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The Weeknd's Super Bowl LV Halftime Show

The Weeknd's Super Bowl LV Halftime Show

Part of a series on The Weeknd. [View Related Entries]

Updated Feb 08, 2021 at 02:12PM EST by Philipp.

Added Feb 07, 2021 at 10:06PM EST by Don.

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Overview

The Weeknd's Super Bowl LV Halftime Show, also known as The Weeknd's Hall of Mirrors, refers to a performance of the pop song "I Can't Feel My Face" by the Canadian artist The Weeknd during the halftime show at Super Bowl LV held on February 7th, 2021. Following the performance, a clip of The Weeknd navigating through a brightly lit corridor was widely circulated as a reaction video and GIF, used to express feelings of confusion and exasperation.

Background

On February 7th, 2021, Canadian artist The Weeknd performed his song "Can't Feel My Face" during the Super Bowl LV halftime show at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.[1] As part of the performance, The Weeknd was shown navigating a brightly lit corridor while appearing frantic and confused (shown below).

Online Reactions

Immediately following the start of the half-time show, the footage of The Weeknd started being used as source material for memes. Within two minutes of the show's start, Twitter[2] user @RyanSchoket posted the earliest viral meme based on the footage, posting two images of The Weeknd and writing "what my pizza rolls see from inside the microwave." The tweet received over 17,300 retweets and 129,700 likes in 14 hours (shown below).


Ryan Schocket @RyanSchocket ... what my pizza rolls see from inside the microwave one 8:31 PM · Feb 7, 2021 · Twitter Web App

Within eight minutes of the start of the halftime show, Twitter[3][4] users @Skeeter696969 and @sports17410021 uploaded the short clips of The Weeknd walking through the corridor, with the clips gaining over 33.7 million and 9.4 million views due to actively being used in memes in the following hours (@Skeeter696969's clip shown below). Additionally, a longer clip by the official Twitter[5] account of NFL received over 2.3 million views.

Within ten minutes of the start of the performance, Twitter[6] user @ConorRyan_93 posted the first viral meme based on the clip, captioning it "me trying to follow the hostess to my table at the Cheesecake Factory." The post received over 33,600 retweets and 174,800 likes in 14 hours (shown below).

In the following hours, Twitter users posted multiple viral memes which utilized the footage, using it as a reaction video, a GIF and as source material for edits. Following the viral spread of the meme, many news outlets reported on it, including collections by eBaum's World,[1] Insider[7] and BuzzFeed.[8]

Various Examples


Meggy @MeggyNikirk ... What my coworkers see on zoom meetings when I think my camera is off #PepsiHalftime #SuperBowl 8:49 PM · Feb 7, 2021 · Twitter for iPhone ryan @sexitopaz Me as a kid playing with photo booth on my #SuperBowl moms mac #theweeknd 8:55 PM · Feb 7, 2021 · Twitter for iPhone Ashley White • Esthetician @skinclasshero ... my camera roll when I take my iPad back from a toddler 8:47 PM · Feb 7, 2021 · Twitter for iPhone


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Search Interest

External References

[1] eBaum's World – The Weekends Halftime Show Hall of Mirrors Is This Year's Super Bowl Meme

[2] Twitter – @RyanSchocket

[3] Twitter – @Skeeter696969

[4] Twitter – @sports17410021

[5] Twitter – @NFL

[6] Twitter – @ConorRyan_93

[7] Insider – The 15 best memes about The Weeknd's Super Bowl halftime show

[8] BuzzFeed – The 15 best memes about The Weeknd's Super Bowl halftime show

Related Entries 6 total

Recent Videos 19 total

Recent Images 9 total

     

Top Comments

Weimario
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Weimario

It was with this halftime show I learned The Weeknd has more than one song (they kept playing the 80's-sounding one over and over in the commercials and it bugged me to no end; I'm not familiar with his work so that was all I had to go on).

I'd say they did a decent job with this show given the circumstances. It still feels less flashy than what we could've had without a pandemic, but we got more of a show than I expected and I feel it delivered pretty well. Better than the one two years ago with Adam Levine taking off his shirt and Spongebob fans getting cockblocked, that's for sure.

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IAmTheDanger
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IAmTheDanger

in reply to Weimario

He is a good musician and, like, this is a miracle in the age where the Billboard chart is filled with vapid pop or trashy tattoo rappers. I, however, don't find those Michael Jackson- like eccentricities entertaining in the slightest. I know very well that 2010s american pop culture is moralist and conformist but pretending to not to be. Being weird isn't transgression. Weekend, just like Billie Eilish, isn't as edgy as he think he is.

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