You have to wonder whether Adam Levine was watching. Jennifer Lopez and Shakira didn’t so much erase as obliterate the Maroon 5 frontman’s excruciating Super Bowl halftime show with a high-octane, all-guns-blazing performance that went big on Latin pride.
Shakira’s rock-heavy opener felt like a direct riposte to the tired notion that men are the only ones who can put on a show – if anything, it’s the precise opposite. James Bond-worthy visuals rippled across the stage as Shakira wielded an electric guitar for “Empire”, before J-Lo touched down from the Empire State building – a nod to her native Bronx – for a frenzied and superbly choreographed series of dance routines that put many younger artists (Lopez is 50) to shame.
In a nod to her lauded – and snubbed, at least by the Oscars – role in Hustlers, J-Lo also scaled a pole before bringing out Colombian reggaetón singer J Balvin.
Women in pop are all about spectacle. It’s everything, from the dancing to the costumes; the precision, the crowd engagement. And while it’s frustrating to think that their male counterparts (Ed Sheeran, we’re looking at you) get away with simply standing on stage clutching their guitars, the uproarious reaction from the audience was enough to assert who the majority would rather watch.
