The Weeknd is going all in for this year’s Super Bowl halftime show.
The singer, 30, will put $7 million of his own money into this year’s performance, according to Billboard.
This comes after Pepsi, which sponsors the halftime show, announced that it was joining other advertisers in scaling back their Super Bowl 2021 commercials. The soda company said it would instead focus on its halftime show featuring the Grammy-winning, TikTok dance-inspiring “Blinding Lights” performer.
Last year’s halftime show, headline by Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, drew about 102 million viewers.
But with more fans forced to stay home this year — and likely glued to their TVs — The Weeknd said he’s hoping to make his show a more “cinematic experience,” he told Billboard.
He fronted the show with his own money to “make this halftime show be what he envisioned,” said his manager, Wassim “Sal” Slaiby, 41.
The singer remained mum on what exactly the money will be spent on, or the setlist he expects to perform. However, a teaser for the show features a montage of fans enjoying “Blinding Lights,” including a grocery store worker and a pool cleaner dancing to his tune like no one’s watching.
Billboard reported Thursday that the show would be twice as long. However, reps for the singer told The Post that was incorrect, and that he’ll be performing for the usual length of about 13 minutes. Billboard issued the following statement: “A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that The Weeknd’s Super Bowl halftime performance would be 24 minutes long. As in previous years, it will be roughly 12-13 minutes long.”
The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, has been staging an elaborate lead-up to his performance at Florida’s Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium, appearing in public with an increasingly beat-up face. The schtick carried into his latest music video for “Save Your Tears,” which featured him with some disturbing CGI plastic surgery. Though he later appeared to have his old face back again in a trailer for the Super Bowl, fans have begun to wonder what new look he might unveil at this year’s show.
The hype around his now-longer halftime performance follows a disappointing lack of Grammy 2021 nominations, despite the commercial success of his latest album, “After Hours,” which spawned countless viral dance videos on TikTok with the hit single “Blinding Lights.”
Typically, the halftime show, valued at about $13 million, requires months of planning to pull off. This year’s show comes with the added complication of the coronavirus pandemic, which has pared down the size of the stadium’s audience by about a third.
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