Beyonce, Bruno Mars heat up Coldplay’s Super Bowl halftime show

Coldplay headlined at Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show, but it was R&B super stars Beyonce and Bruno Mars who delivered the sizzle with a lively, upbeat production that paid homage to previous halftime performers.

Coldplay started things off with a mashup and medley of its hits: “Vida La Vida”, “Paradise” and “Adventure of a Lifetime”. She then met Bruno onstage for a bit of a dance showdown, and they were eventually joined by Coldplay’s Chris Martin – for an “Uptown Funk” reprise.

In some ways the halftime show harked back to earlier decades, with a marching band on the field (though it was hard to hear them in the mix). It was a gutsy move: Martin had said last week that he wouldn’t perform Coldplay’s collaboration with Queen Bey, “Hymn For the Weekend“, because it was too new.

The British band Coldplay was the headliner, but it had some much-needed help, starting with the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra and then including Bruno Mars and Beyonce, who saved the day. And all three artists gave tribute to past Super Bowl performances including by late singers Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson. The show ended with everyone singing “Up & Up” from “A Head Full of Dreams” while the Levi Stadium crowd held up signs that spelled out “believe in love”. The show sponsored by Pepsi was a musical celebration of past present and future.

Lady Gaga performed the national anthem splendidly to kick off Super Bowl 50. Perhaps relieved with the pressure done, she vamped a little on “the brave” at the end, causing a flutter among betting houses that annually set odds on how long it would take to sing “The Star Spangled Banner”.