Last year the Super Bowl's halftime show brought a record number of viewers, with some 115.3 million tuning in to watch Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in New Jersey. So expectations were high for this year's event, which saw Katy Perry perform alongside Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott before the New England Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Event producers from around the country told BizBash what they liked and didn't like about the show, including the 3-D projections, Kravitz's brief appearance, and Perry's flying finale. Here's what they had to say.
Felix Pike
"It's hard to be critical of the Super Bowl halftime show, ever. The scramble to throw together such an over-the-top technological and theatrical spectacle in under 15 minutes means almost unfathomable preproduction, engineering, and logistics efforts to say the least.
Having said that the video mapping onstage we saw on all the wide shots were very, very effective. It had my attention throughout the show. When Ms. Perry did a lean into stage left and the mapping team ‘tipped’ the whole stage’s visual plane with her and her dance troupe to the left, it resulted in a very impressive visual ‘gag’ where theater and technology were truly harmonious.
Not being one who cleans my apartment to Katy Perry, [I still thought] her performance was certainly demanding. The aerial flyover in what seemed like a couple seat belts … while she seemed to not miss a note at more than 100 feet off the ground during the show’s pyrotechnic finale was also breathtaking.
Of special mention should be Missy Elliott’s cameo. It was a really nice touch. Social media lit up when she showed up—and threw down. My wife and I were off the couch having an early millennium flashback—and smilin’ for while thereafter."
Letter Grade: A-
Pike is production manager at Sunrise, Florida-based Media Stage, which marks 25 years of turnkey production, scenic, staging, and state-of-the-art audiovisuals worldwide in 2015. The company has successfully staged Fortune 500 company meetings and provided 3-D projection mapping and holographic staging for events and other gatherings.
Jeremy Driesen
"With all the speculation about drone attacks at the Super Bowl, it was striking to note that the only drone we saw had Katy Perry suspended from it. It was a great ending to ‘Firework.’
I have mixed feelings when I watch this type of performance. I’m old-school; I’m used to bands getting on stage and playing. If, say, it’s the Rolling Stones doing the halftime show, there’s always the sense that the bus could go off the road at any moment. I miss that element of danger when I watch Katy Perry.
At the same time, it’s a technological and production marvel. The opening with the color-changing balls on the field, the huge ambulatory tiger, the mind-blowing 3-D projection on the stage—all were incredible, to the point that I wondered whether the production was actually upstaging the artist.
I imagine that a lot of this comes down to who you liked before the Super Bowl halftime show began. If you’re a Katy Perry fan, I’m sure this one sent you into orbit. If not, I’m not convinced this is the one that would sell you on her, though it could certainly sell you on the possibilities of production (given ample creativity and budget).
On another tangent, the Super Bowl itself looks and feels like a very live event, which it is. It’s jarring to go to halftime and go from the look of live video to the look of pre-recorded film. I’m assuming Katy's show was genuinely live, but it doesn’t look live, which adds to the feeling of heavy choreography and no chances taken.
All in all, it was a great piece of theater and a stupendous production. But for my money, it was more of a performance set to music than a musical performance."
Letter Grade: B+
Driesen is president of Ray Bloch Productions, a New York-based event company that counts NBC Universal, Time Inc., and The New York Times among its clients. RBP recently produced the Angel Ball, a cancer research fund-raising gala that featured Jamie Foxx, Alicia Keys, Ludacris, Nile Rodgers, and many others.
A. Blayne Candy
"Terrific use of technology to make the stage larger using the LED floor. Broadcast sound was a dramatic improvement over last year and was really terrific. The show it self was well choreographed for TV. It felt more like a miniature Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies and larger than a typical halftime show. Hamish Hamilton certainly had his fingerprints on the execution, the television direction was excellent. I felt bad for Katy she looked terrified riding the Lion and flying through the stadium ... but who wouldn't, that was scary stuff."
Letter Grade: A-
Candy is co-founder and partner of Showcall, a full-service event production company headquartered in Maryland. The company produces hundreds of events, including the reopening celebration for the Reunion Tower in Dallas, Pope Benedict XVI's public mass in Washington, D.C., and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society's annual convention in Gettysburg.
Rob Schlissel
"What a show! Katy Perry never lets us down. I love the theatricality she brings to her performances. The song choice was spot on and the production seemed flawless. There was a strong arc over the performance with the somewhat low-tech entrance on the moving lion set piece, amid a field of shadow-body-held LED glow balls, culminating with her high above the stage on a flying shooting star with pyro coming from the back, overhead, and in surround. Her music consistently lends itself to her theatrics, and each production element added to the total effect, nothing felt superfluous. The use of space, the LED stage, those visuals, those costumes, the choreography, everything came together magnificently for me.
The biggest disappointment for me was the lack of stage time for Lenny Kravitz. With an impressive songbook himself and being advertised as guest performer, I expected more. Missy Elliot was a great surprise though, looked great and killed the performance. My only drawback there was that the video content on the stage didn't really match the Missy’s musical attitude. That, and Katy’s attempt to 'Work it' with Missy."
Letter Grade: A+
Schlissel is senior producer at Empire Entertainment, an event and entertainment production company with offices in New York and Tokyo that counts AMC, Charity:Water, and Time magazine among its clients.
Shaun Boyle
"While the special guest appearance of two NBC ‘icons'—Land Shark and the More You Know Star—was exciting, the use of projection mapping was a welcome surprise. The mapping was used strategically for the TV audience and the black and white projection design was a smart way to execute it on a technical level. It created an effect that couldn’t be achieved with LEDs alone and I think the overall audience experience (both in person and via TV) was more immersive as a result."
Letter Grade: “An ‘A’ for technical execution and a ‘B’ overall. The production design was more whimsical than in years past, but Katy Perry flying around on the shooting star was just a little awkward.”
Boyle is producer at Sonoma-based Pix Productions, an event, exhibit, and media production company that has worked on live experiences, including the Adobe Max conference and the Lithium Network Conference.
Scott Cullather
"Puppeteers and lion go! The Pepsi Hyped for Halftime show during Super Bowl XLIX was the ultimate demonstration of immersive theater with multimedia firepower and pitch-perfect performance. From the moment the show began all 61,946 fans in attendance and the over 120 million fans viewing on television were treated to something not seen before at a Super Bowl. Katie Perry along with Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott were not only on-brand for Pepsi, but delivered the best musical performance of any Super Bowl halftime show. If that weren’t enough there was eye-popping visuals, stunning choreography, LED video projection mapping, pyrotechnics, original costuming … oh and audience engagement. The show bridged cultures, generations, and musical genres and was executed with precision. What more could we ask for?"
Letter Grade: A+
Cullather is global managing partner of Invnt, global brand communications agency that collaborates with brands and organizations to create remarkable moments that challenge convention, mind-sets, competitors, and the market. Under his leadership, the Invnt team has executed experiences for brands such as PepsiCo, Merck, General Motors, and Subway.
