Katy Perry’s Super Bowl halftime show is still providing gossip. A lot of it, but only some is interesting. Katy spent her post-game haze in the arms of gross John Mayer, and she got an XLIX tattoo (photos in the gallery). Style.com ran a huge feature about Katy’s costumes. Jeremy Scott designed all four outfits, and he collaborated with Moschino for the starry finale dress. Katy’s outfits used something like 20,000 Swarovski crystals.
Not all of the news is about Katy. Young people apparently believe Missy Elliot is a new artist, which is sad. But it’s all good because Missy’s iTunes downloads are going through the roof. Missy took a musical hiatus to battle Graves disease, and it’s great to have her back. Missy tweeted her reaction: “I cried because I’ve been thru so much but I’m still here & thru the grace of God & u the fans believing in me I love y’all.” Maybe we’ll see a new album from Missy soon.
More good news (?). Katy & Co. brought in the largest television audience of any halftime show in Super Bowl history:
Katy Perry’s Super Bowl performance was seen by 118.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched halftime show ever, according to Nielsen data.
The audience for Perry’s 13-minute appearance, with guests Missy Elliott and Lenny Kravitz, topped Bruno Mars’ show last year by 3.2 million viewers. The Mars performance in 2014 was the previous record-holder.
Data for the halftime show covers the 8-8:30 p.m. block, which included the end of the first half and the start of the second half of the game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. The halftime half-hour outperformed every half-hour block except the final 40 minutes of the game, which saw the Patriots stage a come-from-behind victory.
The 9:30-10 p.m. block had a viewership of 119.2 million; 120.3 million viewers tuned in the for game’s final 10 minutes.
[From Billboard]
Is this surprising? Not to me, but I’m often surrounded by young girls who are wild about Katy. When the NFL hires classic rock bands, their audience is already watching the game. Whereas Katy reeled in a new demographic. The NFL will probably seek out this audience again, and it’s a smart strategy. Here’s a few more tidbits.
* Katy may have found a way to fit in a Taylor Swift dig after all. Jezebel points out that Katy’s backup dancers wore retro swimsuits similar to a Swifty outfit from years ago. Does this seem like a stretch?
* People can’t stop talking about the sharky backup dancers. Us Weekly identifies one of them as Scott Myrick. He wears unironic YOLO sunglasses and is a former Swift backup dancer.
* Russell Brand stumbled into this mess. Before the show, he took a break from video-blogging his unmade bed to tweet a note: “Super Bowl may be baffling to Brits but half time show will be amazing. Good luck KP” The Mirror says Katy was offended: “This was the man who, quite literally, destroyed her heart. He slagged her off publicly around the world. Then on the biggest night of her life professionally, he could not resist involving himself.”
* Diplo tweeted his support too with a simple “Team Katy Perry.” No comment.
* Lenny Kravitz’s daugther, Zoe, wasn’t wild about Katy rubbing up on her dad. She started a tongue-in-cheek meme, which you can see here. It must be rough to have a hot dad.
Photos courtesy of WENN & Getty
Don’t they say this Every year?? No matter who the Performer is?
You are correct:
Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ performance on Sunday night attracted the largest audience in the history of the Super Bowl, attracting 115.3 million viewers, Fox announced Monday, citing Nielsen data.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/events/super-bowl-2014/5893896/bruno-mars-super-bowl-halftime-show-ratings
YES. It is a fact. Super Bowl has been increasing in viewership every year for at least the last four years. But that’s in part because they’ve included artists with younger demographics, as mentioned above, each of the last three years. So yes, KP was the most watched halftime show, but Super Bowl was the most watched Super Bowl this year AND viewership has increased every year so it stands to reason that she would have more viewers than last year.
It seems that way, Bruno Mars was the most watched last year as well. *shrugs*
Yes, they do say it every year.
Plus, it is not if folks are tuned into to see half time. They stayed tuned in as to not miss a minute of the game. No matter who would have performed this year. The numbers would have been the same.
Besides 3/4 of the people counted, were either in the bathroom or in the kitchen during half time.
So true! I had the TV on but I didn’t see the entire halftime because I was in the kitchen, on the phone, whatever. So yeah, technically I “watched” it because I didn’t change the channel. 😛
Actually, there are people who tune in only for the half time show. I’m one of them, and I’m not the only person I know that does.
I agree…. I only watched the first half of the game to see the halftime show! Lol, I don’t like football and I didn’t watch the rest of the game afterwards 😛 Every year I have to ask who is playing when I get to the party. Lol
I agree. People didn’t tune in for Katy, they tuned in for the Pats and Seahawks. No one changes their channels during the SB. You’re right in saying they didn’t want to miss a second of the game. This was the fourth highest SB rating ever, the third being The Pats against the Giants in 2012.
