advertisement

Katy Perry says halftime show will make you 'Roar'

Katy Perry, the pop star with more Twitter followers than anyone on Earth, is set to take the halftime stage at the Super Bowl on Sunday. What will she sing? What will she wear? How many people dressed as cats will be involved?

She says her Super Bowl halftime performance will make you “Roar” — with animals.

The singer told reporters at a press conference Thursday that her performance will include “a lion and sharks.”

“It's going to be wild out there,” Perry teased.

Here's everything that we know so far:

She's going to sing all of her popular songs.

Perry told ESPN that she's “squeezing in as many familiar hits as possible” with a mash-up of songs so that people in the stadium and at home can sing along. So, let's see, that probably means “Hot n Cold”; “California Gurls”; “Teenage Dream”; “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)”; “Wide Awake”; “Dark Horse.” She said the audience can expect to hear two of her hits, “Roar” and “Firework.” Given how cautious halftime shows have become, is she allowed to sing “I Kissed a Girl”?

It's going to be funny.

“I want to bring the humor, I want to bring the color, I want to bring the sass and I want to bring the incredible joy,” Perry said in an interview with the Daily Mail. “I'm not so serious and there's going to be a lot of fun, a lot of humor in it.” (Based on Perry's feline obsession, we're assuming this means there will be cats.)

Lenny Kravitz will be there.

Perry teased Kravitz as one of the special guests. So, “American Woman” will probably be on the playlist.

Kravitz and Perry have been texting each other ideas. “You might not expect this ... the song choice,” Kravitz told E! on the red carpet at the SAG Awards.

Perry said her performance will also include an “old school” female singer who she declined to identify but said would be instantly familiar from the get-go. “When you hear the first ring of the chord, I think jaws will drop and faces will melt,” she said.

Later Thursday, a person familiar with the plans for the halftime show told The Associated Press that the surprise guest is slated to be Grammy winner Missy Elliott, who was featured on a remix of Perry's song “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.).” The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because Elliott's participation had not been announced by the NFL.

Perry will be on stage for 12½ minutes.

“I know the responsibility I've been given for 12½ minutes,” Perry told the Daily Mail, adding “Sometimes you can't control other people, but I can control myself.”

Hmm, so does this mean no unpleasant surprises for NBC, a la M.I.A.'s middle finger? Or that she won't (as rumors suggest) use the platform to introduce a new song that disses her frenemy Taylor Swift?

We'll see, but Perry promises to be on her best behavior. “There's no trying to sabotage myself,” she said. “I have no other motive besides the music and to share the songs that I've created over the years.”

Perry said one element of the show is the unfurling of a giant screen that will go on the field for visual effects, and she'll also change her outfit several times.

She said the logistics of the performance will be difficult, and she plans to sing through much of it. “A lot of it will be live,” she said.

Perry is inspired by a combination of Diana Ross, Madonna and Beyoncé.

Diana Ross dropped the mic and was lifted off the stage via helicopter. Madonna had great graphics. Perry loves all of that, and is similarly inspired by the “fierceness and power and sexiness” of the Beyoncé halftime show. She also plans to borrow the same giant fans that Beyoncé used in 2013 for that perfect windblown look.

“I just hope that at the end of the day, over 100 million people are all smiling in unison,” Perry said.

• The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Katy Perry, who's in the midst of a world tour, said she's been closely involved in planning the Super Bowl halftime extravaganza. Associated Press file photo
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.