The night dragged on a little longer.
The two teams, unable to decide between themselves during regulation time, continued for fifteen more minutes.
In these overtimes, it was the more experienced Kansas City Chiefs who made the difference and won the 58th Super Bowl in history against the San Francisco 49ers, thanks to the inevitable Patrick Mahomes, their quarterback, a new decisive time.
In the stands, Taylor Swift, who came to support her Chiefs boyfriend Travis Kelce, is exultant.
The epilogue of one of the most scrutinized evenings of the year in the United States, and not just for sporting reasons.
An undecided meeting
The match, long undecided, was played at the very end of overtime.
With four seconds remaining, NHL superstar Patrick Mahomes, who would be named MVP of the game, found his teammate Mecole Hardman in the corner of the end zone.
“JACKPOT KANSAS CITY!”pic.twitter.com/AM0DtgaKXK
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) February 12, 2024
The stab for the San Francisco 49ers, who led most of the match but suffered the law of the rogue and gifted Chiefs.
San Francisco can blame themselves, especially the failed conversion attempt at 16-13 which would have given them a 4-point lead and perhaps avoided overtime.
EXTRA POINT BLOCKED!
49ers lead 16-13.
pic.twitter.com/kEfUIrULiH
— Craig R. Brittain (@RealBrittain) February 12, 2024
The meeting was also marked by record kicks: Jake Moody (49ers) made one from 55 yards (50 m), which had never been achieved, before his Chiefs counterpart, Harrison Buckler, did better a few minutes later (57 yards, or 53 m)!
Taylor Swift puts on a show
She was not on the official program but we saw her a lot: Taylor Swift often appeared on the giant screens of the stadium and those of the match broadcasters.
In a relationship for several months with one of the stars of the Kansas City Chiefs, Travis Kelce, she is adored in the United States, and has allowed the NFL, the US football championship, to go even further beyond the sole framework of the athlete .
Taylor and co are LOVING IT pic.twitter.com/L8xeLAIm9n
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) February 12, 2024
At the end of the meeting, she almost fell backwards while celebrating the victory in the stands, notably in the company of her friend, the rapper Ice Spice.
In the box that her companion had rented in the Las Vegas stadium (value for the meeting: 1 million dollars), she is also accompanied by the stylist Ashley Avignone, the actress Blake Lively and even her mother, Andrea Swift .
For a short moment, Lana Del Rey pops her head into the dressing room to chat for a few minutes with Taylor Swift.
A moment captured by the cameras, of course.
Travis and Taylor.
🥹❤️ pic.twitter.com/wCb19KO0Qa
— NFL (@NFL) February 12, 2024
After the match, she goes down to the pitch where her companion shouts into the announcer's microphone, singing one of her trademarks, the Beastie Boys chorus: You gotta fight for your right to party. rights to party).
Then the two come together and kiss.
Usher celebrates 30 years of RnB
A little earlier, during halftime, the most watched annual show on American TV (115 million viewers last year) allowed Usher to review 30 years of R'n'b, through titles that he liked and others that made him known.
On stage, he welcomes Alicia Keys, HER, Lil Jon, and Ludacris.
13 minutes of high intensity, with brass orchestra on the lawn.
His fee for the service?
Non-existent.
The NFL and Apple finance the production of the show, but the artists are not paid, except in notoriety.
Usher releases a new album this month, “Coming Home.”
Usher, Lil Jon and Ludacris perform “Yeah!”
at the Apple Music #SuperBowl Halftime Show pic.twitter.com/YzTLyYWHIK
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 12, 2024
Offbeat… and political ads
The biggest American companies have reserved their moment, to appear in one or another commercial break.
At each timeout or at the end of each quarter, which is to say very often, an advertising screen is launched.
We see Christopher Walken amused that there is, like the brand he promotes, only one real Christopher Walken and that everything else is just an imitation.
Another advert is directed by Martin Scorsese, who appears for a few seconds on screen, where he films the arrival of extraterrestrials on earth, forced to create a website to make themselves known to humans.
Martin Scorsese's Super Bowl ad for Squarespace, “Hello Down There” pic.twitter.com/RFdslBac6q
— Eyes On Cinema (@RealEOC) February 8, 2024
A platform of artisanal products finally ridicules France and the French: the advertising imagines that the United States, to thank France for giving them the Statue of Liberty, decided to send in return... a cheese platter , because the French love cheese of course.
Other screens have had a more political side, animating debates on social networks: the presidential candidate (independent), Robert Kennedy, takes up the same idea as his uncle, JFK, in 1960. A religious organization, as for she uses her airtime to encourage Americans not to hate.
On the networks, some accuse the organization of transforming Jesus into a “woke”…
Stars in the stands
lady gaga and beyoncé watching the #superbowl pic.twitter.com/sGwfFnTqzN
— pop culture gal (@allurequinn) February 12, 2024
What did they think of the show?
Like every year, the stands at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas welcomed many stars.
We saw Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Gwen Stefani, LeBron James, Luke Combs… The Super Bowl is the event to watch as much as the one to be seen.