Super Bowl 2021: From the performances and the adverts - here's what you missed
Tom Brady has stolen Monday morning's headlines - the NFL legend bagged his seventh Super Bowl on Sunday as his team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, beat the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9. He even broke his own record for oldest player to win a Super Bowl.
“You get this far and you wanna get the job done and we did it,” Brady said. “We just believed. I'm so proud of the guys.”
Despite their victory, Brady and the Buccaneers weren't the only star attractions at the Super Bowl. If you weren't around for the game, here's what you might have missed:
The half-time show
Pop star The Weeknd headlined the Super Bowl half-time show, breaking with tradition by not bringing out any special guests.
He kicked off his 14-minute set in his signature red blazer and sunglasses, belting out hits like Call Out My Name, The Hills and Earned It.
For the first time in Super Bowl history, coronavirus protocols forced The Weeknd to largely perform from the stands, rather than the pitch.10 minutes into the performance, however, he and dozens of his dancers hit the field to perform latest chart-topper Blinding Lights.National Anthem performance
Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church sang The Star Spangled Banner on Sunday - an odd pairing (Ms Sullivan is known for her RnB hits, wheras Eric Church is a country star) but the pair pulled it off.
Church kicked off the performance, while Sullivan joined later. They finished the song together - Church letting Sullivan stand front and center.
Before their performance, Grammy-winning dinger H.E.R. performed a rendition of America the Beautiful.
The advertsThe Super Bowl is almost as well known for its advert breaks as it is for athleticism. Brands spend millions of dollars on airing splashy, star studded ads to the estimated 100 million viewers who tune in to the Super Bowl each year.
On Sunday, Cadillac enlisted Call Me By Your Name actor Timothée Chalamet to portray Edward Scissorhand’s son enjoying the Cadillac Lyriq’s hands-free technology. Winona Ryder revisited her role in the classic 1990 film as his mother.
State Farm showed Paul Rudd and Drake as advert set stand-ins, while Hellmann’s enlisted comedian Amy Schumer as a "fairy Godmayo" helping a man deal with his leftovers.
Jeep’s two-minute ad featuring Bruce Springsteen broadcasting a political message. The Boss urged viewers to find common ground.
“It’s no secret the middle has been a hard place to get to lately, between red and blue, servant and citizen, freedom and fear,” Springsteen said, adding “we need the middle.”
Notably, none of the ads featured people in masks, a public-health priority for Biden's administration.
Super Bowl's first ever poetry reading
Amanda Gorman, the 22-year-old poet who stirred America at the inauguration of President Joe Biden last month, again commanded the spotlight on one of the country’s biggest stages, the Super Bowl.
Gorman read an original poem, called Chorus of the Captains, during the pregame festivities. It was the first poetry reading in Super Bowl history,
Chorus of the Captains is a tribute to three people for their contributions during the pandemic: educator Trimaine Davis, nurse manager Suzie Dorner and Marine veteran James Martin.
Gorman didn’t perform on the field but appeared in a taped video message.