6 minutes ago, QueenB said:

Beyoncé bowl is not better than 2013's halftime show.

The recency bias a lot of you have is questionable

Conceptually it's MUCH better.

She was much more experienced in 2024, but nothing will ever match the way she ate that stage in 2013 apart from Coachella

sure the concept is better.. but Beyoncé was at her performance PEAK, intense choreography, LIVE vocals, BETTER guests, NO blackbird

2013 had it all

She should just recreate her VMA 2016 performance for the SB again. The way people would lose their shits if they saw that that performance was just immaculate

2 minutes ago, Kristie Kuwa said:

She should just recreate her VMA 2016 performance for the SB again. The way people would lose their shits if they saw that that performance was just immaculate

or even the 2014 one... the Jealous/Blow transition

I also rewatched her 2013 Super Bowl and the setlist is just awful. End of Time's inclusion will NEVER make sense to me. Like seriously what was the move there??

I would pay money to change history and have her done the Super Bowl in 2014 right off the release of ST instead.

Just now, brutal said:

I also rewatched her 2013 Super Bowl and the setlist is just awful. End of Time's inclusion will NEVER make sense to me. Like seriously what was the move there??

I would pay money to change history and have her done the Super Bowl in 2014 right off the release of ST instead.

It's not like Self Titled songs would've worked in a high energy performance in a stadium.

End of Time is there to showcase her band.

17 minutes ago, brutal said:

I also rewatched her 2013 Super Bowl and the setlist is just awful. End of Time's inclusion will NEVER make sense to me. Like seriously what was the move there??

I would pay money to change history and have her done the Super Bowl in 2014 right off the release of ST instead.

there would be no ST without SBHT in 2013

End of time is high energy. Why wouldn't she perform it at the superbowl?

6 hours ago, swissman said:

It's not in her Top 5, but not in Top 100 is crazy.

The unflattering photos bit is especially odd to call out as a negative against this performance. Her ferocity is what makes this performance so good. She was GIVING it. I don't think she ever gave it as hard in Single Ladies (especially after DC left), and it's amazing to see.

And I think the callouts were what made it so personable, evening out how locked in she was. The moment near the end when she is smiling then suddenly changes the direction she's looking at and locks in (during Halo) is a great example of this: Sasha Fierce vs. Beyoncé at its finest.

The hair and makeup aren't my fave either, but rewatching it and seeing the duplicate versions of her in Baby Boy made me reallllllly glad that she didn't do the side-swept hair that was filmed for that section, which I'd assume was the intended hairstyle until they did it parted in the middle.

AND I think it's her greatest entrance. I get chills EVERY time.

Each to their own. Single Ladies after Kelly and Michelle left was just a repeat of VMAS 2009 but not as good to me.

I'm genuinely glad other people loved it and I wish I did. There's nothing hatable about it, it just didn't HIT for me like every other show usually does.

Baby Boy into DC medley was the only part that was a vibe to me. I was glad BB on MCSWT was kept similar.

1 hour ago, Draper. said:

It's not like Self Titled songs would've worked in a high energy performance in a stadium.

End of Time is there to showcase her band.

in hindsight it's very silly she went with End of Time instead of literally anything from B'day...

but at the time 4 was her most recent album and she probably thought she should include something from it besides the Love on Top intro.

see, this is why I think she could SMASH another Super Bowl halftime show after act iii. she's put out 4 immaculate studio albums since then.

She won't be doing a 2nd SB, has anyone?

Like why isn't her SB on her channel and NFL. She is so messy

38 minutes ago, kimberly said:

in hindsight it's very silly she went with End of Time instead of literally anything from B'day...

but at the time 4 was her most recent album and she probably thought she should include something from it besides the Love on Top intro.

see, this is why I think she could SMASH another Super Bowl halftime show after act iii. she's put out 4 immaculate studio albums since then.

I'm pretty sure she was meant to perform Grown Woman where end of time was meant to be. Anyone else remember she was supposed to do a Corvette sponsorship during the show that got cut out? Glad that ended up being cut

41 minutes ago, Shelter said:

She won't be doing a 2nd SB, has anyone?

