Дэлхийн аваргын шигшээ тоглолтын үеэр анх удаа зохион байгуулсан 27 минутын үзүүлбэр хөлбөмбөгийн уламжлалт хэмнэлийг алдагдуулж, мэргэжилтнүүд болон хөгжөөн дэмжигчдийн дунд маргаан дэгдээв.
Испани болон Аргентины шигшээ багуудын шийдвэрлэх тоглолтын завсарлагаар Жастин Бибер, Шакира, BTS, Coldplay зэрэг уран бүтээлчид тайзнаа гарсан нь Америкийн “Супер Боул”-ын хэв маягийг санагдуулам байлаа. Хэдийгээр үзүүлбэрүүд өнгөлөг, зохион байгуулалт сайтай байсан ч хөлбөмбөгийн “цэвэр” уур амьсгалыг алдагдуулж, тоглогчдын биеийн бэлтгэлд сөргөөр нөлөөлсөн гэж үзэж байна. Английн шигшээ багийн довтлогч асан Уэйн Рүүни уг шоуг таагүй хүлээж авснаа илэрхийлж, тоглолтын уур амьсгалыг бүхэлд нь унагаасан гэж дүгнэжээ.
Олон улсын хөлбөмбөгийн холбоо (FIFA) санхүүгийн ашиг сонирхлын үүднээс ивээн тэтгэгчдийн оролцоотой энэхүү шоуг ирээдүйн тэмцээнүүдэд тогтмолжуулах магадлалтай байна. Хэдийгээр зарим үзэгчид ийм төрлийн зугаа цэнгэлийг таашааж байгаа ч хөлбөмбөгийн хорхойтнууд болон спортын мэргэжилтнүүд 15 минутын завсарлагыг 27 минут хүртэл сунгаж, тоглолтын гол утгыг алдагдуулсанд сэтгэл дундуур байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
It’s football, but not as we know it. It is American sport, exactly as we know it.
Football broke new ground with the World Cup final’s first ever half-time show, interrupting the biggest match the sport has to offer for 27 minutes so that Justin Bieber could serenade half the planet with a guitar while looking ever so slightly bored.
Was it any good? Will we be talking about it for years to come? And, more importantly, was it worth it?
The pre-recorded sight of a goofy, grinning original Ronaldo, pushing the seams of his tracksuit to its very limits, driving Madonna into the stadium as she sang her old hit Music, with Ronaldinho sat alongside very much in his uncle Nile Rodgers era, was equal parts surreal and hilarious.
If we’d had a bit more of that — maybe Luis Figo and Bryan Adams on a motorbike with a sidecar, or Francesco Totti on a unicycle — then we’d have had a show to remember.
However, while everything was very well choreographed, fun, big and colourful, it was all pretty random and felt very contrived.
Sure, it was never exactly going to feel organic and wholesome, but this was clearly a rip-off of the very well established Super Bowl show and it lacked the cohesiveness that brings when it showcases one particular artist (albeit often with special guests).
Bieber’s deeply earnest acoustic version of Everything Hallelujah was great, as a contained one-off performance, but coming in-between K-Pop band BTS and Shakira/Burna Boy it was a bum note in a show otherwise packed with energy.
Did Justin Bieber bring down the vibes? (Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
“Baby, we find love in these moments,” Bieber sang. “We don’t even have to try, I could sing a song but the words just wouldn’t do, so I said hallelujah, hallelujah, baby.”
Fine, but can we get back to watching Spain’s endless rotational passing game now please?
The show itself was passable enough, especially the football-related stuff like Shakira and Burna Boy performing Dai Dai, the song you’ve heard played at each of the tournament’s 104 matches. The Norwegian row bit was good, the Ted Lasso skit was fine and the performance of Seven Nation Army, a football anthem for many years now, from Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel and an orchestra (and the Muppets), was great.
But the rest? BTS doing a pop number, Bieber bringing the mood to a halt and then Coldplay, with the help of a load of kids from the PS 22 Chorus, ramping up the schmaltz singing about love… you just kept asking yourself why? Why is the greatest footballer to have ever kicked a ball being made to endure the longest half-time of his entire career so that Chris Martin could tell us all to believe in love?
The Muppets – and Coldplay’s Chris Martin – close the show (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
It belonged at the Eurovision Song Contest, the enduringly cheesy annual competition where European countries do battle to produce the kitschest tune known to humanity. Or, more to the point, it belonged before or after the most important match our sport has to offer. Not during.
“The best part was when it finished,” former England striker Wayne Rooney said on the BBC, summing up the thoughts of 40-somethings all over the world. “I like a lot of them artists but I thought it was crap.”
The problem, from a football purist point of view, is that many casual fans will have tuned in specifically to watch it, rather than the actual football. And, financially, surely there is no chance FIFA doesn’t make this a staple of future World Cup finals. Bank of America sponsored it, Topps secured naming rights for it, while ADI Chain, DoorDash, Kayford Holdings, Marriott Bonvoy, Visa and YouTube Music were all involved, too. Given Apple reportedly paid $50million (£37.2m) to sponsor the Super Bowl equivalent, we can assume FIFA liked the concept quite a lot and that we’ll see it again.
“Do they have a half-time show today?” The Athletic overheard a woman say in Seattle as she headed into Lumen Field to watch USMNT take on Belgium. “I’d watch a lot more soccer if they did.”
Shakira has become World Cup royalty (Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Therein lies the rub. Half-time shows, certainly in the U.S., equal higher viewing figures, equal more money.
If that involves abandoning one of the basic principles of football, i.e. half-time lasts for 15 minutes, then FIFA, in a shocking turn of events, will prioritise figures and cash over player welfare or the preferences of football fans around the world.
If the same organisation is happy to sacrifice its principles of political neutrality or of the World Cup being open, free and accessible to everyone, then we should not be surprised that BTS are allowed to sing one of its hits while Lamine Yamal stretches his hamstrings to stop himself getting cold during the longest half-time of his career.
With hydration breaks, kick-off countdowns and celebrities left, right and centre was the half-time show entirely in keeping with this World Cup? Yes.
Should half-time have lasted 27 minutes? No.
Do we want them introduced permanently in football? Absolutely not.
