The Group Chat: Dance break
From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)
✅ The rubric: We rated shows based on five categories: Overall production, set design, set list, artist performance, and cultural impact. Our findings may be controversial — whether you agree or disagree, reply to this email with your take.
- Keep in mind, the bar is sky-high: Kendrick Lamar’s earth-shattering 2025 performance did not make our top five, so you know we’re picky. Now let’s dive in.
No. 5 Rihanna, 2023. 💪 Strength: Set list, cultural impact. 👎 Weakness: Overall production.
Let’s start with a hot take: While it’s universally beloved, Rihanna’s performance didn’t have the same “wow” factor as other recent shows. She started and finished on a floating platform that was cool but not unique; she didn’t bring out any other celebs (although she did have a surprise special guest); she picked one visual style and set design, and stuck with it for the whole 14-minute show.
- However, she belted out banger after banger while four months pregnant (!!!), pulling off a surprise baby bump reveal thanks to a suddenly ill-fitting jumpsuit. Women are simply amazing.
No. 4 Lady Gaga, 2017. 💪 Strength: Artist performance, overall production. 👎 Weakness: Cultural impact.
This halftime show doesn’t seem to have the cultural staying power of the others on this list, and that’s a damn shame. Did we all collectively forget that Lady Gaga began this performance with a drone show, then jumped off the roof of the stadium and sang live while soaring and flipping through the air?
- This show was ambitious — she set out to make the Super Bowl her own, from her spooky set design to her performance of LGBTQIA+ anthem “Born This Way.” The talent and showmanship cannot be denied.
No. 3 Shakira & Jennifer Lopez featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin, 2020. 💪 Strength: Artist performance, cultural impact. 👎 Weakness: Set design, set list.
One word to describe this show: energy. The Zumba class of your dreams was a party from start to finish. A love letter to host city Miami and the U.S.’s Latino community during a politically volatile period (sound familiar?), Shakira and JLo managed to make a political statement joyful, empowering, and unbelievably fun.
- This one was packed — of our top five, it had the longest set list by far, with guest appearances by J Balvin and Benito himself, plus covers of everyone from Cardi B to Bruce Springsteen.
- You barely settled into “Hips Don’t Lie” before it was onto the next song. We’re exhausted just reminiscing on it.
No. 2 Katy Perry featuring Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott, 2015. 💪 Strength: Set design, overall production. 👎 Weakness: Artist performance.
This show felt like a fever dream set to the radio hits of the 2010s — Perry entered the field on a 16-foot-tall mechanical lion and exited on a shooting star, and everything in between was completely over the top. The set design and overall production value are unmatched, and random-but-delightful appearances from Kravitz and Elliott allowed for not one, not two, but three outfit changes.
- When it comes to vocals and dancing, Perry was a bit out of her league, but she gets credit for singing live while doing…all of this.
- Last but certainly not least, the defining moment of this halftime show was of course the one and only Left Shark, the backup dancer that set the internet on fire and sparked a million memes. An icon.
No. 1 Beyoncé featuring Destiny’s Child, 2013. 💪 Strength: Artist performance, set design, cultural impact. 👎 Weaknesses: None.
In Super Bowl halftime shows, as in life, Beyoncé is without parallel. In the aughts, the halftime show was mostly classic rock artists (with a few notable exceptions). Madonna broke the mold in 2012, then Beyoncé set a new standard for the modern halftime as pop music’s ultimate spectacle. Every performer since has used this show as the blueprint.
- The set design? Stunning and innovative. The set list? No skips. The first-ever Destiny’s Child reunion? Come on. As for cultural impact, it’s one of the most instantly recognizable halftime performances — that black bodysuit lives in our heads rent-free.
