Usher. Sound, Fury and Funk at the Super Bowl - FIVE CREATIVE TAKEAWAYS

R&B Superstar Brings Hits, Smashes and Surprises

Usher and HER at the Apple Music Supberbowl Half Time Show

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The R&B superstar brought his A-Game from A-Town to the Allegiant stadium. Creative direction mixed Vegas glamour, high end Guys and Dolls imagery and a big slice of funk wrapped in a set of beautiful Dolce and Gabbana and Off White costumes.

The show starts in a fantasy Vegas Venetian Carnival with Usher as its King in regal white. Somebody is catapulted in an arc behind Usher, a marching band arrives, dancers upon dancers appear, vanish and reappear. In the midst of the maelstrom conducting and keeping it tight is Usher showing himself fit, sleek and ready to leave everything out there. Clothes are gradually removed until Usher is topless for a minute. A quick change has him returning on roller-skates (!) in an Off White custom version of Tron which takes us through to the inevitable Yeah! finale.

There were superstar pop ups and pop ins. Alicia Keys appeared with the coolest bright red ‘60s sci fi moulded piano ever and brought a little tenderness while Will.i.a.m did what Will.i.a.m does. HER walked out onto the world’s biggest stage channelling the swagger of Slash, the cool of Prince and a big time female sensuality (see below) Other Guests included Jermaine Dupri and, obviously, Lil John and Ludacris.

There was lots to admire in the Creative Direction from Silent House Productions and lots for creatives to learn from the show including a little touch of humour at the beginning with a content advisory warning of “gyrations, and possible damage to relationships”!

Usher in Full D&G to get the show started

Here are my Five Big Creative Takeaways.

GIVE SPACE - Usher is an electric performer. His energy, charisma and talent could dominate anyone that he appears onstage with so the challenge is to find a balance between presenting a headlining star and allowing other performers space to shine. Usher achieved this perfectly by giving space and time for each Guest which also gave the show a variety of tone and texture. This takes creative input and talent management that gives the star the confidence to allow others in. The best stars know how to do this and Usher is up there with them.

TRADING PLACES - Usher is a very masculine performer who is not afraid to embrace femininity in his show. Look at the vest from his opening costume which was based on a Dolce and Gabbana beaded dress. From a performance perspective Usher was not afraid to be submissive to HER’s guitar solo nor to leave the stage to her. There was a beautiful gesture as Usher was leaving the stage and he gave HER the stage. Art and creativity fuse the masculine and feminine regardless of the stage.