Lady Gaga dazzles Super Bowl with stunning half time show jump
After Beyoncé set tongues wagging with a performance indebted to the Black Panthers at 2016's Super Bowl halftime show, many were wondering if Lady Gaga, an outspoken advocate for LGBT and women's rights, would use the enormous global platform to voice her dislike of President Trump on Sunday night.
However, instead, the 30-year-old pop star delivered a gymnastic set that lent its sentiment through song – before announcing details of a huge world tour as icing on the cake for her fans.
Standing atop the roof of Houston's NRG Stadium with drones illuminating an American flag in the night sky behind her, Lady Gaga kicked off her Super Bowl halftime set on Sunday by singing God Bless America as a subtle message of inclusion and unity in a deeply divided United States.
As many speculated about whether the outspoken singer would use her spotlight to address issues such as immigration, Gaga recited part of the American Pledge of Allegiance, "one nation, indivisible with liberty and justice for all," in her opening song.
She then swung down from the roof to a stage suspended on cables and embarked on a meticulously choreographed 13-minute set of her greatest hits during the National Football League championship game between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons.
What was her setlist?
After opening with Woody Guthrie's civil rights anthem This Land Is Your Land, Gaga continued with hits from her back catalogue.
Ballad Edge of Glory was up next, followed by 2009 dance hit Poker Face.
Gaga continued to prod at the Trump administration with a performance of Born This Way, her anthem for self-confidence and inclusion, while dressed in a silver sequined bodysuit and matching heeled boots as she performed aerial acrobatics while suspended in the air.
She followed this with Telephone and Just Dance, another two floor-fillers from her early career, before swinging back to Million Reasons, taken from her latest album Joanne, and rounding off the set with Bad Romance.
Gaga descended onto the stage to dance through Telephone and Just Dance before running through the crowd to a piano, where she sang, Million Reasons, giving a shout-out to her parents while she performed.
She commanded a large troupe of dancers and musicians, props that breathed fire and audience members swinging lights in synchronisation – the usual excess that has become a Super Bowl cliché.
A finale of Bad Romance proved a crowdpleaser. Gaga, who had spent much of the evening in a metallic space suit, emerged in her third outfit of the performance, a midriff baring costume topped off by football-like shoulder pads.
After joining her diverse cadre of dancers, the singer, known for her flair for the dramatic, ended her set by dropping her microphone, catching a football and jumping off a set of stairs onto the field.
Did she cause any controversy?
This year's Super Bowl followed a fierce presidential election campaign which Mr Trump won in November but which left the country at least as fractured afterwards as before it began.
Mr Trump was greeted with massive protests just after taking office on Jan 20, and his policy moves have sparked further protests and controversy in the first weeks of his presidency.
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