, , and each brought a bit of one of their hits to the World Cup’s first halftime show in a Sunday that also squeezed in Burna Boy, Ted Lasso and many Muppets.
The show at what’s otherwise known as MetLife Stadium, outside New York, was an attempt to bring Super Bowl vibes to the World Cup, but the 11-minute performance was considerably more packed than the usual one-headliner, 13-minute American football counterpart. Each headliner here spent about two minutes performing.
Madonna opened the show with her 2000 dance-pop hit 鈥淢usic,鈥� joined by star Brazilian soccer players of yesteryear, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. It started with an apparently prerecorded piece in a roller rink before she rode into the stadium on a dune buggy, singing, 鈥淢usic, makes the people come together.鈥�
led an orchestra through the White Stripes鈥� sports anthem 鈥淪even Nation Army,鈥� while the Muppets house band 鈥� including drummer Animal in lieu of Meg White 鈥� provided furry shakes in the background.
K-pop sensations BTS took to the field in variations of red and black moments later singing 鈥淒ynamite鈥� following a nod to
Promoting the upcoming season of 鈥淭ed Lasso,鈥� Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt, in character, pumped up Justin Bieber, who changed the tempo with 鈥淓verything Hallelujah,鈥� performed with an acoustic guitar and a casual feel.
鈥淎lright young man, let鈥檚 go! It鈥檚 your big shot!鈥� Sudeikis said to Bieber. 鈥淕o out there, don鈥檛 be nervous, nobody鈥檚 watching.鈥�
Shakira and Burna Boy followed with their heard before all 104 kickoffs during this tournament. The Colombian superstar was barefoot, wearing a dress of yellow and pink feathers and surrounded by similarly clad dancers 鈥� including a group of children 鈥� before the Afrobeats icon joined her in the song whose refrain is an Italian version of 鈥淟et’s go!鈥�
Shakira has virtually made including 2010’s 鈥淲aka Waka (This Time for Africa).鈥�
The show wrapped with the PS22 Chorus of elementary-school students from Staten Island, backed by Dudamel and joined by Chris Martin 鈥� the Coldplay singer who curated the performance 鈥� along with Shakira and many more Muppets and 鈥淪esame Street鈥� characters, including Kermit, Miss Piggy, Count von Count and Cookie Monster.
Dudamel and about 40 musicians 鈥� about half from the New York Philharmonic and half from Venezuela’s Sim贸n Bol铆var Symphony Orchestra 鈥� were on the field, though their music was prerecorded Wednesday at the Manhattan Center.
Afterward, Javier Bardem was among the Spanish fans at the stadium celebrating their home country’s second World Cup win. Bardem danced and pumped his fist as he celebrated the win.
Other stars at the game included Beyonc茅 and Jay-Z, Timoth茅e Chalamet and Kylie Jenner, and Matt Damon, who was having a big weekend with the epic opening of He was with his wife, Luciana Barroso Damon, who wore the colors of her native Argentina.
Jennifer Hudson, Post Malone and Tom Cruise opened with closing ceremony
, Robbie Williams and others performed a slew of anthems, brought an old hit and a new tune and gave an earnest hype-’em-up speech in the pre-match closing ceremony.
Williams performed his FIFA anthem 鈥淒esire,鈥� wearing a blue bedazzled track suit. He was joined by Pussycat Dolls member and Italian singer Laura Pausini in blue spangled gowns. Williams had released the song a year ago but dropped a new version with the two women earlier in the week.
The streamer IShowSpeed took the field first to perform his World Cup-themed song 鈥淐hampions,鈥� atop an image of the Empire State Building. Next was Post Malone, who walked on to the New York/New Jersey Stadium pitch covered with a tarp showing the New York skyline. He sung a brand new song, 鈥淐hrome Heartbreaker,鈥� and was joined by Swae Lee to perform their 2018 duet 鈥淪unflower鈥� on a hexagon-heavy stage in the center of the field.
Cruise, who was also part of the , followed them with a speech delivered in polo shirt and jeans.
鈥淭oday only two teams remain: Espa帽a!鈥� Cruise said, pausing for cheers before adding, 鈥測 Argentina!鈥�
鈥淟et us celebrate a tournament that brought the world together,鈥� he said.
Most of the national anthems were piped in during the tournament, but they were performed live on Sunday. EGOT winner and talk show host Jennifer Hudson sang 鈥淭he Star-Spangled Banner.鈥� Wearing a white suit with red, white and blue trim, she stood in front of a bank of flags of the world, singing a cappella before being joined by a brass band.
Spanish Brass played Spain’s instrumental 鈥淟a Marcha Real,鈥� followed by Argentina鈥檚 鈥淗imno Nacional Argentino,鈥� sung by pop star Mar铆a Becerra, clad in a flowing dress reminiscent of the Argentine flag.
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