Rihanna went against all the conventions of a typical Super Bowl halftime show and made the show's biggest stage her own.
And she did it at the same time that she revealed that she is pregnant with her second child.
The presentation was more of an avant-garde piece than a concert. The Barbadian superstar, clad in a bright red full suit, ran through 12 of her hits in 13 minutes surrounded by dozens of white-clad androgynous dancers who matched her every move on and above the giant stage at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
In case anyone missed it, it was all about Rihanna. There were no special guests. There were no interruptions. No changes of pace. From her start on a platform suspended above the stage, to her powerful rendition of her inspirational song "Diamonds," Rihanna held everyone's attention by belting out one hit after another, from "Work" to "Umbrella."
It was totally her vision, polished and playful and completely sure of her. She didn't include ballads to show the power of her voice because she doesn't need to show it to anyone. And she, too, didn't need to say anything more than "thank you, Arizona" to express herself.
It was all an unconventional extension of what was an unconventional decision to show up at this particular time.
While most artists use her Super Bowl halftime appearance to launch new albums, Rihanna has insisted that production on her follow-up to her 2016 album "Anti" isn't finished yet.
She didn't even perform "Lift Me Up," her contribution to the "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" soundtrack, which is currently nominated for an Oscar.
Before the revelation that Rihanna is pregnant, there were rumors of a possible tour, but that seems unlikely now, with a new child on the way and her firstborn who turns nine months on Monday.
Her fashion label Savage X Fenty released a T-shirt that reads "RIHANNA CONCERT INTERRUPTED BY A FOOTBALL GAME, WEIRD BUT WHATEVER." The jersey was sold out before the match started.
Performing on the biggest show stage with an expected audience of more than 100 million viewers, in the United States alone, is not bad for business. Something that the billionaire, the youngest to make her own fortune and break the billion dollar barrier according to listings, knows her.
But actually Rihanna isn't selling anything.
The 34-year-old star clearly accepted the concert because of the challenge and because she had something to say.
Previously, she declined to appear at halftime in 2019 in solidarity with quarterback Colin Kaepernick's protest over racial inequality. But a lot has changed since then, including the fact that her friend and mentor Jay-Z's company, Roc Nation, teamed up with the NFL to do halftime.
And her performance made a great point about equality, because her huge body of dancers was completely covered, including her faces, so that differences of race and gender were erased. They will only be judged on their dancing and ability to entertain.
That message shows how much Rihanna has changed since her last solo performance, when she received the Video Vanguard award at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. She also performed without any special guests, just dancers, but there she highlighted different edges of his musical personality with four different performances. Whether it was hip hop, dance pop, reggae or ballads, Rihanna showed how she could tackle genres to her liking.
On Sunday with her halftime show, Rihanna simply created her own genre and raised expectations for the upcoming shows.
