Rihanna’s Tremendous Bowl Halftime Present Is Blowing Up YouTube – Did She Show Donald Trump Incorrect?

Sunday’s Tremendous Bowl LVII, through which the American Soccer Convention champion Kansas Metropolis Chiefs defeated the Nationwide Soccer Convention champion Philadelphia Eagles, noticed some 113 million viewers tune in – changing into the third greatest TV program in historical past. Those that weren’t cheering for both staff probably had been nonetheless within the high-profile adverts, whereas tens of millions extra tuned in to catch singer Rihanna’s halftime present.

Although she was accused by some on social media of the “worst lip sync ever,” followers had been nonetheless notably impressed by her efficiency.

That probably did not embrace former President Donald Trump, who took to his Fact Social platform final Friday to criticize the singer/actress, writing, “With out her ‘Stylist’ she’d be NOTHING. Unhealthy all the things, and NO TALENT!”

Trump clearly is not a fan, however tens of millions world wide actually are – as Rihanna is now the second-best-selling feminine artist of all time, incomes 14 number-one and 31 top-ten singles on the U.S. charts. She’s additionally a former Academy Award nominee and an NAACP President Award winner, who has been twice named by Time journal as one the of 100 most influential folks on the planet.

The singer has used social media to construct her model, and now has 107.8 million followers on Twitter and tens of millions extra on different social media platforms. That significantly exceeds the 87.6 million followers of Trump on Twitter or the 4.9 million followers he now has on Fact Social.

Tremendous Bowl Spectacle

Sunday’s halftime efficiency was her first because the 2018 Grammys, and the pop/R&B singer spent a lot of her efficiency on a sequence of suspended platforms above the precise stage. It reportedly required a staff of some 800 folks – from stage crews to digicam operators – to arrange the stage and to seize Rihanna, her seven band members and 80 dancers. The stage was carted onto the sphere utilizing 15 rolling buildings, whereas additionally defending the grass discipline – because the second half of the sport nonetheless needed to be performed.

Those that missed Sunday’s efficiency can now view it on YouTube, the place it was posted to the official NFL Channel on Monday. It has already been seen 38 million occasions and has amassed greater than 82,000 feedback.

“It is no shock these numbers moved to socials like YouTube afterward, the place followers may relive the second, or others may try what they missed. It’s in some ways an indication of not simply the significance of the platform, however Rihanna’s capacity to dominate it,” defined Mark Tavern, lecturer within the music business program on the College of New Haven.

“She was making an attempt for one thing visually iconic, however that targeted solely her and featured her voice,” added Tavern.

It additionally marked her return to reside music after one thing like 5 years.

“I am shocked that she did not use the platform to launch one thing on display screen, however I am additionally undecided she wanted to. I feel her child reveal was an vital assertion by itself: half celebration of her energy as a lady, half reminder of her energy as a vocalist, and half demonstration of the facility of her model,” urged Tavern. “It was a 13-minute business for her. Artists aren’t paid for his or her Superbowl performances. The platform is gigantic, and so is the publicity. Solely superstars want apply, and solely a famous person like Rihanna could make the efficiency larger than the occasion itself.”

Setting Data

After simply at some point the almost 15-minute-long halftime present has been seen extra occasions than Madonna’s 2012 Tremendous Bowl halftime efficiency, which was posted to the NFL’s YouTube channel two years in the past – and already has almost half the viewers of Katy Perry’s full Tremendous Bowl XLIX efficiency that has been seen round 78 million occasions because it was first posted six years in the past.

“Rihanna is an instance of a contemporary artist that’s virtually tailored for YouTube, as she is fashionable with youthful viewers who flip to streaming websites and social media to eat these video performances,” stated model advertising skilled and social media pundit Scott Steinberg.

As well as, Rihanna’s efficiency in only a day had a 3rd as many views as the overall variety of eyeballs for the precise recreation on Sunday.

“This can be a nice instance of how digital and streaming platforms are offering new income alternatives for the NFL – but in addition for different content material creators,” added Steinberg. “It’s also a approach for the NFL to succeed in a youthful viewers, which has grown up by watching content material on these platforms. Similar to Rihanna, these are digital natives that anticipate all the things to be clickable and viewable at a second’s discover.”