Katy Perry delivers sparkles, chuckles in Super Bowl halftime show

Can she belt like Idina Menzel? Of course not. But no one leads sharks and palm trees in choreographed dance routines quite like Katy Perry.

How you felt about Katy Perry’s Super Bowl halftime show is going to depend entirely on how you feel about Katy Perry. Her sugary pop songs and carnival act live shows aren’t for everyone (though with 10 No. 1 hits a few major world tours to her name, they are for a lot of people). But love it or hate it, Sunday night was Katy Perry in all her goofy, sparkly glory.

To start, there has probably never been a halftime show that was more hilariously literal. Perry opened with “Roar,” one of her many girl-power anthems, riding a gigantic animatronic lion. She closed the show with  “Firework,” riding atop a shooting star-shaped drone while (you guessed it) fireworks erupted in and around University of Phoenix Stadium.

In between, Perry played a pinup ringmaster to a 12-minute circus that included a brief drop-in by Lenny Kravitz, a longer segment with Missy Elliot, four costume changes (Vegas odds said it would be 2.5),  Perry sauntering through a silver throng, and a dance party on the beach featuring a troupe of smiling beach balls, sharks, and palm trees that were so much fun they made me wish they had their own children's  TV show. 

With  artists scrambling to cram five or six of their biggest songs into a 12-minute space, even the best halftime shows always feel a little bit rushed. Perry’s was no exception, but she was completely in control of the glittery chaos. There wasn’t a major snafu in sight,  and it was a nice respite to what has been a surprisingly somber, sometimes  devastating, run of commercials. There are probably people out there who didn’t enjoy Katy Perry’s halftime show. But she sure did.