NYT names Rihanna 3rd Best Halftime Show of all Time

Unbelievable. It's a little funny that Rihanna somehow beat everyone but our saviors Michael Jackson (RIP) and Prince (RIP).

No even though I liked it.

Rihanna has supreme self confidence. Unbothered and unhurried. SHE was the performance. Have always preferred her to Beyonce, with her Queen posing and overproduced spectacles.

The NYT is full of shit. Prince will always be the best.

OP is trolling or illiterate. The New York Times published this? Link?

Okay the bit about the diverse performers was funny. The costumes made it impossible to determine what they were. They were sexless and faceless like minions.

It's not the NYT.

It's some publication called "the athletic".

And by the way, the writer is yet another Gen Z diversity hire skank. Shocker.

We don't need to hear from another Gen Z crack whore.

Queen Ri has surpassed even MJ she is second best after Prince

R8 Are you fucking retarded? The Athletics is the sports newsletter of the NYT.

**The Athletic

Coldplay? Fuck off.

LOL no. The ridiculous ass kissing needs to end already.

[quote]The NYT is full of shit. Prince will always be the best.

Isn't that what the NYT said?

R10 Sit down, you walking prolapsed hole.

My criticism of the skank writer with down's syndrome stands.

[quote]It's some publication called "the athletic".

Which is the NYTimes sports pages.

MADONNA NOT even in the top 10! This list is beyond laughable. Wasn't her performance the first halftime show that had MORE viewers than the actual game?

Hold my rhinestones.

They can't possibly be serious. Third from the bottom, maybe.

My only shock is that they didn't feel obliged the rank Beyonce as #1.

Good.

What about our upbeat sound and our great attitude?

Rihanna is a triple threat! She can't sing, can't dance, and can't act.

Literally no one thinks this was a good performance.

Hey, OP, you troll.

You didn't cite the NYT. You cited "The Athletic."

Like that's whose judgment matters, cunt?

IT WAS BORING AND STUPID and she looked like a fucking balloon animal AND SHE JUST HAD TO GET A PREGNANCY IN THERE.

Trash. Meaningless trash.

Can we stop kissing Ri-Ri's ass and excusing her lackluster, phoning it in performance as "confidence" when she sucked? This is a joke.

She was ranked 2nd to Prince? Come on now! That is incredibly insulting to Prince’s legacy. Just insane.

[quote]You didn't cite the NYT. You cited "The Athletic."

The Athletic is the NYT…it’s what they call their sport pages.

No Tom Petty? Bruno Mars?

Talent or material doesn't matter any more. Only chart positions and race.

Some people get incredibly worshipful in regards to Rihanna. She is undeniably charismatic. I think she could start a cult if she wanted to. Putting her in the same league as Prince is seriously delusional though. Prince was insanely talented and hardworking. There is no comparison.

Most watched superbowl halftime shows:

1. Katy Perry (2015) - 121M (=)

2. Rihanna (2023) - 118.7M (NEW)

3. Lady Gaga (2017) - 117.5M (-1)

Didn't see it, yet somehow my life remains completely fulfilled.

Where is Carol Channing on the list?!?!? Come on!

God, it's so cringeworthy how the media ass-kisses and exalts every black celebrity out there. It's like an obligation at this point. Overcompensation. It cannot last and it will be ugly when it ends.

The New Woke Times

She lip synched led and was stiff as shit, what a laugh

This is a joke, Beyonce mafonna and Shakira gave the best performances in female category. Michael is still the best overall

Sorry meant madonna*

Misogynoir!!!!

[quote]Most importantly, Rihanna looked like she had fun.

She should have alerted her face.

So there are a few halftime shows that I revisit when I'm drunk & want to groove by myself:

Prince in the pouring rain in Miami (entire show, but especially Purple Rain)

Gaga's entire show from start to finish

Madonna's fun-ass, campy AF 2012 show with LMAFO and the huge gospel chorus singing Like A Prayer

And I like dancing to Rihanna in the club but I just couldn't get into her halftime show. Sorry RiRi fans.

Behold, this is what gaslighing looks like in real time, folks.

*gaslighting

[Quote] Madonna's fun-ass, campy AF 2012 show with LMAFO and the huge gospel chorus singing Like A Prayer

What happened to LMFAO?

Next year it will be Lizzo and special guest Adele

I didn't hate it. We (family) were mostly speculating about her being pregnant (me: "wait, I thought she just had a baby...when did she have the baby? She does look pregnant..."), husband saying I should get a top like that, and holy mole, how high up are they? There's something holding her there, right?

I am a prude and didn't like the crotch grabbing stuff, but the whole thing did keep my attention.

I think people are still just excited that she performed after so many years away, and about the pregnancy reveal, and I know no one wants to hear this but there were a lot of people who were really impressed by those floating stages.

Give it a few years and people will politely forget about this halftime show. It was fine, I don't hate it like most people on here do, but it did get boring and she lost the audience for a bit, which was obvious.

The Athletic is not the NYU Sports pages, people! The Sports page still exists! The Time bought the stupid Athletic, but they can repent of that decision later -- it's still run independently of the Times, according to Wiki.

The 'writer' who wrote this list must be a 20-something year old non-binary person of color who is doing her internship at the newspaper.

What my NYTimes subscription says…

The Athletic, part of The New York Times Company, covers your favorite teams and leagues with the rigor you expect from our reporting.

Rihanna was pathetic and she lip-synced. For fuck's sake.

R15 I may have a prolapsed asshole, but I wouldn’t fuck your with Andy Dick’s hole. And I’m fairly confident every other man in the world agrees with me.

[quote] Rihanna was pathetic and she lip-synced. For fuck's sake.

And the lip synching by itself isn't a mortal sin....many televised acts in large venues like that either entirely lip sync or sing to backing tracks in case there are sound issues.

The thing was that she was VERY bad at lip syncing and seemed not to give a fuck about it.

Black women are now all saintly figures of genius. They cannot be criticized and must be idolized. The media has spoken.

"I don't care" is her branding, though. As someone else already said, she's all about being "unbothered." Her fans love it.

r55, we're all full up with racebaiting trolls and we don't need any more at this time. You may leave your application at the door. We'll call you if there are any vacancies.

I watched it a second time and I'm liking it more. The thing is most others relied on too much gimmickry: having overkilled entrances and closings, unnecessary guests, acrobatic choreography. And many past performers seemed like they're not having fun.

R56 maybe... but if she cares so little I'll save my $ and not listen to her music. It's seems all she cares about is Fenty makeup and clothes now.

I'd rather give my support to someone who does care about their performance.

[quote] Madonna's fun-ass, campy AF 2012 show with LMAFO and the huge gospel chorus singing Like A Prayer

That thing was tragic.

Those lists I suppose used to mean something but they don't anymore and haven't for a long time.

Anyone can make their own list and publish it on their social platforms.

The media isn't special anymore and their voice isn't that loud. Everyone has a voice; everyone is loud.

R20 We all know Queen Bey is the greatest performer of all time but I did not like her Super Bowl act during her first solo run 10 yrs ago. For one she tried too hard to be artistry showcasing her band with the live instrumentation that it cut into the set list and the transition from song to song was all off. And that platinum light blonde weave does not compliment her face like darker blondes or brown hair. It was all stringy and flat. That’s when I used to joke that Bey is sometimes whiter than the white girls. Madonna performed the year prior it’s almost like she tried to mimick her look, except with powerhouse vocals and a live band. I wanted authentic Bey, and she could have performed more of her hood or black radio songs.

With that being said she killed as a Coldplays guest act, along with Bruno.

R55 shut yo crusty white ass up.

Bitchhhh.

Lol as another poster upthread stated, this is definitely gaslighting in real time. That performance was beyond lackluster. Why did she even bother?

I generally do not like Rih as performer but somehow dug this. She wasn’t dancing hard, did very little of the choreography, but it was like she was a smash brothers character playing the game to the soundtrack of the biggest club anthems of the past 20 yrs. She looked flawless. I don’t know, it just did it for me. Subversive and fun.

