Unlikely trio wins fans over during the Super Bowl Halftime Show

Skeptical and unsure of the outcome for the show, with the questionable mix of talent presented from Coldplay, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars, audiences were shocked when an impressive performance was put on by the three headliners for the Super Bowl 50 halftime show. With a unique theme of past, present and future, this year’s halftime show was one for the books.

The show started off with Coldplay performing “Yellow” as a live band entered the stadium and revealed the lead singer Chris Martin. The next song played by Coldplay was “Viva La Vida” as the camera switched angles and showed an overhead view of the stage. With the stage being a circle, there was no room for a visual in the background as audiences are used to at a regular concert. Instead, audiences were immersed with color from Martin’s custom rainbow Jordan Spiz’ike sneakers to his live band of children dressed in rainbow jumpsuits. Along with wardrobe choice, the visual theme of Coldplay’s performance was also consistent with the vibrantly colored theme of the new album cover, “A Head Full of Dreams.”

The next performer to hit the stage was Bruno Mars. Mars started his show with his hit song “Uptown Funk.” While Mars was able to keep the audience engaged with his fun energetic song, he also kept up the energy up from Coldplay with a dance routine to go along with his song, which shortly transitioned from the stage to the field as the music blended together smoothly to transition into Beyoncé’s new song “Formation.”

In the field, about 50 African-American women were dressed like the notorious Black Panthers Party while Beyonce paid homage to Michael Jackson as she wore a military inspired black jacket very similar to the one Jackson wore during his performance in the 1993 Super Bowl.

The Black Panthers Party practiced militant self-defense of minority communities against the U.S. government, and fought to establish revolutionary socialism through mass organizing and community based programs. This uniform and structure of the dancers worked perfectly with the message of Beyoncé’s song “Formation” with lyrics like “My daddy Alabama, my momma Louisiana. You mix that negro with that creole make a Texas Bama. I like my baby hair, with baby hair and afros. I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils.”

After a short dance routine to “Formation,” the concert went back to a less political tone as they made yet another easy transition back into Mars’s “Uptown Funk” where Beyoncé hit the stage with Mars and a dance battle between the two crews commenced.

Beyonce did a few new urban dances including the milly rock and the whip, Mars continued his 90s theme with some MC Hammer moves. The two performers were able to bounce of each other’s energy and even competed in a dance battle. The audience was engaged so much that it no one seemed to notice when Beyonce tripped during the battle.

To end the concert, Martin re-joined the stage with Beyoncé and Mars to perform Coldplay’s song “Fix You,” which paid tribute to past Super Bowl performers, including a special moment for performers who have passed away such as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and James Brown.

The show ended as it started with another hit Coldplay song “Up and Up,” which brought back the underlying political tones that were prevalent throughout the show. As the three sang the uplifting song with lyrics like “We're gonna get it, get it together right now. Gonna get it, get it together somehow,” the camera panned out so audiences at home could see the viewers in the stands spell out the phrase “Believe in Love.”

The very last image that viewers were left with was a historic one with Beyoncé on the left side resting her hand on the shoulder of Chris Martin, who was in the middle, and Bruno Mars on the right side of Martin as they sang Martin’s “Up and Up” together. After the performance ended, the three artists looked out at the crowd and then each other, almost as if to acknowledge to one another that they knew they had just delivered a performance of a lifetime.