The World Cup Finals Halftime Show And The Post Malone Pre-Show Were Absurd

It was only the beginning of one of the weirdest and most uneven spectacles FIFA has ever put on.Post Malone tried to set the tone with a T-shirt. The singer/rapper performed at the FIFA World Cup's pre-ceremony wearing a shirt that read, "I Just Hope That Both Teams Have Fun," a reference to Elmo's now-infamous plea for peace during the Knicks-Spurs NBA finals. It's a funny joke turned into a bitter symbol for how these televised games are more about the spectacle than sport.Malone opened his performance with the live debut of the new song "Chrome Heartbreaker," followed by 2018's "Wow." and his hit "Sunflower," for which he brought out collaborator Swae Lee. If the T-shirt was supposed to lower expectations, it succeeded. Nothing that followed managed to raise them again.This year's World Cup final was embarrassing for many reasons. There were questionable attitudes, a long, drawn-out game, and a halftime show that seemed very unnecessary. FIFA also experimented with a halftime show for the first time since the tournament began in 1930. For long stretches, both sides seemed content to play it safe, as if the extended halftime had subconsciously changed the rhythm of the match. One would think that after decades of perfecting halftime entertainment, the United States would know how to put together a galvanizing evening of sport and music. Instead, the entire production felt unevenly bizarre.There were Muppets. A small population of children sang. Gustavo Dudamel led an orchestra. Big name performers reminisced with old hits. Madonna opened with her 2000 hit "Music," while BTS performed 2020's "Dynamite." Justin Bieber received a pep talk from Ted Lasso's titular character and Coach Beard before delivering an oddly sobering acoustic performance of "Everything Hallelujah." The only part that made any sense was Shakira and Burna Boy performing the official World Cup anthem, "Dai Dai," complete with plenty of smiles and great booty shaking. It was also fun to see Animal go wild on the drums during the "Seven Nation Army" football chant. Everything else felt incredibly tone-deaf and nonsensical. Sometimes less really is more. FIFA spent so much time trying to make the spectacle bigger that it forgot to make it better.All I know is that Rosalía slept well last night, and that makes me happy. You can watch the halftime show here.