Lizzo seems the type to be thirsty to do this although I can't name one song of hers. And she would utilize a slew of land whales waddling, perspiring, jiggling and ripping up a stage floor flopping around with her.

[quote][R55], we're all full up with racebaiting trolls and we don't need any more at this time. You may leave your application at the door. We'll call you if there are any vacancies.

Can't handle the truth?

I like her and even i know it wasn’t great.

For me the staging, lighting and camerawork was fucking amazing. It was spectacular...the set list was quality and there were so many hits left out of the show. The choreography and dancers were spectacular. Rihanna's energy was a little low for me, but I didn't expect anything over the top from her. I've seen her in concert and I enjoyed myself. I thought it was a fantastic show. Prince will always be the best Super Bowl, but I am a huge Prince fan so I'm biased.

This Top 10 reminds me of the recent Rolling Stone Top 200 Singers list. I cannot think why.

Who did shitty halftime shows?

It's really bad that you can tell it was a young black woman who wrote this article before you even check the bio. It would fit right in on the back page of a junior high newspaper.

R72, Is it really that poorly written. I don’t feel like reading it, and I trust that you are not just being racist.

I haven’t seen Riri show but one for my top 10 favorites was definitely Jlo and Shakira. Only thing I remember from Madonna’s was her entrance and then her getting caught up in some bouncy ropes and almost falling off the stage. Beyoncé and Bruno Mars at Coldplay’s performance WERE the show. I even wonder why they bothered to call it Coldplay’s Super Bowl halftime show. I could watch Bruno and Beyoncé all day go at it.

Although Prince was a fucking moment, Iconic. In the fucking rain rocking out Prince style to Purple Rain.

What about Aerosmith with Britney and Justin? Did I hallucinate that?

Also, Beyoncé's performance changed the country- my fat frau Mimi from Drew Carey looking neighbor flipped out that it was a black Panther revolt. It was a Black power performance from formerly vanilla Bey.

Janet's Titty didn't make the list?

R77, oh sweet Jesus- yes! That literally changed our culture and ushered in a weird puritanical rage period.

Ok, I just watched her Super Bowel performance and it's hardly as bad as everyone is saying. I think if people had known she was pregnant beforehand it would have made a huge difference too. And I thought we would be savvy enough to know at this point when someone is singing over their own vocals. It looks like she is lip-synching when in actuality she was singing over her own vocals. You can clearly hear her live voice when it's present over her recorded voice. So the performance wasn't a lip-synch per se, but more her singing over, backing up her own vocals. I heard some bum lives notes and some breathless ones here and there, so she was definitely singing.

^ Bowl... LOL

Too much twat grabbing and cheek spreading for me.

^ meanwhile Michael Jackson basically jacked himself off on stage 30 years ago and makes it to #2.

The Athletic Supporter?

To be fair, I was against Michael Jackson jacking off 30 years ago, whether on stage or on a child.

I think the most interesting things about Rihanna are her looks, her attitude and fashion and media savvy, and her successful and FAST transformation into an upscale beauty business powerhouse. Very very clever lady.

Lazy performance, i dislike JLO but she really made huge efforts on the show. I have a black coworker, he works fewer hours than the rest of us everyday. He has poor work ethics . The boss does’t dare to fire him because it will make him look like a racist to fire the only black employee in the team .

most boring halftime show in history.......disgraceful.......humiliating.......she is gross

They meant 3rd worst show in memory.

R86 and he gets paid the same? He doesn’t sound lazy, he sounds smart. Looks like he found himself a couple of rubes.

It reminds me of when all the critics were falling all over themselves to praise “Get Out” and say it was the best movie evvvverrrrr.

Performative.

And this is exactly what everyone is talking about. You’ll have a lynch mob after you if you dare not praise a black person for doing the least. Oh, I said lynch mob - can’t say that because only blacks were lynched. This is like when Disney wanted Gina Carano to Zoom call with 40 LGBT activists all at one time just to get yelled at after she made a pronoun joke on Twitter after being bullied into including them on her profile. These writers know there will be punishment if they dare say anything negative about a black performer. So now we’re at the point of gaslighting the public.

