The Super Bowl 50 halftime show "was every bit as grand as the occasion itself," as Coldplay, Beyonce and Bruno Mars "combined for a blockbuster performance," according to Jim Harrington of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. Coldplay "kicked off with a short snippet of their first smash single, 'Yellow,' and then continued with solid takes on 'Viva la Vida' and 'Paradise.'" They were soon "joined by Mars, who boogied through the ubiquitous hit 'Uptown Funk.'" Beyonce "led an army of dancers out of one of the end zones and straight for the big stage in the center of the field." She then met Mars onstage "for a bit of a dance showdown, and they were eventually joined by Coldplay's Chris Martin -- for an 'Uptown Funk' reprise" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 2/8). ROLLING STONE's James Montgomery noted Coldplay "did what they do best -- deliver stadium-sized uplift." The halftime show "took a decidedly funky turn" when Mars and Mark Ronson "showed up to work through their hit 'Uptown Funk.'" Montgomery: "And then, well ... then it was Beyonce time" (ROLLINGSTONE.com, 2/7). In Detroit, Adam Graham writes Mars and Beyonce "stole the show." By the end, when Beyonce, Mars and Martin "strutted down the stage's long catwalk, Martin looked happy just to be there" (DETROIT NEWS, 2/8).
QUEEN BEY: USA TODAY's Robert Bianco writes Beyonce "stole that Super Bowl halftime show" from Coldplay. Lead singer Martin is a "personable and energetic performer, though an awful lot of that energy went into jumping." He and his song's lyrics just "seemed overwhelmed by the stadium and the event" (USA TODAY, 2/8). SPORTS ON EARTH's Cy Brown writes, "If you are a huge Coldplay fan you enjoyed the opening third of the halftime show, but it was pretty uneventful for the rest of us." If Levi's Stadium "had a roof, it would've been blown clear off" when Beyonce made her entrance (SPORTSONEARTH.com, 2/8). In DC, Chris Richards writes under the header, "The Night Beyonce Won The Super Bowl." Richards asked, "Has anyone approached the gig as seriously and skillfully as Beyonce did on Sunday night?" She came "stomping out on the 10-yard line in broad daylight, flanked by 30 dancers in Black Panther berets, singing lyrics (that) were less than 30-hours old" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 2/8). In Boston, Jed Gottlieb adds if Coldplay "intended to be the headliner," they "got trounced by" Beyonce. The band "couldn't conjure much energy," and the "real heat came when Mars and Co. and Beyonce's platoon of dancers met on stage for a showdown" (BOSTON HERALD, 2/8). In L.A., Mikael Wood writes, "Props to Coldplay members for not being afraid to look like the little guys at their own gig. Which, of course, they did" (L.A. TIMES, 2/8). Coldplay was "reduced to a guacamole appetizer by the time Beyonce got through with her cameo appearance" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/8). The band was the "center of the show but functioned more as a stagehand than an actual performer" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/8). In S.F., Aidin Vaziri writes under the header, "Coldplay Becomes 3rd Wheel At Its Own Super Bowl Halftime Show" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 2/8).
WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? In New Jersey, Jim Beckerman writes Coldplay "was livelier than you might think," with Martin "hopping, twirling and pumping up the crowd" (Bergen RECORD, 2/8). In Cleveland, Troy Smith added Martin "was in lively form, jumping around the stage and interacting with fans." Coldplay's performance "wasn't all that different from a typical Coldplay concert" (CLEVELAND.com, 2/7). In Denver, Dylan Owens noted the members of Coldplay "were all the best versions of themselves: competent, smiling and, for a band whose frontman has all the stage presence of the fifth member of a boy band, animated." However, Coldplay is not the reason the halftime show "is currently racking up millions of hits on YouTube; it's because people want to see Beyonce again" (DENVERPOST.com, 2/7). In Milwaukee, Piet Levy writes, "Sorry Chris Martin, Technicolor props and costumes, and skipping and spinning around, aren't good enough for headlining the most-watched music event of the year" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 2/8).
DROWNED OUT BY THE SOUND: USA TODAY's Nate Scott notes the halftime show's "shoddy audio" made Coldplay's performance "hard to enjoy for viewers at home." The opening notes of "Yellow" were "impossible to decipher." Scott: "It was tough to appreciate anything because it was so hard to hear which songs were being sung" (USA TODAY, 2/8). FOXSPORTS.com's Chris Chase wrote Coldplay "tried so hard," but it still "was a musical snooze." When the post-performance message from Martin "was drowned out, it was the perfect summation of what had just happened: inexplicable, indecipherable and unnecessary" (FOXSPORTS.com, 2/7).
MIDDLE OF THE ROAD: In K.C., Timothy Finn notes the halftime show will "go down as one of the more mediocre performances" in Super Bowl history. Coldplay was the headliner, but Mars and Beyonce "saved the day." The show visually "lacked much punch or panache." It was at its "most spirited" when it "turned into a video tribute to past halftime performers, including Prince, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and James Brown, which ended up being a reminder of how much better other halftime shows were" (K.C. STAR, 2/8). In DC, Emily Yahr wrote it "was great to see scenes of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney and Katy Perry, which played in a montage" while Martin played "Fix You" on a piano. It sounded "like background music and completely distracted from the fact that Coldplay was actually performing on stage" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 2/7). In N.Y., Chris Perez adds much of the halftime show "was about love and togetherness, with Beyonce dancing side by side" with Mars and, in a grand finalé, with Martin as the audience "spelled out 'Believe in Love' with rainbow-colored placards" (N.Y. POST, 2/8).
STARTING ON A HIGH NOTE: The Cleveland PLAIN DEALER's Smith wrote Lady Gaga "delivered an elegant and stunning rendition" of the Star-Spangled Banner prior to the start of the game. It was "filled with as much excitement and passion as you can give" (CLEVELAND.com, 2/7). Lady Gaga's performance was "more straight-ahead than not, but with a few dramatic curve-balls, especially toward the climax, with some big gospel flourishes to bring things to a rip-roaring finish as U.S. Navy Blue Angels flew in formation over her head" (Bergen RECORD, 2/8). USA TODAY's Luke Kerr-Dineen wrote Lady Gaga knocked the national anthem "out of the park." She "started slow before gradually picking up the pace, culminating in a beautiful crescendo that she was never in danger of overdoing" (USATODAY.com, 2/7). She "slowly built intensity throughout the number before a climactic, powerful conclusion" (BILLBOARD.com, 2/7).