Hell my mom even watched and she doesn’t know a touchdown from a field goal.
BTW Katy’s performance was horrible. She looked awkward trying to do that dance step with Missy and her dancers, almost cringe worthy.
I agree. Many are saying this was the most entertaining game of all Super Bowl history, because of how well matched the teams were. It made for a nail biting game, with the momentum changing direction in rapid fashion. It makes sense that if the game has people on the edge of their seats, they aren’t going to change channels and miss a moment of the game when it returns.
Missy Elliott and Lenny Kravitz elevated that entire performance. I felt a lot of secondhand embarrassment for Katy Perry when she was dancing around Missy and her dancers. Yeesh.
Agreed 100%, her performance was good in terms of what we can expect from her, no one was expecting 90s Mariah vocals/90s Janet Jackson dancing, it was fun, a little boring for me at times but like you said, Missy elevated that whole performance for me.
yeah, she really needed to up her game when dancing with Missy E. that was kind of embarrassing.
side note: a friend of mine noted that she really pulled off the whole “90s” thing…Lenny Kravitz, Missy Elliot, and she even transformed herself into the “The More You Know” logo. lmao
As soon as she started flying around on that thing, we all said “The more you know!”
We all had second hand embarrassment for her. That was hard to watch
THIS.
I watched it on youtube yesterday. SO EMBARRASSING. She just kept shouting and awkwardly moving around like she was desperately trying to fit in. It was BAD. Missy was great though.
I actually found Katy’s whole performance not great. Kudos to the people that did the work with the robot lion and fireworks, and to the dancers. But if you watch this show out of context I found it terrible. I didn’t watch it during the biggest game of the year all pumped up for the spectacle. I went in curious, and left underwhelmed.
Agreed! So glad Missy Elliott and Lenny Kravitz were on stage. I’m not a Katy Perry fan, but I admire her business acumen and sheer exuberance.
I had to take a break from the news yesterday because my heart was broken. I was so sad.
Katy was her usually self, blah. Her voice sounds like sea lions barking. She was over compensating with flash to make up for that.
I know. Nice to see *some* folks are keeping it classy tho. Did you see all the fans that greeted the Hawks when they got back to Seattle? That was awesome.
“Her voice sounds like sea lions barking”
Perfect description!
I thought she sucked, she can not sing live for crap. Lenny was amazing and I love Missy, so happy for her!
She wasn’t singing live…
Zoe’s meme is hilarious.
Um, Brand said “good luck” and she was “offended”?
KITTEN I thought that was petty too! Katy Petty!!!
😀 Zoe’s meme is too funy! It’s hard to think of hot Lenny has the daddy of a grown up woman! 🙂
The Brand thing sounds like tabloid fiction to me…
I think overall Katy Perry’s performance was…very Katy Perry and very family friendly…I think it was nice and professional and within what could be expected. Plus, I give her big props because she was super gracious with Missy. She let Missy do her thing without being on our faces or fighting for the space (that attending to the perceived lack of dancing skills was a great idea). How many other artists did this before?
I enjoyed it a lot. (It’s my inner 12 years old speaking.)
*hides behind desk with hands on her ears*
I cringed a bit when I saw Katy ‘dancing’. I’m sure Pinocchio is a better dancer than her. She really has no idea.
To those people saying that Katy chose polkadots bikinis for her dancers as a reference-shade to Taylor Swift.. that is reaching.
Is it bad that it kinda makes me sad? That someone who is not very talented but all marketing pulls these types of numbers? Missy was a queen, and the half time show was okay, light and fun.. yet I find it disheartening. I have not had coffee, maybe that’s why.
Is it bad that it kinda makes me sad? That someone who is not very talented but all marketing pulls these types of numbers? Missy was a queen, and the half time show was okay, light and fun.. yet I find it disheartening. I have not had coffee, maybe that’s why.
No, it makes me sad too. I totally agree. The bar is set so low now. Performers don’t need to be spectacularly talented, just be attractive and be marketed a certain way and that’s enough to lead to these “record breaking” numbers. Katy Perry is a superstar for all the wrong reasons.
No its not bad, I think its sad too. Pop music all sounds the same, I can’t identify who’s singing because its all this high pitched funky beat stuff. No heart or soul to it. At its best its boring, but mostly its just downright irritating. Its all special effects, dance moves and marketing.
I watched her whole performance hoping Lenny would show up again
I wanted more Lenny, too. LOL
Yeah, but it was also the most watched Super Bowl so….? Also, I thought the performance was okay. I actually think Missy and the dancing shark stole the show.
Her performance was horrible, she owes Brady and Wilson for this.
That shark stole the show for me!