Are we allowed to say nothing at all? Or is that erasure. My grandmother said if you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing. I guess that's not possible anymore.

There were a handful of rankings of SB halftime shows this week. Rolling Stone had Rihanna pretty high - 6, I think. But the other one I saw put her pretty low. And she wasn't the only act that had very disparate rankings. It doesn't matter where an act is ranked, it's rankings clickbait - and it works brilliantly every time. People love to see their favorites ranked high, they love to freak out and argue when an act is too high or too low. The lists are probably thrown together in an hour, or more likely, developed before the current SB and then the most recent act wedged in somewhere.

[quote][R72], Is it really that poorly written. I don’t feel like reading it, and I trust that you are not just being racist.

No, not being racist, R73. My point about knowing it was a young black writer before even looking at her bio was that the bias in the writing was so obvious as to be laughable. Not even one critique. Just breathless praise to an insane degree. The entire article is fanwanking and the fact that it was published anywhere is one of the main problems with modern "journalism".

And, you don't have to read the whole thing. Just read that excerpt in OP's post.

BEY ISN'T NUMBER ONE??

RACIST!

Madonna's entrance is the best but overall lady gaga is the best

I think Madonna's entrance was the best too. But sometimes I question that if I like it so much just because I am gay and like the subversion of making football fans watch twenty oiled up muscle bodied men carrying her in.

Madonna’s entrance was completely uninspired and boring. A child could have come up with that crap.

R98 - yet, u have not broken ur bow of silence on all the male singers who neither put on a performance nor even bother try singing

R97 - it's a show, u are meant to out on a performance, if there is not going to be any type of showmanship, stay home and listen to the spotify or apple music

i fucking hate iOS keyboard

Her baby is cute but not a fan of what Riri's wearing. I'm getting Tina Turner vibes but it's just not working.

[quote]Madonna’s entrance was completely uninspired and boring. A child could have come up with that crap.

Hi, Janet!! How is your saggy left boob?

The baby is cute and chubby!!

The baby is phat!

[quote]What about Aerosmith with Britney and Justin? Did I hallucinate that?

That was Britney, Aerostmith and NSYNC, 22 years ago.

I agree with r98. Like of course Madonna would use Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra as her inspiration, because Madonna is stuck in the 20th century. Bruno Mars had the best opening because he got right to the point to get people hyped. Pure talent. Katy Perry's entrance was also fun and unexpected.

Madonna's was, in her own words, "reductive".

NYT names Rihanna second best Last Jedi throne room scene of all time.

It's reached an all time low, r103

Did she really smell her vagina oil???

WTF is vagina oil?

She look like she was having fun. I don’t know as you get older some things are just about energy. She did dance some but as a whole it was just so visually appealing. A lot more people deserve credit for that than Rihanna, I know. And then in a subconscious way I respect the shit out of this black woman who became a billionaire in an authentic way. She got out of a toxic relationship and never looked back. And married a regular hip hop, albeit good looking fashion icon from Harlem. Rihanna and Rocky seem like they would really being going out if they weren’t rich and famous.

Rihanna's antics and get-up in that show are simply vomit-inducing. The NYT is giving forth with their usual pandering.

[Quote] And then in a subconscious way I respect the shit out of this black woman who became a billionaire in an authentic way. She got out of a toxic relationship and never looked back. And married a regular hip hop, albeit good looking fashion icon from Harlem. Rihanna and Rocky seem like they would

What is your definition of authentic? Why do you think she was with Hassan? She's never been in a healthy relationship and ASAP is trash.

You know some non binary them is the one who wrote this drivel. Prince 100% owned Half Time but MJ wasn’t that great. GaGa made fans out of redneck football middle Americans, she was fantastic! Tom Petty KILLED it with straight up rock music done right! U2 sucked. Coldplay sucked. Beyoncé is an overrated sexless cow who uses blackness when she needs the black audience as she sits high atop a 85 million Dollar mansion in Beverly Hills! Katy Perry was a cartoon and a cunt. Madonna was better than half of them. Last years was top 5 with Eminem ,Dr Dre, Snoop and Mary J!