Issues You Didn’t See On TV – Billboard

Did anybody catch that Rihanna present when a soccer sport broke out on both aspect of it? Wild stuff. However whereas the eyes of the world have been on the 2023 Tremendous Bowl Halftime Present, and the Eagles-Chiefs sport that additionally occurred alongside it, Billboard was backstage, on the sphere, on the concourses and underneath the stadium itself catching as a lot of the behind-the-scenes motion as potential.

3:15: Jordin Sparks — who’s from Arizona, and whose father, Phillippi, performed 9 years within the NFL for the Giants and Cowboys — stopped by the sphere to inform Billboard in regards to the Rihanna songs she was most trying ahead to seeing (“Wild Ideas,” “Run This City,” “Umbrella”) and her new single, “Stadiums.” “I grew up round sports activities and soccer, my dad performed, so I understand how vital it’s to have a superb tune to pump you up earlier than you come out in these moments,” she stated.

3:25: Isiah Pacheco came to visit to assist pump up the Chiefs followers by the sideline forward of the sport — and would have in all probability been glad to have seen Paul Rudd sporting a Pacheco jersey on the sidelines, chatting it up with a small crew of individuals earlier than the sport bought underway.

5:05: Jay-Z is in the home, Lil Uzi Vert is right here and GloRilla simply walked previous Gate 2 on the principle concourse of the stadium — however Chiefs followers additionally gave an enormous cheer to Tech N9ne, a son of Kansas Metropolis who has made it some extent to construct an {industry} round himself in his hometown quite than transfer to a extra industry-connected hip-hop middle, when he was proven on the massive display.

5:25: Any fan who might pull themselves away from the motion on the sphere might stroll outdoors to see some 200 individuals milling round sporting puffy canvas fits with black plastic drapes over their heads and shoulders, ready for the decision — and attempting to hold onto their drapes because the wind started whipping round Glendale.

5:54: On the two minute warning of the primary half, the massive group of dancers moved contained in the stadium and down a again causeway to the sphere degree, the place everybody gathered across the one TV on the wall to attempt to catch a glimpse of what was taking place on the sphere — and whether or not or not Patrick Mahomes’ ankle was injured as badly because it appeared on the time. The ultimate two minutes of the sport took nearly half-hour of actual time — minutes that have been spent pacing within the depths of the stadium with out a lot else to do earlier than the principle present started.

6:22: It’s exhausting to overstate simply how excessive within the air Rihanna and her dancers have been and the way comparatively small these platforms have been. From the sphere degree, it was completely terrifying how excessive they have been — and with the noise of the gang and the fireworks, to not point out the present itself, completely terrifying. However that’s why Rihanna is among the greatest to do it.

6:41: Press was in a short time ushered off the sphere following the efficiency — and encountered the troupe of marshmallow-clad dancers within the again causeway as soon as once more. The dancers, understandably relieved and jubilant that it was over, bought a giant ovation from everyone who walked previous. The dancers additionally bought to take the escalators again up — a small however well-earned perk, as everybody else trudged up the ramps.

8:08: Because the inevitable Mahomes intestine punch closes in, Eagles followers across the concourse accomplished a outstanding 26-minute turnaround: from questioning the existence of faith itself, to pure elation on the excellence of Jalen Hurts, to utter, miserable despair. As they filed out of the stadium minutes later, one fan was heard lamenting in regards to the Eagles efficiency, “Rihanna was higher than everybody on the sphere apart from [tight end Dalls] Goedert.”