The Super Bowl halftime show is always one of the biggest TV moments of the year, so when we found out late in 2016 that Lady Gaga had been picked for the gig, we knew we were in for something pretty spectacular.
And while the promo surrounding her most recent album has been rather on the subdued side, we were pleased to see that Gaga brought out all the bells and whistles as she performed a string of her biggest hits (and ‘Million Reasons’) for the millions watching live around the world.
In a 13-minute performance chock full of gif-able moments of total slayage, here are 18 of our favourites...
1. Opening the show with ‘This Land Is Your Land’
Yeah alright, it was rather on the cheesy side, but considering all the hoo-hah that had preceded Gaga’s performance about whether she’d be making a political statement, she managed to say a lot by not saying much at all.
2. Jumping off the actual stadium roof
Us, fleeing a party because someone turned off ‘Boys Boys Boys’ and put a ‘Joanne’ deep cut on.
3. All those dramatic pauses in ‘Poker Face’
Well, it wouldn’t be a Gaga performance without a bit of theeeeatre, would it?
4. Shaking her ponytail out in mid-air
That’s one way to get the windswept look, we suppose.
5. Singing ‘Born This Way’ at the world’s biggest sporting event
You can argue that Gaga could have done more in the way of politics at the Super Bowl, but we think singing “no matter gay, straight or bi, lesbian, transgender life, I’m on the right track baby I was born to survive” in front of millions of sports fans was still a pretty great moment.
6. That awkward moment someone rings you about PPI in the middle of a live show
”What? No, I’ve not been in a car accident in the past 18 months?”
7. The return of the Disco Stick
Bigger and better (and camper) than ever.
8. Her unique way of getting from one end of the stage to the other
You know that feeling when you need to hurry to the other end of the stage, but you’ve just leapt from the ceiling of a stadium, so you can’t quite be bothered?
Yeah well, Gaga does.
9. That blissful moment we could pretend it was 2008 again for two minutes
Ah, memories.
10. This fabulous dancer stealing the show, chucking bits of the set around
The exact opposite of Katy Perry’s ‘Left Shark’.
11. When she took a quiet moment to play the world’s cleanest piano
We don’t envy whoever’s job it is to polish that beauty.
12. This completely spontaneous and sincere hug during ‘Million Reasons’
How completely spontaneous and sincere.
13. This fabulous man letting us know that something epic is about to transpire
Moves like that can only mean one thing... ‘Bad Romance’ cometh.
14. Gaga’s take on the NFL jersey
Complete with studded shoulder pads and a glittering harness. Alexandra Burke wishes.
15. The perfectly-timed light show on the floor
Probably a good thing there were no planes flying overhead in that moment.
16. Seeing the original ‘Bad Romance’ choreography more than five years on
Some have suggested Gaga’s reliance on her old choreo is lazy, but this gave us a much-needed nostalgia kick to remind us why we fell in love with her in the first place.
17. Her actual mic drop
We can only imagine the relief she must have felt in that moment. No trip-ups, no one messing up their choreography and, most importantly, no out-staging from Beyoncé.
18. And... her exit
Flawless.
Watch the performance in full below: