How will the FIFA World Cup halftime show feature performances by BTS, Madonna, Shakira, Burna Boy, Justin Bieber, Gustavo Dudamel and an orchestra in just 11 minutes?
That’s the biggest question heading into the first outing of the halftime event this weekend, and as the show’s executive producer, Done+Dusted’s Jay Carrington, says, Hollywood Reporterwill come through with a huge, tight, highly orchestrated mix and still hold some extra surprises as well.
“Obviously I wouldn’t give anything away in terms of the performance itself, but we spent months and months preparing it, developing it, and working with all the artists,” Carrington says. THR.“It’s a carefully orchestrated performance and it’s going to be amazing.”
FIFA first revealed the Halftime Show lineup in May, announcing the names of BTS, Madonna, and Shakira. The organization rolled out more artists last week, confirming Bieber and Burna Boy will also appear, along with Dudamel and the PS22 choir featuring Coldplay.
Coldplay’s Chris Martin oversaw bookings for the show, as he did for last year’s Club World Cup. When asked about the process of adding Bieber to the mix and when and how it happened, Carrington confirmed that it was mainly within Martin’s scope, but added: “I think there are conversations that have been happening for a long time.”
“The goal has always been to bring together the world’s best performers and create a real moment of collaboration and unity,” says Carrington. “Chris wanted to feel like he was representing the world, so we have artists from all over the world alongside these stars. It’s the idea of unity in a time when maybe things don’t seem as unified as they should, and creating something fun.”
The show serves a charitable cause as well, supporting FIFA’s Global Citizen Education Fund, which seeks to raise $100 million through its World Cup efforts. With $1 from every ticket throughout the cup going to the fund, FIFA has raised $60 million to this point.
The natural reference point for a show like this is of course the NFL’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, and that would be a natural conclusion given that FIFA’s show director, Hamish Hamilton, has handled every Super Bowl halftime performance since 2010. However, Carrington limits the comparison, adding that “we wanted to create something that felt organic to the tournament” and that “there wasn’t any real influence taken from any other shows or anything like that.”
“The fact that it’s the first half-time final of the World Cup, it makes sense to approach it a little differently,” he says. “We want something a little different to the norm. The expected viewing figures on Sunday will be massive, like the most-watched match ever, watched all over the world. I think he needed to feel like he represented that.”
Aside from the sheer amount of content that will be shown, the show also faces some logistical challenges and limitations, as the final will be played on more delicate natural turf, as opposed to the artificial turf that typically makes up MetLife Stadium during the NFL season.
“We are not under the illusion that the priority here is the game,” he says. “We’ve tested with cameras, we’ve tested what clothes people will be wearing. We’ll put a big tarp over the pitch to protect the turf. We want to be careful of anything that could fall out of anyone’s wardrobe. We want to make sure people’s shoes are lightweight, and take into account the amount of time people spend in certain areas. All of our training has been focused on making sure we put on an amazing show, but we do it without any impact.”
Some football fans around the world were upset this week after reports that the first half would exceed the 15-minute maximum time limit set in FIFA’s rule book for calculating width, concerned that the change could impact the game.
Carrington didn’t have much to say about it, saying on Friday that it “wasn’t something I really listened to,” but added: “We’re here to create a show that, like I said, [will have] He had little physical impact on the final itself.
Carrington confirms they have room for more surprises beyond what’s been announced as well, although at press time he declines to give too many hints at what else they have in store.
“Tune in on Sunday,” he says. “It’s 11 action-packed minutes.”
