2020 Super Bowl Halftime Show: A SERVE

Jordan Myers, Associate Editor-in-Chief

Shakira and JLo’s big TV moment on the biggest stage in the world was one to remember! The 54th Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show on Sunday, February 2nd has not only made history in welcoming the first Latina music artists to the stage, but is also being called one of the best performances in Super Bowl history! Halftime show co-headliners, Shakira Mebarak-Ripoll, turning 43 the day of the show, and Jennifer Lopez, 50, are the first Latinas to ever perform the Super Bowl Halftime Show, accompanied by Latino trap artists Bad Bunny and J Balvin.

Shakira and Bad Bunny shared the stage for the song I Like It

The show started off with Colombian singer and songwriter Shakira appearing on the stage with a stunning group of Latina dancers ready to make Shakira dazzle, whilst performing her opening song, “She-Wolf.” She quickly garnered all of the energy in the room when she brought out her paternal Lebanese side as she moved her famous and truthful hips to her song, “Ojos Asi,” embedded with Arabic rhythm and drums. After, Puerto Rican trap singer, Bad Bunny, joined Shakira on stage performing Cardi B, J Balvin, and Bad Bunny’s hit summer song “I Like It.” Cardi B was filmed in the crowd in complete shock and excitement. In between her amazing moves, we can’t forget her epic crowd-surf to her top hit, “Hips Don’t Lie!”

After crowd-surfing, the half Lebanese singer returned to the stage and gave millions of viewers a wail accompanied by her flicking tongue which is a classic zaghrouta, a chant often raised in the Middle East and Northern Africa used at moments too joyful to express otherwise. Instantly, it became a meme and made the show even more memorable! She then closed her part of the show by finishing “Hips Don’t Lie.

Shakira crowd-surfing supported by her security crew

The lights then dimmed to reveal Jennifer Lopez at the top of a pole showing off the pole-dancing skills she picked up from starring in the popular movie, Hustlers. As she slid down the pole, she joined her many dancers who were dressed as police officers as she sang and danced to her song “Jenny From the Block.” The eye-catching choreography had dancers stacked on top of one another and moving altogether, with Lopez in the middle. She then moved onto “Waiting for Tonight,” where she got back on her pole and showed off her amazing lower-body strength.

JLo’s got moves!

Suddenly, Colombian trap singer, J Balvin joined the stage with JLo as her dancers fled the spotlight, leaving two women on poles and J Balvin’s dancers on the stage. They performed “Booty and “Mi Gente” originally performed by Latin singers J Balvin and Willy William. After, Lopez then performed “On the Floor,” which then led to the most touching part of the show.

Lights again dimmed to their darkest and welcomed the light of several Latino choir children in lit-up cages singing “Let’s Get Loudby JLo. The choir was led by Lopez’s daughter, Emme Maribel Muñiz. The children in the cages symbolized the Latino community’s current struggle, which is the entrapment of thousands of illegal immigrants at the borders, in which many children and adults have died in attempting to live a better life. Shakira then joined in on the drums while Jennifer Lopez jumped in with the high vocals. In no time, both JLo and Shakira were singing along with the choir and Emme.

Jennifer Lopez and her daughter Emme embracing their Puerto Rican roots

The performance than transitioned into Shakira’s song, “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa.)”  JLo walked around the dancers, hyping up the crowd, as Shakira’s choreography then changed into spectacular footwork to Afro beats. The two closed the show with male dancers applauding them and tossing their hips side to side as the beats dropped down, which had everyone screaming in empowerment. They hugged and thanked everyone in the audience.

The highly-anticipated show, unfortunately, resulted in tons of posts pinning the two talented women against each other over their artistic abilities. Immediately in the chaos of who would perform best, many people attempted to stop the hate: “Why is everyone making it a competition? Shakira and JLo both killed it tonight. I don’t see anyone asking who was better between Bad Bunny or J Balvin, why must women always be pinned against each other!? Can’t we just be happy FOUR Latinos performed the freaking SUPERBOWL HALFTIME SHOW!?” Twitter user Aimee Quirino exclaimed on the issue.

As memes quickly surged out across the internet, social media users couldn’t help but notice that Shakira wore the same exact outfit her Impala character wore in cartoon movie Zootopia.

Shakira and her Zootopia character’s outfits look strikingly similar

According to Forbes, the two artists will not be paid for their mind-blowing performance as no artist does. Big artists agree to perform at the Super Bowl Halftime Show due to personal dreams and because of the great honor to have millions of viewers just at home and thousands watching them perform at the stadium. The NFL only covers union scale, which is the minimum amount people in a union are paid to do a job, as well production costs, which the Wall Street Journal has reported have exceeded $10 million in recent years.

Fun fact: Shakira’s maroon boots are encrusted in 1,000 crystals!

Shakira and JLo absolutely rocked the stage with most saying they have definitely tied with Prince’s performance in 2007. Special congratulations to those two, but also Demi Lovato who delivered a “flawless” rendition of the National Anthem, according to Daily Mail.

View the full performance below!