Halftime Show Review: Usher Brings his Brand of Sexy Energy to Vegas

For the first 3 quarters Usher was the only person bringing energy to the Vegas field. I texted Coop multiple times in the 3rd quarter asking for Usher to come back on and that he was my MVP. Luckily the game picked up in the 4th quarter and overtime, but Usher was still top 3 in my MVP voting. Having said that, let’s breakdown the Usher halftime show.

In general, I see this show as an 8 / 10, which was very enjoyable, but fell a little short of the last two years. The highs were the outstanding guest artists, unbelievable energy and showmanship…maybe too much at times…and everything I wanted out of Usher…great tracks, excellent vocals, no shirt and tons of over the top bling. On the down side it is hard to keep the energy up with mostly R&B ballads and sometimes there was way too much going on. I think the at times chaotic background of dancers, roller skates and crowd crazies was to up the energy on largely sexy R&B ballads. So, it is everything I wanted from an Usher show with a couple of pleasant surprises.

Some highlight tracks were starting the show in full Vegas Liberace mode, with bling and all white with a rocking white cape, singing Caught Up. He then proceeded to disrobe as background dancers went crazy and the ‘Usher ripping his shirt off’ moment came with much fan fare and a “LET’S GO!!!” from my living room in sunny Australia. The coolest shot was an overhead shot of Alicia Keys on a red piano with a dress that looked like it could cover the entire field as Usher danced over to sing My Boo. After last year’s 10 / 10 show with Rihanna with no guest artists, it was cool to get some surprise guest stars again. Usher and Alicia had great chemistry and were great on stage. There were roller skates, a costume change and guest stars H.E.R., Lil Jon, D.J. Snake and Will I Am making appearances. However, I jumped out of my seat when Luda came in for Yeah! We all knew Usher would play it, we all knew that Luda would probably be there, but that did not make the moment any less impactful. It was a great end with some high energy and a guest star all Usher fans were looking forward to.

Usher’s performance was mesmerising. Usher is known as a performer without peer and a performer who can connect immediately with his audience. All of that was on display as he ran around the stage, danced with grace and power and changed into some of the craziest bejewelled costumes I have ever seen. We went from ultra fashionable Rihanna who looked like she could strut down the runway in Milan, to Usher who looked like something out of a cross between Mad Max and Tron…and I loved all of it. He was really giving it and leaving everything on the stage. Putting the music aside, Usher’s performance on stage was one of the best in the last 6 or 7 years.

All and all I was really happy with the show and it lived up to the hype. It missed a 9 or 10 because the pace dipped a bit in the middle and didn’t really connect with me. I think the problem is that it is hard to keep the pace up when your hits are mostly sexy R&B tracks. Having said that, Usher is the current king of R&B and now the whole world knows why. Following this up with his new album makes 2024 a huge year for Usher and he deserves all the success he receives.