By Kendell Groom, Staff Reporter
On Sunday Feb. 2 at the Superbowl LIV halftime show, Shakira and Jennifer Lopez both performed on stage bringing their own spunk through their unique talent and culture.
Shakira performed three of her most popular songs, “She Wolf”, “Whenever, Wherever” and “Hips Don’t Lie”, along with bits of a few others. During each of these songs Shakira showed her belly-dancing skills, crowd surfed, played a searing guitar and had a salsa break.
Along with her talent, she brought along Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny halfway through her set.
Jennifer Lopez played numerous songs, including, “Love Don’t Cost a Thing”, “Jenny from the Block” and “On the Floor”. Lopez also brought a Colombian reggaetón star J Balvin for his hit song “Mi Gente”.
One of the most popular moments of the show was when Lopez’s 11-year-old daughter Emme was able to come on the stage and perform a song with her.
This was one of the most controversial halftime shows in Superbowl history. Social media is still talking about the women’s outfits, the provocative dancing and Lopez bringing spotlight on Puerto Rico instead of the USA. The performance also had a set on anti-immigration policies for the Latin community and those impacted, resulting in a very moving statement.
“I thought it was neat to see Shakira share some of her culture through her performance and dance,” said Brianna Teaff, a senior at HSU.
Many people believe that the performance was truly outstanding, however there was also people who found parts disturbing.
“The performance was fantastic to be honest except for the part where Shakira did that weird thing with her tongue,” said Rachel Bean, a junior soccer player.
The tongue moment that Shakira did was a celebratory gesture with Middle Eastern roots. Shakira was simply celebrating the big stage, and potentially because it was her birthday that evening as well.
“It was a good performance and very entertaining. It was so cool to see the two different cultures coming together to perform something different for a change,” said Matthew Sandoval, a senior football player.
This halftime show was surely different than most, bringing different cultures, themes and diversity to the stage.