Twitter Is Loving These Unexpected Stars Of The 2022 Super Bowl Halftime Show
They *were* the show.
After The Los Angeles Times released a scathing first-hand account of the alleged lack of wages and unfair working conditions that go into planning the show, fans of the Super Bowl halftime show are throwing their support behind the people who make the show what it is: the dancers. These tweets about the halftime dancers at the 2022 Super Bowl stan these stars for carrying the concert, despite their tumultuous journey to the Super Bowl stage.
Though the Super Bowl halftime show is always a flashy spectacle, dancing in the event is a little less glamorous. According to The Los Angeles Times, the show, which starred Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, and Mary J. Blige, also featured a mix of 400 professional dancers and volunteer field cast participants, who are often aspiring singers, dancers, actors, and musicians. However, many of those volunteers are reportedly not paid for being part of the show: According to the L.A. Times, producers for the show reportedly put out a call out for several hundred unpaid volunteer dancers for the show.
In a statement shared with the Times, an executive for Roc Nation, which produces the halftime show, said that there was a difference between the professional dancers, who were paid, and the volunteers, who were not. “The professional dancers are completely separate from the volunteer-based, non-choreographed field cast,” Jana Fleishman, executive vice president of strategy and communications for Roc Nation, told the L.A. Times. “As in years past, it is completely up to the volunteer candidates to participate. Volunteers are not asked to learn choreography.”
However, according to the publication, volunteers reportedly spent 72 hours over nine days in rehearsals learning the halftime choreography, and received no payment for their time or work. According to the article, some rehearsals lasted “as long as nine hours a stretch,” and volunteers were required to provide their own transportation to and from set for confidentiality purposes. The Times reported on February 8 that a deal had been reached to pay the on-field volunteers $15 an hour.
Still, during the show, many viewers were here to stan the dancers. Some people called out the alleged lack of payment, and some just wanted to party along with the pros, but everyone was celebrating the true stars who just showed up to dance.
IMO, the 2022 halftime show wouldn’t have been nearly as memorable without the dancers, and clearly, Twitter agrees.
