Usher joined by Alicia Keys at Super Bowl half-time show

R&B star Usher delivered a hit-heavy half-time show at Sunday’s Super Bowl – with help from will.i.am, Alicia Keys, Ludacris… and a pair of roller skates.

A disclaimer shown before the performance jokingly warned viewers it may cause “singing, dancing, sweating, gyrating and possible relationship issues”.

It would go on to deliver on all fronts.

Dressed in all-white and surrounded by a swarm of energetic dancers, Usher emerged on the stage at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and launched straight into one of his best-known songs, ‘Caught Up’.

It kicked off a dynamic performance which took advantage of the 45-year-old’s dancing skills and sizeable back catalogue.

Before his half-time show, Usher admitted it had been “a challenge to squeeze 30 years into 13 minutes”. But the singer did an admirable job of cramming in as many of his most recognisable songs as possible.

The set featured acrobats and a brass band so large there were enough members to spell out “USHER” on the grounds of the stadium as he was performing.

The singer switched effortlessly between the two apexes of his music: club anthems and sex jams.

Usher and his dancers performed a routine from his Vegas residency using roller skates and some songs ran for a full verse and a chorus, while others for just a few seconds. A tiny snippet of ‘Superstar’ appropriately saw him sing only the lyrics: “Spotlight / big stage / 50 000 fans screaming in a rage” – as if to hammer home the magnitude of his Super Bowl show.

The dancers who surrounded him – many of whom had only travelled a short distance from his Vegas residency – wore colourful, even outlandish outfits, perfectly complementing his central performance and adding to the sense of spectacle.

Once Usher was a few songs deep and well into his groove, he took a back seat as his first guest, Alicia Keys, appeared behind a bright red piano wearing a matching sparkly red outfit, launching into one of her own biggest hits, ‘If I Ain’t Got You’.

The pair then joined forces to perform their duet ‘My Boo’ – providing one of the sweetest moments in a performance full of reunions, as the pair joyously recreated their 2004 smash. – BBC

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