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/27 "2016-02-08T03:53:03Z")
I felt like the real show didn’t start until Bruno and Beyonce got out there. Coldplay just seemed like an easy listening show that would’ve been good to take a leak during. Way too mellow, and not broad enough appeal. Probably most people knew Viva La Vida, and were bored and glazing over for the rest. Beyonce and Bruno could’ve sung the Omaha phone book and it would’ve been entertaining.
---
### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/28 "2016-02-08T03:56:00Z")
Fun stuff from the [Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2016/02/07/best-of-super-bowl-50-panthers-broncos-analysis-coldplay-halftime-show-commercials/).
_Headline:_ Best of Super Bowl 50: Panthers struggling with turnovers; Coldplay does halftime right
\*Body of article: \*Beyoncé and Bruno Mars completely overshadowed Coldplay at its own halftime show
---
### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/29 "2016-02-08T04:11:47Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> \*Body of article: \*Beyoncé and Bruno Mars completely overshadowed Coldplay at its own halftime show
Yeah, I mean, holy crap, I was embarrassed for Coldplay there. That dude jumped up and down a lot and sang a U2 knockoff song; the best part about his number was the pretty twirling umbrellas that people who weren’t him twirled.
Then Beyonce and Bruno Mars had a goddamned dance battle, and it was AWESOME. and at the very end, Coldplay dude popped his head in between them with a goofy grin, like “Hey guys! Whatcha doin? Can I hang out with you?”
His part would’ve been a lot better if Mr. Bean had played it.
---
### Author:  [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/30 "2016-02-08T04:44:18Z")
Ah, I actually thought Coldplay did good. And of course, Bruno. Beyoncé, in my humble opinion (and everyone else in my viewing party), looked played. She can dance like a demon, but no one particularly wanted her there.
---
### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/31 "2016-02-08T04:50:18Z")
Probably because Cold Play doesn’t do big production stage shows like Beyonce and Bruno. they were the pyrotechnics.
---
### Author:  [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/32 "2016-02-08T05:50:01Z")
I would have liked about 100% more Bruno Mars, and 75% less of everyone else. During the Bruno/Bey dance battle, I observed that he was obviously the better dancer, but she’d take him down in a bar fight. Otherwise, it was pretty anticlimactic, in my opinion.
And Lady Gaga killed the anthem. Perfect.
---
### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/33 "2016-02-08T14:11:14Z")
Usually for the super bowl ‘audience members’ for the halftime act , they recruit local volunteers who come in only for the halftime show. They do not get to see any of the game.
---
### Author:  [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/34 "2016-02-08T14:36:48Z")
> [@running\_coach](#):
>
> Tell your wife the resident leg expert here says her legs are not fat. While she has no definition, that’s obviously serious muscle in there.
Yeah, it sounds like somebody’s jealous 🙂 (no offense to your wife; I’m jealous of Beyonce too).
I thought the show was well done but kind of meh. I like all three of the artists well enough but it felt like I had seen it before. I mean like \*oddly \*so, as if I’d \*literally \*seen it before. Obviously they’re going to sing their hits and we’ve all seen them perform them before but it wasn’t just that. I don’t know, I just had a weirdly strong sense of deja vu throughout the whole thing. And Ms. Gaga was astoundingly good. I was already a fan but holy cow, for anyone who thought she’s all style and no substance, that performance should have dispelled that notion.
---
### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/35 "2016-02-08T14:47:24Z")
Was Lady Gaga off key in the early portion of the song? I enjoyed the ending of her performance, but was I the only one that cringed a bit at the beginning?
I may just need to re-listen to it.
---
### Author:  [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/36 "2016-02-08T14:58:32Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> Was Lady Gaga off key in the early portion of the song? I enjoyed the ending of her performance, but was I the only one that cringed a bit at the beginning?
>
> I may just need to re-listen to it.
It didn’t seem that way to me but I was in a crowded bar so I may not have been able to hear it.
---
### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/37 "2016-02-08T16:36:41Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#):
>
> It didn’t seem that way to me but I was in a crowded bar so I may not have been able to hear it.
It might be me since I have heard universal praise for her performance. At least she did not lip-sync it. It was a very good performance even if she faltered a bit.
---
### Author:  [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/38 "2016-02-08T16:57:05Z")
I wonder if the “green-screen” look was because of telephoto camera lenses? A telephoto lens will flatten the image so that the distance behind the subject looks much closer. This might make lighting differences between the foreground (lit by spotlights) and the background (lit by natural light) look more artificial. So rather than the background seeming farther away, it seems like it’s on a screen right behind the performers. In a night show this wouldn’t be an issue since the background would be dark.
---
### Author:  [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/39 "2016-02-08T16:58:11Z")
I was like - Wait, wasn’t Bruno Mars on the stage at last year’s Super Bowl? I remember him being very good last time (and this time), but they could not come-up with anyone else? Yeah, Coldplay seemed like the opening act for the other two.
Also, I wonder how much is pre-recorded. Probably all the instruments, but I suppose the vocals are real so they can improvise a little.
---
### Author:  [@beyqueenz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beyqueenz)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506/40 "2016-02-08T16:58:44Z")
Did anyone else hear about this 50 mil $$ mansion in los altos hills shes staying in?? we live there and saw the motorcade go by… must be a big deal.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506.md?page=1)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-halftime-show/745506.md?page=3)