Usher delivered a respectable,if not forgettable,half-time show.

Usher delivered a respectable,if not forgettable,half-time show.

Meanwhile,some exciting news from Beyoncé at half-time meant that Usher’s performance was relegated to a footnote in a night full of “break the internet” moments.

So perhaps it was inevitable that this half-time performance felt much like watching an Usher residency show at the MGM Grand;slick,faultless,but underwhelming.

Before the show,a disclaimer jokingly warned viewers the performance would feature “singing,dancing,sweating,gyrating,and possible relationship issues”. What it didn’t mention was Usher on roller skates,arguably the high point of an otherwise forgettable 13 minutes.

Dressed in an all-white Dolce&Gabbana get-up and surrounded by his upbeat dancers,Usher emerged on the stage at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and launched straight into one of his best-known songs, Caught Up. Things picked up when Alicia Keys and her futuristic piano joined Usher on stage,Keys belting out a few bars ofIf I Ain’t Got You,before the pair linked up forMy Boo.

Alicia Keys and Usher embrace during the Super Bowl half-time show.

Alicia Keys and Usher embrace during the Super Bowl half-time show.

For viewers who grew up in theSo Fresh era,this was a fun trip down memory lane,but it failed to deliver the kind of moments the Super Bowl half-time show has become famous for. It’s rather telling that even in the lead-up,much of the buzz focused on whether Justin Bieber may join him on stage.

Sadly,there was no Bieber,and instead,we had to be content with Usher on roller skates whizzing through his back catalogue:Burn,U Got It Bad,OMG (with Will.i.am) andYeah!,featuring Lil Jon who also delivered a rendition of his popularTurn Down for What.

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Admittedly,the internet did unanimously agree that at 45,Usher is still in remarkable shape and has lost none of the moves that made him so famous. Unfortunately,slick moves and zero per cent body fat were not enough to turn this into one of the all-time great Super Bowl half-time shows.

No doubt,Usher saved the best for last,calling upon fellow noughties hitmakers,Ludacris and Lil Jon,to deliver a rousing rendition ofYeah! It was a high point in an otherwise middling show,but did it save the day?Nah!

Here is my confession:I would love to look like this at 45.

Here is my confession:I would love to look like this at 45.

Ultimately,Usher’s half-time show felt like the culmination of the unavoidable reality that even though he was the official entertainment,this Super Bowl has never been about him.

All Taylor Swift had to do was turn up (and even that required constant updates,as she jetted in from Tokyo),and she stole the show. While her boyfriend,Travis Kelce,was losing his mind on the field,Swift kept her cool in the players’ box.

No one knows how to deliver a moment quite like Swift,and in a move that was decidedly out of character,she was captured on camera downing her drink – a video you will be seeing on loop for the foreseeable future.

Joining Swift in the stands was a collection of famous faces,including rapper Ice Spice,actress Blake Lively,parents Andrea and Scott Swift,as well as singer Lana Del Rey.

But just when it seemed as if “Taylor Swift Watches Football” was going to be the dominant story of the day,Beyoncé proved that anything Swift can do,she can do better.

Using the grandest stage of all,Beyoncé starred ina Verizon ad which aired just after halftime,featured the pop superstar attempting and failing to “break the internet”,before saying at the very end of the ad,“OK they ready,drop the new music.”

And that’s precisely what happened,with the superstar releasing two new songs, 16 Carriages andTexas Hold ’Em,before announcing that her new album,Act II, would be released on March 29.

Between Beyoncé’s big drop and Taylor’s big day out,poor Usher never stood a chance.

Find more of the author’s workhere. Email him atthomas.mitchell@smh.com.au or follow him onInstagram at@thomasalexandermitchell and on Twitter@_thmitchell.

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