The Weeknd keeps details on Super Bowl performance under wraps
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) - Canadian singer and songwriter Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, known professionally as The Weeknd, is getting ready to perform in this year's Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show.
In just three days, his sound will fill Raymond James Stadium as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers take on the Kansas City Chiefs.
"It is cold... I did not expect that," he said Thursday during a Zoom press conference.
He gave a few notes of what fans can expect out of the show, of which will include some Bucs flavor.
"[The pirate] ship is so iconic. We are incorporating a little bit. You'll have to watch," he said to members of the media.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, things will be very different than years past.
For example, most of the show will be in the stands, not on the field.
"Due to the COVID and for the safety of the players and the workers, we kind of built the stage within the stadium. And we are kind of using the field as well but we kind of wanted to do something we've never done before," The Weeknd said.
But who inspires the person who sank a chunk of his own cash into this super spotlight performance to be seen by millions. The Boss. No not Bruce Springstein… Diana Ross. Her beyond iconic 1996 Super Bowl performance is his favorite.
"She is so glamorous and the show makes me smile and she had a great exit with the helicopter. As it lands in the middle of the field and she grabs on to it and flies out into the clouds. I wish I could have done that. I wish I had thought of it," he said.
The Weeknd has performed numerous concerts in Tampa before and he said Tampa fans are "insane."
"They don't sing the lyrics back at you, they scream it back at you. I love Tampa."