Like why isn't her SB on her channel and NFL. She is so messy

The only other person to not have their show up on the NFL channel is Madonna, but she has hers up on her own page... it's genuinely annoying how hard it is to find performances, and all because she's trying to find a way to sell them or put them behind a paywall

5 minutes ago, QueenB said:

The only other person to not have their show up on the NFL channel is Madonna, but she has hers up on her own page... it's genuinely annoying how hard it is to find performances, and all because she's trying to find a way to sell them or put them behind a paywall

And all the while a whole new generation is NOT learning about her or her performances unlike the other girls

Some of y'all are allowing boredom to morph into delusion lol.

On what planet is the Christmas Day Halftime in any way better than 2013? Or even 2016 tbh.

That's at best recency bias and at worst not really knowing what makes the woman you stan.

2013 is literally what "Beyonce" - as both a concept and an actualized megastar - IS. And there's no real debate around it.

I will always appreciate her evolution, and I love how every step post-2013 has facilitated her legendary status of now.

BUT... the two televised performances that define and encompass the raw material matter that is Beyonce (in all her fullness) are the 2013 Halftime and Homecoming.

9 minutes ago, Cbreezy said:

Some of y'all are allowing boredom to morph into delusion lol.

On what planet is the Christmas Day Halftime in any way better than 2013? Or even 2016 tbh.

That's at best recency bias and at worst not really knowing what makes the woman you stan.

2013 is literally what "Beyonce" - as both a concept and an actualized megastar - IS. And there's no real debate around it.

I will always appreciate her evolution, and I love how every step post-2013 has facilitated her legendary status of now.

BUT... the two televised performances that define and encompass the raw material matter that is Beyonce (in all her fullness) are the 2013 Halftime and Homecoming.

Exactly. I am a fan of Bey because of her talent and not just aesthetics. People are only saying Bey bowl is better because of the concept and not the performance. Bey will will always give a performance but everybody knows the 2013 and 2016 superbowl performance was better. No shade but some of the beyhive have changed. I feel like the transformation of the hive started with Ren. Fonts saying she did too much on the 2013 one is weird when everybody knows Bey loves being extra on stage and real fans love that about her. Bey high energy while performing set her apart from the other acts. She wasn't afraid of looking crazy.

1 hour ago, Shelter said:

She won't be doing a 2nd SB, has anyone?

I kind of feel like this, too.

Those touting Jay being in charge highlight the exact reason it probably WON'T happen. It's too literal, too on-the-nose, and too inviting of crazy critique.

Conjecture, perhaps, but I feel like Bey has an OCD of sorts around "been there, done that, what's better" as well as the pretty rational reality that any future performance would absolutely be compared to 2013/2016.

I don't doubt her ability to deliver something next-level, but I just don't know it's worth it having a 40/50-something-year-old Bey being compared to her physical peak a decade prior.

That said, never say never. The industry is actually starved of actual showstopping performers. So, I don't think it's totally off the table.

IMO, the most realistic scenarios are:

* Jay does it himself (probably whenever/if ever the NFL is about to end its Roc Nation deal). I could see a Jay and friends scenario. At which point Bey would be a must.

* All-Star Halftime: think the Dre, Mary, Eminem one but made up of previous headliners who are considered the gold standard. Again, a sure-fire way to get Bey in the mix, but in a way that feels fresh and not re-treading old terrain. Sharing would, by design, facilitate the need for a different approach and limit the comparability to before.

* Standard guest on some future Halftime. This one is hard because there is such a dwindling number of top tier acts that could warrant a Beyonce appearance. IMO, we're talking a very select few like an Adele (like, on a collab or something). And while I could care less about the following, it's same for like a Taylor or Harry. Pop out for a collab moment.

45 minutes ago, QueenB said:

and all because she's trying to find a way to sell them or put them behind a paywall

she's so annoying

Freedom on BET Awards
MTV VMAs Medleys
Love Drought/Sandcastles at the Grammys
Stevie Wonder tribute at the Grammys
2013 Halftime Show

there's absolutely no reason these are only available as unofficial uploads on YouTube besides her not wanting to give away publishing rights.

IMO She should join Jay when he eventually does his show but I know she won't so he can have "his moment"

6 minutes ago, futuresuperstar2023 said:

Exactly. I am a fan of Bey because of her talent and not just aesthetics. People are only saying Bey bowl is better because of the concept and not the performance. Bey will will always give a performance but everybody knows the 2013 and 2016 superbowl performance was better. No shade but some of the beyhive have changed. I feel like the transformation of the hive started with Ren. Fonts saying she did too much on the 2013 one is weird when everybody knows Bey loves being extra on stage and real fans love that about her. Bey high energy while performing set her apart from the other acts. She wasn't afraid of looking crazy.

