Two Latinas Conquer The World At Super Bowl

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Billboard

It was Sunday night when Jennifer Lopez and Shakira broke the internet together as they exploded the stage with their blasting performances at Super Bowl LIV Pepsi halftime show. It was an exciting match between Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, won by the former, but it was the duo’s performances that conquered the day at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. Those were electrifying 12 minutes of half time in which the Latinas jam-packed 20 songs.

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The 43-year-old Shakira, who was also celebrating her birthday, took on the stage first by opening with a greeting “Hola, Miami”. The superstar opened the set with the disco strut of ‘She Wolf’. Then, she pulled off a grunge rock performance with ‘Empire’, and later played out a rendition of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’, on her sequined black guitar. The Colombian singer has an absolute blast on the stage as she proceeded to her biggest hits ‘Whenever, Wherever’ and ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ as she drummed and crowed surfed in her shimmery red outfit.

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Following the static on the stage, JLo took over as she appeared on the stage, perched atop a replica of the Empire State Building while singing ‘Jenny from the block’. Lopez also struck a political note as she slid on her knees that rivalled Bruce Springsteen’s stunt in 2009. She honoured her heritage by wearing a feathered cape that showed the U.S. flag on one side and the Puerto Rican flag on the other.  The Puerto Rican singer was joined by her daughter Emme Muñiz and a children’s choir for the opening notes of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA’.

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The singers, Shakira and JLo, later appeared together for the finale in which they performed a celebratory version of Shakira’s ‘Waka Waka’ along with ‘Let’s Get Loud’ by JLo. The headliners were a delight on stage as they shimmied across enchanting the audience. They marked one of the most significant Super Bowl halftime performances in years.

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Before the duo’s performance, as the teams started playing, pop star Demi Lovato (who is also of Latin heritage) had given a full-throated, melismatic rendition of the US national anthem. Special guests also included J Balvin and Bad Bunny, two Latin American superstars who had a breakthrough in the U.S. in 2019.