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The Weeknd Responds To Super Bowl Guest Performer Rumours And We're Shooketh

Photo credit: Instagram
Photo credit: Instagram

From ELLE

The Super Bowl 55 is just around the corner and it's set to be one of the most important sports highlights of 2021.

This year the annual event will take place at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The stadium is home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who will dust off their helmets to compete against the Kansas City Chiefs. The occasion marks the first time a team has played in their own stadium at the Super Bowl.

The event is set to go ahead as planned with strict Covid-19 guidelines put in place in order to best protect all 22,000 fans who will be permitted to attend, including 7,500 vaccinated health workers, reports the Independent.

As per usual, viewers will be enticed not only with a fierce American football match but also its traditional halftime show that has previously seen the likes of Lady Gaga, Beyoncé and Katy Perry take to the stage.

Here is everything you need to know about the Super Bowl 2021, from the performers to how to watch it:

Who's performing at Super Bowl 2021?

The Weeknd was announced as this year's 2021 Super Bowl halftime performer in November last year.

The Canadian artist will join a whole host of musical greats like Prince and Queen Bey as he sets foot on one of the world’s famous stages and will - hopefully - perform tunes such as 'I Can't Feel My Face, 'In Your Eyes' and 'I Feel It Coming'.

The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, has won three Grammy Awards, five American Music Awards and nine Billboard Music Awards over the course of his career.

Despite the staggering amount of accomplishments under the musician's belt, the singer found himself at the heart controversy at the end of 2020 when he failed to receive any Grammy nominations at the forthcoming ceremony despite the international success of his 2020 album After Hours.

After news of the nominations hit the headlines, the 30-year-old took to Twitter to vocalise his frustrations over the decision, accusing the ceremony of 'remaining corrupt'.

The president of the Grammy's responded to The Weeknd's claim, saying: 'We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated. I was surprised and can empathise with what he's feeling.'

Nevertheless, the musician has already begun teasing fans with some of what's to come during his halftime performance with the help of his new Pepsi's Super Bowl TV advert, which prominently features fans singing his smash hit 'Blinding Lights'.

In November, the singer said that he was 'humbled, honoured and ecstatic to be the centre of that infamous stage' at the Super Bowl this year.

'We all grow up watching the world's biggest acts playing the Super Bowl and one can only dream of being in that position,' he added.

On Thursday, February 4 The Weeknd took part in a Q&A video and responded to a question about whether he'd be joined on stage on Sunday.

'I've been reading a lot of rumours, I wouldn't bet on it,' he noted. 'There wasn't any room to fit it in the narrative of the story I was telling in the performance. 'So yeah, there's no special guests, no.'

The decision to not have special appearances is somewhat a break in tradition after previous Super Bowl halftime performances have seen singers like Maroon 5, Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake joined by others.

The singer also confirmed to Entertainment Tonight that he won't be performing from the centre of the stage at the Super Bowl.

'Due to the Covid and the safety of the players and the workers, we kind of built the stage within the stadium,' the singer said. While he plans to use the field on the night, he added 'we wanted to kind of do something that hasn't been done before'.

What is Amanda Gorman doing at the Super Bowl?

Days after signing with IMG models, the NFL has just announced that poet Amanda Gorman will become the first poet to perform at the Super Bowl next month.

According to the news, announced on Wednesday, the wordsmith will recite an original poem in honour of three people who have served during the coronavirus pandemic.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the honourees - educator Trimaine Davis, nurse manager Suzie Dorner and Marine veteran James Martin- will also take part in the coin toss on February 7 in Tampa, Florida.

'These heroes are symbolic of the thousands of health-care professionals, educators, and veterans throughout our country who continue to care for, heal and support those in need during this pandemic,' the NFL said in a statement.

The inaugural poet laureate, who hit headlines last week following her recital of her poem 'The Hill We Climb' at the recent US presidential inauguration, will then recite her poem about the trio’s impact before the game, which will be televised and shown inside Raymond James Stadium.

Who performed at Super Bowl in 2020?

Last year, the honour of the Super Bowl performance in Miami was bestowed upon Jennifer Lopez and Shakira.

The singers performed halfway through the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers' game at the Hard Rock Stadium with a performance that went down in Super Bowl history. The singers drove fans wild as they sang tunes including ‘She Wolf’, ‘Hips Don’t Lie’, ‘Jenny From The Block’ and ‘Let’s Get Loud’.

The duo were accompanied by several guest performers during their set, including Lopez’s 11-year-old daughter Emme and J Balvin. There were also several masterminds behind the singers looks including designer Peter Dundas, Lopez’s stylist Rob Zangardi and Donatella Versace.

Where to watch the 2021 Super-Bowl?

The Super Bowl 2021 will take place on Sunday February 7, 2021.

The match will be shown live on BBC One, with radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra and the BBC Sounds app.

Coverage will begin at 11PM on BBC Two, before moving to BBC One for the game itself at 11:30PM. If you don’t want to stay up until 3AM on Monday morning, then you can watch the game on BBC iPlayer instead.

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