Editor’s Note: The following article was submitted by one of our friends, Leno Rose-Avila.
This year’s 60th annual Super Bowl featured the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, with the Seattle Seahawks winning by a score of 29–13. But most viewers tuned in for Bad Bunny’s halftime show.
Leading up the halftime show, the Puerto Rican global superstar told audiences they had four months to learn Spanish but closer to the performance, he stated “They don’t even have to learn Spanish. Better they learn to dance. There is no better dance than the one that comes from the heart.”
Bad Bunny’s performance reminds us that music and dancing have always been international ways of communication.
Bad Bunny, whose birth name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, said in an interview “English was not my first language, but it’s okay—it’s not America’s first language.”
This year’s superbowl was particularly interesting, as the White House, MAGA, Turning Point USA, and others pressured the NFL to cancel Bad Bunny. When that failed, Turning Point executive Erica Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, decided to produce an alternative halftime show and stated more than once that her show would surpass the NFL halftime audience.
Turning Point’s production reached between 4 and 7 million viewers, while the “good bunny” show reached 125.6 million, according to the most recent official figures — though these numbers may not account for the significant increase in people who watched in group settings.
The performance opened with a young man saying, “Qué rico es ser latino.”
Bad Bunny delivered a first‑class show, opening in a sugarcane field. He carries a football printed with the phrase “TOGETHER WE ARE AMERICA.” He moves through a sugarcane field with men and women working, a melon stand, men playing dominoes, a nail salon, and yes, the Villa Tacos stand from Highland, California, with founder Víctor Villa.
He acknowledged not only the workers and their harsh working conditions but also highlighted the ongoing electricity crisis that much of Puerto Rico has suffered in recent years. He gave us a quick and beautiful tour of Puerto Rican life.
And we even witnessed a real wedding taking place.
There was a strong presence of children and older Latinos, underscoring a message of family unity.
In fact, in a heartwarming gesture, Bunny gave his Grammy award to Lincoln Fox, a child actor of Argentinian and Egyptian descent, who was dressed according to a photo of Bad Bunny himself when he was that age.
The dancers were magical and wonderful and made one want to be there and dance with them. The music and words of Bunny were a tsunami of love. At one point he came close to the camera and said, “Nunca dejé de creer en mí. Tú también deberías creer en ti. Vales más de lo que piensas. Créeme.”
This super event took place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California and included Ricky Martin and Lady Gaga, plus a wonderful women’s violin section of Mariachi Divas de Cindy Shea.
Puerto Ricans, Latinos, and America should be proud of this spiritual artist.
On the huge screen at one end of the stadium, it shouted out, “THE ONLY THING STRONGER THAN HATE IS LOVE.”
He opened carrying a football and closed carrying this ball, shouting “GOD BLESS AMERICA,” with a parade of dancers with the flags of all the countries of America.
And in the end, he spiked the football, saying, “Seguimos aqui”.
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