By Juan C. Ayllon
I have to come clean. I like Justin Timberlake. He’s a talented, hard working, Grammy Award winning pop artist who just seems nice. And his Super Bowl halftime performance last Sunday seemed intent on cementing this likeability factor with mainstream America. It conjured a scene from the 90s movie (back when Timberlake was first a chart topper), The Big Night, where successful restaurateur Pascal, counsels his friend, Secondo (his partner/brother, Primo, is a brilliant but quirky chef) whose own Italian restaurant is on the brink of bankruptcy, “A guy works all day, he don't want to look at his plate and ask, ‘what the [expletive] is this?’ He wants to look at his plate, see a steak, and say ‘I like steak!’
Busting a move, Timberlake’s still got it, but he’s filled out, looking a bit more daddy than dancer at 37. No doubt, he seeks a revitalized career with a good showing and, quite likely, to emulate the crossover success of country star Blake Shelton, 41, on NBC’s singing competition, The Voice. Just add “Timberlake” to “Baseball, hotdogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet” and he’s good!
Gone is the edginess of his 2004 Super Bowl performance, with its infamous “wardrobe malfunction” (The former Mouseketeer and NSYNC star tore a swatch of Janet Jackson’s top to reveal red lace bra, but exposed a breast instead). In fact, his act was so well scrubbed and – dare I say – muted. Decked out in orange bandana, camouflage fatigues and Air Jordan IIIs, he struts in with a radio edit version of his new song, “Filthy,” which is scarcely louder than elevator music (maybe a new market for him?), vocals smothered under pillowy instrumentals, forcing me to turn up the volume on the Cypher Labs Prautes headphone amp/preamplifier I am reviewing. Unlike The Voice, this wasn’t rocking our living room. At several points, his mic swings away from his mouth with no noticeable drop in volume, underscoring that a track of his voice, as well as background vocals, is in the mix. He sounds better in his old hit, “Rock Your Body”, and his medley that includes “Cry Me a River,” “SexyBack” and “Señorita” has my head bobbing. The synchronized dancing is razor sharp and when he renders “Can’t Stop the Feeling”, my wife and I are grinning ear to ear. This kid is good, we agree. Incorporating an accompanying marching band at one point, he settles down to a piano and renders the most controversial -- and perhaps most satisfying -- segment, a virtual duet with a projected image of the late Prince on a huge, billowing sheet overhead. Minneapolis, Minnesota’s U.S. Bank Stadium, after all, was ensconced in the home of the Great little Purple genius, after all. A hologrammed Prince was originally planned but scuttled following vehement fan protests. Prince’s songs, “I Would Die for You” and “Until the End of Time” are touching and hark back to his own halftime show in 2007. For the most part, it was good (some Prince fans were still offended, suggesting this was an opportunistic move by someone who’d openly expressed contempt for the Purple Rainster). However, unlike Prince’s scintillating 2007 performance, it wasn’t great. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he was playing on short notice, as he replaced an ill Pink as the halftime act on short notice. Or maybe it was a matter of playing it straight and safe. I couldn’t help but wonder, for example, if they turned the volume down to avoid sending sensitive viewers scrambling into TV surfing mode when his show began. There’s millions tied up in TV ads, not to mention a possible exponential upside to his career (think Blake Shelton) -- provided he doesn’t offend anyone. As he ages and the opportunities decrease, maybe he’s becoming more corporate friendly?The rapid decline of Janet Jackson’s career following the 2004 debacle (which he dodged with an apology) may have prompted him to play it hard, but safe because, realistically, he may not have another chance like this again. It also may have also been an inevitable letdown. There have been more memorable halftime gigs, but that aside, let’s face it, Justin Timberlake is Oscar De La Hoya, the handsome, all-American 1992 Gold Medalist and multiple weight class professional boxing champion, to Prince’s Sugar Ray Robinson, one of boxing’s all time greats. Timberlake is an excellent and very successful pop artist, while the late Prince was a charismatic, multi-instrument virtuoso with an incredible voice -- and he played the performance of a lifetime at the Super Bowl with his swag, scorching electric guitar and haunting falsettos. The contrast may have been too much. Borrowing from another movie, last Sunday, Timberlake embodied the 2015 Star Wars Awakens that immediately followed Disney’s takeover of the movie franchise: It was safe, somewhat predictable, and, bottom line, an enjoyable Super Bowl halftime performance. You can take that to the bank.
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9/29/2018 08:11:40 am
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Juan C. AyllonA writer, artist, educator and owner of Prairie Audio Man Cave, he lives with his wife, Isabel (AKA Belle), and their Goldendoodle, Liam, enjoys listening to high fidelity music and all things hi-fi at their home in the greater Chicagoland area.. Archives
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