“Look for us on TV!” I told my parents before my fiancé and I headed to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, for our very first Super Bowl.
“Oh, we’re not going to watch the game,” they replied. “But can you text us before Bad Bunny comes on?”
This year’s Super Bowl halftime show might have been even more anticipated than the Big Game. And after a lackluster performance from the New England Patriots against the Seattle Seahawks, it was clear that the real star of Sunday was Bad Bunny.
Here’s what it was like to watch his halftime show from the Super Bowl stands.
Right after the first half came to an end, dozens of crew members rushed to prepare the field.
We got a sneak peek at Bad Bunny’s set as we watched people wheel out carts with tall tufts of grass, a nod to the sugarcane fields of his native Puerto Rico.
Everyone in the stands laughed as we watched extras dressed as grass walk by.
I assumed the extras were going to dance, but they were actually added to accommodate rules for protecting the natural grass at Levi’s Stadium.
Bruce Rodgers, who has produced the Super Bowl halftime show for the past two decades with his company Tribe Inc., told Wired that the NFL limited how many carts could be wheeled out onto the football field. So the team decided to dress up performers to help re-create the lush greenery of Vega Baja, Bad Bunny’s hometown.
Andrew Athias, one of the extras, told Business Insider that the grass costume weighed 40 pounds. He flew to California from the East Coast and spent two weeks in rehearsals to be part of the field cast.
“I got paid $18.70 per hour for the gig, but I would’ve done it for free,” he said.
Every fan in the stadium was given a light-up football necklace.
Draped across every seat in the stadium was a football necklace with a lanyard decorated with Bad Bunny’s name.
Our necklaces automatically lit up during the performance, providing the glow you could see during the halftime show telecast.
Once the stage was set, we realized our seats were the farthest away from the performance.
La Casita, a major stage piece from Bad Bunny’s “No Me Quiero Ir De Aquí” residency, arrived at the end zone for the Super Bowl halftime show — just not the one we were behind!
Still, the excitement was palpable as Bad Bunny kicked off his 15-minute performance with “Tití Me Preguntó.” One guy in front of me even started FaceTiming his friend, holding the phone so she could watch the entire show.
We caught parts of the halftime show with the help of one of the stadium’s jumbotrons…
Bad Bunny walked through the tall grass, passing by various set pieces that paid homage to Puerto Rico — including stands selling Coco Frio and piraguas — at the start of his performance.
From the stands above, all we could see were the tops of the grass. However, a jumbotron directly across from our seats showed us what fans at home were seeing on their TV screens.
… but sometimes it only showed stock images.
Everyone around me was confused when the jumbotron in front of us kept cutting away from Bad Bunny to show random images, including some leaves and a cityscape.
People quickly realized that the screen behind us was still showing the halftime show, so we wondered if the stock images were due to a technical issue.
When I rewatched the show at home, I noticed our jumbotron was often visible on camera. I’m not an expert in production design, but I figure the decision might have been made to make it look less distracting in the telecast.
We completely missed the surprise cameos.
I found out that stars including Cardi B, Alix Earle, Pedro Pascal, and Jessica Alba made a quick surprise cameo during the halftime show, thanks to excited texts from my friends who were watching from home.
But there was no missing Lady Gaga.
Lady Gaga was also a total surprise for the fans in the stands, and I just about lost it when she appeared to sing a salsa version of “Die With a Smile.”
Alas, I have no pictures of this moment because I was too busy crying tears of joy.
The surprise halftime wedding went by in a flash.
Watching the couple say “I do” from the stands was a quick but special part of the show, especially when it was later revealed via ESPN that the couple had originally invited Bad Bunny to their wedding — only for him to invite them to get married during his Super Bowl performance instead.
Bad Bunny and his dancers ran across the football field for the parade of the Americas.
The show made its way over to our side of the football field as Bad Bunny’s backup dancers carried flags from countries in North and South America.
The show ended with fireworks and a powerful statement.
“The only thing more powerful than hate is love,” the sign read, evoking Bad Bunny’s statement during his Grammys acceptance speech the week prior.
The stadium erupted as Bad Bunny began singing “DTMF,” his message emblazoned for all to see — no matter where we were sitting.
As fireworks lit up California’s slowly darkening blue sky, I knew I had just watched something historic.
And yes, my parents loved it.
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