Op-ed: Shakira and Jennifer Lopez brought the Latin heat to the Superbowl LIV
February 10, 2020
Shakira and Jennifer Lopez brought the Latin heat to the Superbowl LIV halftime show on Feb. 2 in Miami, Fl.
It was the first time that two Latinas would take the Superbowl stage together to make history.
Shakira opened the show with one of her singles “She Wolf,” which was a great song to start off with. It got the crowd going.
During her performance she surfed the crowd to get to the other side of the stage, and ended the moment with her now-infamous tongue expression. It left many people confused and it quickly turned into a meme. In reality, that tongue expression is an Arabic cultural tradition called Zaghrouta.
When Lopez came on stage she did not hold back on her performance. Her performance included pole dancing, something that she learned for her role in “Hustlers.”
Lopez used her performance to subliminally highlight controversial issues. At one point you could see the stage light up with kids in cages, touching on the current immigration issue.
She did not stop there. Her daughter, Emme, sang “Born in the USA” with her mother as she opened her arms and revealed the Puerto Rican flag.
Apart from both Latinas performing on stage, they brought out Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Bad Bunny and Columbian reggaeton artist JBalvin. Shakira and Bad Bunny performed “I Like It” together, and when Shakira sang “Chantaje,” Bad Bunny sang a snippet of his song “Callita.” Lopez and JBalvin performed “Mi Gente” together.
Throughout both of their performances they performed a medley of their hits on the stage. It included many types of different dance moves from Latin, African, and Middle Eastern countries.
The Superbowl halftime show was not sexy like some say it is, but rather both artists were trying to show that Latinos can put on a show especially, two Latina women. They gave it their all and ended it with a dance break. Shakira and Lopez both danced to “Waka Waka” and ended it with a salsa break.