Agreed.

IMO, it's a few things.

Stans (including some of the Hive) typically gravitate to what is most revered for bragging rights. Bey, for the last decade and some change, has been in the most critically acclaimed stage of her career thus far. As such, I don't think it's any coincidence that select corners of the Hive will auto-float in the direction of her most recent praised moment as somehow being better than everything else.

The next one is actually a "good" problem to have.

Bey has such a wide-ranging fanbase and legitimately is in unprecedented territory in terms of how long her reign has spanned.

You have folk like me who have stanned her from DC's first single and still live for the brilliance of her present-day output. So, kind of assess everything collectively when having these "best of" debates.

And then you have fans, on the primary merit of their young(er) age, who come into their Hive-ness in her latter career.

Like, when thinking about it, there are legit 20-something-year-old Hive now who were literal children when ST/Lemonade came out. For a lot of them, Lemonade Beyonce IS Beyonce to them. For them, it's almost like: F**k DIL, F**k B'Day, F**k 4 (especially lol). Similarly, Xmas Halftime may very well be the first Bey Halftime they've experienced in real-time.

I may not agree with a lot of 'em (for they know not of what they speak lmao), but I kinda understand it.

27 minutes ago, Cbreezy said:

Some of y'all are allowing boredom to morph into delusion lol.

On what planet is the Christmas Day Halftime in any way better than 2013? Or even 2016 tbh.

That's at best recency bias and at worst not really knowing what makes the woman you stan.

2013 is literally what "Beyonce" - as both a concept and an actualized megastar - IS. And there's no real debate around it.

I will always appreciate her evolution, and I love how every step post-2013 has facilitated her legendary status of now.

BUT... the two televised performances that define and encompass the raw material matter that is Beyonce (in all her fullness) are the 2013 Halftime and Homecoming.

I think the only reasonable explanation is they weren't stans back in the day and/or too young.

I've noticed an odd trend of negativity on her work pre-Renaissance from fans (not just on atrl, but also on social media), anything popular back in her peak is looked at as "beneath" who she is now, when that was the foundation that made her who she is today. Mayhaps it's partially because they joined the beyhive recently during her settling down period, but you don't see fans of other artists saying "Why would she have like a virgin on the setlist when her new stuff is so much better" like you do when you bring up "I wish naughty girl was on the next setlist".

It's... weird...

1 hour ago, Doogle said:

And all the while a whole new generation is NOT learning about her or her performances unlike the other girls

Major problem. Such a shame

29 minutes ago, Cbreezy said:

Some of y'all are allowing boredom to morph into delusion lol.

On what planet is the Christmas Day Halftime in any way better than 2013? Or even 2016 tbh.

That's at best recency bias and at worst not really knowing what makes the woman you stan.

2013 is literally what "Beyonce" - as both a concept and an actualized megastar - IS. And there's no real debate around it.

I will always appreciate her evolution, and I love how every step post-2013 has facilitated her legendary status of now.

BUT... the two televised performances that define and encompass the raw material matter that is Beyonce (in all her fullness) are the 2013 Halftime and Homecoming.

Essentially you're saying that 2013 has to be better than Christmas Day because one is more "Beyonce" and the other is just CC? Why does that have to determine the quality of the performance?

Christmas Day had better staging and production (full use of the field, a different setting/backdrop for almost every song), a little more singing, the full context of the music being allowed to come through with the huge brass band, marching drummers, marionettes and the performance actually being in Texas. Better outfits (hello Emmy?) and hair/makeup. I could go on... it just HIT.

She absolutely came to play ball with this performance but it didn't feel like she was over-anxious to prove herself to the naysayers on the back of giving birth and the inauguration controversy, which is how 2013 comes off on me tbh.

I love plenty of performances that give quintessential Beyoncé (Glastonbury, MCSWT, Homecoming) but OG Super Bowl just doesn't really do it for me.

Pls don't put me in Beyhive jail.

The 2013 SB was the perfect time to do it and given what we know she can do now, it was because of it. She really ramped her performances after the SB. The camera work, the lighting… it really made her production go through the roof. The setlist was ok, EOT was a miss and something else could have taken its spot.

I would love to see what she would do now.