Another album from Missy! Here’s hoping!! Maybe this is just my anxiety disorder talking, but I was nervous for Katy’s safety when she was riding that lion thing and the star thing. I was sitting there sounding like my 88 year old Italian grandmother going “oh dear, I hope she is buckled in tight on that thing!”
I’m surprised she brought in more viewers than Beyonce.
This reminds me of Jon Stewart’s inference that we should just go ahead and elect as president the Koch brothers’ millions of dollars in campaign donations. Similarly, why not just make it rain dollar bills during the halftime show?
Also, I feel like Katy must be a REALLY bad dancer. Like, you know she’s had access to dance pros/teachers/choreographers and still, her “dancing” is basically striking a series of goofy poses. I don’t dislike Katy, but agree that she would’ve been better off not putting herself next to Missy. There’s the obvious talent differential, plus I get that they try to cover a range of genres with the halftime show, but Missy + Katy just didn’t gel the way, say, Aerosmith + Britney was a fun mix.
Katy just has no natural rhythm. So no matter how much she has tried with dance instructors, choreography, etc., she has no natural ability because of the woodenness. Kind of like Kim Kardashian on DWTS. No matter how she tried, she had zero natural rhythm, so was always wooden in movement. That’s why Katy keeps dancing to a minimum.
It was the most-watched Super Bowl game of all time, so it’s no surprise that the halftime show would be also.
Madonna pulled in 3 million more viewers than the actual Super Bowl game did. That’s the real interesting statistic for me. How many more viewers did Katy pull in than the actual Super Bowl?
What’s 49.7 in millions?
Missy was Supah Dupah Fly!
I loved the whole thing. But i also recognize that KP can’t dance. She did a great job with the hit songs and bringing LK and ME on was smart
A 30 year old woman singing songs for 15 year old girls. Just what NFL fans need at the Super Bowl. How boring
I thought Katy did fine. She was fun and she kept it clean. Nobody is ever going to out-perform Bruno Mars so I wouldn’t expect that. Loved the dancing sharks and seeing Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott for the first time in years. Nothing wrong with Brand’s shout-out. I think it’s classy of him to continue to support her.
I do think it’s ironic that people would say KP she can’t sing and compare her performance to Janet Jackson’s or any other pop star from past half times. Katy may not be the greatest vocalist in the world, but none of the pop stars from year’s past were ever fantastic vocalists – it’s all about the showmanship. Mars doesn’t count – he’s more R&B.
It was very plain, simple, robotic, but yes it was entertaining. She did her job and that’s about it. It was not that good but again, she did her job. She looked foolish with Missy Elliott thats my opinion but she did fine. Nothing outrageous. I appreciated the fact she didn’t do anything over the top, inappropriate and sleezy.
Just because I watched the show doesn’t mean that I watched it for Katy. What I enjoyed about her portion of the show was that incredible tiger. Missy Elliott and Lenny Kravitz provided direct talent/charisma comparisons and Katy lost. In the end I just wished for either more Missy and Lenny, or a repeat of Bruno Mars.
Her outfits were on par with her live singing voice, terrible
I thought she sounded terrible and he outfits were not great. In would rather watch Pink fro her aerobatics like at the Grammys. Now that’s impressive! Missy and Lenny stole the night.
Ugh. I hope they aren’t looking to bring in that demographic if we are to be “treated” to more pop stars lip synching and costume changing their way through 8 minutes. What a waste of air time. And a waste of Lenny and Missy E.
Yes, a recent Guitar World had a great interview with Lenny, they should have let him play the guitar live for 8 minutes. And how can I get excited about a show which did not have live singing or live music. Glorified Karaoke imo.
Why does she make those tragic faces?
The faces were SO bad. So angry.
I think the SB had more viewers than any other, so not REALLY a stat about Katy Perry, more about the SB in general.
And that show was BORRRR RING!! Yes, can we please hear you sing the songs we’ve heard you do 30 thousand times? It’s very telling when the next day Missy Elliot is trending and not Katy Perry.
20,000 Swarovski cristals and THAT is the final result?! Some people are just tacky.
If she really was “offended” and “upset” by Russell tweeting her good luck, I would be highly annoyed at her, because … what?! Yeah, I can understand he may not be at the top of her list of favorite people, but he didn’t say anything wrong, and there’s virtually nothing negative that can be read into what he said.
However, I feel pretty sure that this was made up. I saw that the original source cited by the Mirror was The Sun, who has a total hate-on for Russell ever since he sued them for lying about him (and won). They will take any possible opportunity to put him in a bad light or create negative publicity for him.
That’s only because it was the most watched Super Bowl to date. It doesn’t have much to do with the performers or say anything about the performers or how good the half-time show was. It’s just because viewership of the Super Bowl increases every year, simple as that. I wouldn’t pat myself on the back for that, Katy.