Super Bowl: the ads, Usher’s half-time show, Taylor Swift and everything but the football – live | Culture

Amid the rampant speculation about Usher’s halftime performance, this much you can take to the bank: he will be rollerskating (as he has throughout his Vegas residency), and he will be taking his shirt off. The R&B superstar divulged that much in a recent CBS interview with Gayle King. He further shared that despite winning eight Grammys, he’s never been able to express his immense gratitude to his worldwide fanbase. “The categories I’ve been in have never been televised,” he said, to King’s shock. Hence why tonight’s performance, he said, will be “a celebration of those records that have meant something to the fans, those records that have meant something to my life.”

Ads this year are estimated to cost companies around $7m for a 30-second slot which seems pretty reasonable when you find out how much celebrities are getting paid to star in them.

Last year, Ben Affleck reportedly made $10m for his Dunkins ad (he’ll be teaming up with them again for a commercial tonight) while Larry David also made $10m for his cursed FTX ad a year prior. “Part of my salary was in crypto — so I lost a lot of money,” he has said since.

According to CNN, at least two stars received more than $5m for ads tonight that see them star for less than 20 seconds apiece.

Benjamin Lee

Is Beyoncé going to return to the Super Bowl tonight in the form of a Verizon commercial? The phone company has been teasing that she might with her silver Renaissance horse featuring in a tease along with Tony Hale:

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Are Travis and Taylor really our new Ross and Rachel? Tonight would be one heck of a big season finale if so. Here’s Elle Hunt on the pair:

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As a tease of Usher’s big performance, some of the star’s nearest and dearest celeb pals (and a totally comfortable Tim Cook) have teamed up for this surprisingly elaborate Apple mini-movie:

Adrian Horton

One big question of the night already answered: Taylor is here!

Dressed in black with a red Chiefs jacket, accompanied by her mother, Andrea Swift, and friends Blake Lively, Ice Spice and Ashley Avignone.

Swift’s appearance was highly speculated but just recently confirmed, despite the Japanese embassy’s attempt to reassure fans that she would make it back from her Tokyo concert in time: “Despite the 12-hour flight and 17-hour time difference, the embassy can confidently Speak Now to say that if she departs Tokyo in the evening after her concert, she should comfortably arrive in Las Vegas before the Super Bowl begins,” the embassy said in a statement. Best of luck to Taylor at handling a super-dose of jet lag and time zone changes.

Ushering us in

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It’s that time again. Not to, you know, pay any attention to all that kicking and running but to marvel at the many cultural treats surrounding the event. The Super Bowl is here, which means the biggest, and shortest, concert of the year, some starry big-budget ads, a ton of first-look movie trailers and, this year, the potential of a real-life romantic comedy playing out in front of our eyes.

Usher is the half-time performer, which means that for those of us who have grown up alongside him, there will be a crippling rush of nostalgia around 7.45/8-ish, recalling tipsy, over-emphatic dance moves in the club and earnest mirror ballads at home. The singer has promised an “event” and given his recent experience commanding an 18-month Vegas residency, one can expect a rise to the occasion.

Big stars featuring in ads include Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck and, ermmm, Kris Jenner, while new trailers unveiling should include Twisters and Deadpool 3. Verizon is also teasing that it might have the biggest celebrity get of all – Beyoncé – but let’s wait and see.

Then there’s the Taylor of it all. The recent Grammy record-breaker’s newish beau Travis Kelce’s team is playing tonight, which led many to wonder if she will also be in attendance. As of yesterday, the singer was in Japan on her mammoth Eras tour but she is officially there, alongside celeb pals. Which means it’s now time to figure out which of her songs will soundtrack the last act big kiss. Stay tuned.