The Strange Place The Weeknd's Super Bowl Halftime Show Will Take Place
As the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prepare to face off for the championship title at Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7, 2021, The Weeknd is busy preparing for his highly-anticipated Super Bowl halftime performance. Adding to the excitement are the details that have been slowly released leading up to the event.
Halftime show co-producer Jesse Collins told Entertainment Tonight on Feb. 1, 2021, that The Weeknd's set is going to be "fun" and "perfect," with numerous surprises that will satisfy fans. Furthermore, the Canadian singer is going to perform the whole show live and really focus on his music and connecting with fans. "It's gotta be about entertainment from a truthful perspective," Collins stated. "Get away from the massive sets, all the hoopla, the flying this and that. And get to the core of what makes an artist special," he continued, adding that "it's all happening in that stadium, in that moment."
The Weeknd is so dedicated to providing top notch entertainment for his fans that he even donated $7 million of his own money toward the production, per Billboard. "We've been really focusing on dialing in on the fans at home and making performances a cinematic experience, and we want to do that with the Super Bowl," the "Blinding Lights" singer told the publication in January 2021.
Now, even more details are out about The Weeknd's performance, and it's been revealed that the show is taking place in a strange location.
The Weeknd's Super Bowl halftime show won't take place on the field
While previous Super Bowl halftime performances have taken place on the actual field in the stadium, Page Six reported on Feb. 4, 2021, that The Weeknd's performance will stray from that tradition. A source told the publication that the Grammy-award winning artist will be singing "only in the stands and nothing in the field," adding that "It's really phenomenal, different, and historic."
According to Page Six, the Super Bowl halftime show is usually set up and broken down by somewhere around 5,000 people, but The Weeknd's show will only use about a fifth of that. "It's a total of 1,000 people, and they can't touch the field," an insider revealed of the production's crew. While The Weeknd won't be performing on the field, there is a possibility he will utilize it.
Another source added that having a live show that takes place in the arena is super important, despite having the option to put on a virtual performance like other events have done. "The NFL didn't want the fans in attendance not to have that [live] experience. The easy way out is to have it somewhere else, but [the live show] is part of the overall Super Bowl," the source confirmed.
Meanwhile, co-producer Jesse Collins previously told Entertainment Tonight that the production will, "use the stadium to present the show in a way that it's never been presented before."