Usher to bring strippers to his Super Bowl Halftime stage.
The most-watched annual TV event in the US is expected to feature talent of the exotic flavor next year. Slated for February 11, 2024, the Super Bowl will take place at Allegiant Stadium, in Las Vegas, NV for the first time in history, and the highly-anticipated halftime performer and eight-time Grammy award winning R&B legend, Usher, shares that he has plans to feature talent of the Vegas variety in his big show.
Various components of Usher’s recent Vegas residency are said to make an appearance in the performance which will show on millions of televisions across the country. However, the entertainers he’ll share the magnanimous stage with will likely come from his home in the South. Usher, who was born in Tennessee, but whose talent was discovered at the age of thirteen in Atlanta, GA, has always kept strong ties to the city known for Black music culture where his childhood fame arose from. And according to HipHopDX, the King of R&B will be “bringing some of Atlanta’s esteemed strip club culture with him to Super Bowl LVIII next year.”
No matter their source, fans can expect plenty of exotic dancers — a staple of Usher’s Las Vegas residency — during his Super Bowl Halftime show in Sin City.
“The Confessions crooner will reportedly incorporate the dancers in a “tasteful” way given the younger viewers who will be tuning in,” announces HipHopDX. “A roller skating routine is also expected to be part of the show, adding more ATL flavor to the spectacle.”
“Usher plans on having… pole dancers — dressed in a tasteful manner, of course as well as dancers on roller skates,” another source relays. “He is definitely keeping in mind that his younger fans will be watching.
“[He] just wants to set himself apart and make history as one of the greatest performers to hit the world stage. Beyoncé, Rihanna, Dr. Dre, Prince and Michael Jackson have all made memorable moments and now that Usher is taking the stage he wants to do something different, unforgettable and over-the-top.”
In a video featured below, Usher recently joined The Breakfast Club with confirmations of his Super Bowl performance plans.
“Let me tell you something, you know what I do in Vegas. It ain’t nothing but the lights, baby, but we gonna bring the lights out,” he says. “I’m trying to make certain that the world knows the legacy that is my career… But I’m playing the hits and I’m definitely bringing something that’s gonna leave you shocked.”
The NFL and Apple Music first announced Usher’s headline performance for the Super Bowl LVIII on September 24 with a promo video featuring Kim Kardashian and a young Usher re-enacting his 2004 “Confessions Pt. II” video.
“It’s an honor of a lifetime to finally check a Super Bowl performance off my bucket list,” Usher shares. “I can’t wait to bring the world a show unlike anything else they’ve seen from me before. Thank you to the fans and everyone who made this opportunity happen. I’ll see you real soon.”
JAY-Z, who is helping to produce the halftime show as part of his role as NFL’s live music entertainment strategist, voices his support for the opportunity being given to Usher.
“Usher is the ultimate artist and showman,” says JAY-Z. “Ever since his debut at the age of 15, he’s been charting his own unique course. Beyond his flawless singing and exceptional choreography, Usher bares his soul. His remarkable journey has propelled him to one of the grandest stages in the world. I can’t wait to see the magic.”
According to Fuse in 2014, Usher is the 10th most awarded recording artist of all time. Overall, Usher has won 339 awards from 633 nominations, but the Super Bowl performance will be a first.
The mid-40s record-producing star is not stopping any time soon. To take advantage of the limelight, Usher will also be dropping his new album, Coming Home, on Super Bowl Sunday. The album will feature the previously released single “Good Good,” ft. 21 Savage and Summer Walker, as well as “Boyfriend,” the song which went viral in the midst of Keke Palmer’s video assist drama during Usher’s Las Vegas residency.
“We’ve put a lot of thought and creativity into this new album to tell a story that is open to interpretation and that will connect with people in different ways,” Usher explains in a press release. “I know this has been a long time coming for my fans and what I’ll say is that all good things come to those who wait. I hope you enjoy it once you hear it.”
Usher has supported exotic dancers publicly for a long time in what some have called a feminist stance, and he has even written songs in praise of strippers such as, “I Don’t Mind” [excerpted]:
And for his performance of “Bad Girl” during his Vegas residency, he had a contraption of poles brought out on stage so that multiple entertainers could pole dance while he sang:
For all my chicks in the clubWho knows how to cut a rugIf you’re a bad girlGet at me, bad girl
Read the original story on HipHopDX here.
Featured image: source
