Justin Timberlake offers few hints about Super Bowl LII halftime show
Feb 2, 2018, 4:19 PM
Justin Timberlake holds a football during a news conference for the NFL Super Bowl 52 football game halftime show Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
(AP Photo/Morry Gash)
More than 110 million viewers are projected to watch Super Bowl LII on Sunday. Many will tune in to watch entertainer Justin Timberlake, who will perform during the halftime show.
He’s also a great golfer and a huge sports fan.
Timberlake’s team, the Green Bay Packers, isn’t playing in Super Bowl LII. But Timberlake said during a recent media appearance previewing this year’s halftime show that he’s a big fan of New England quarterback Tom Brady.
Timberlake celebrated his 37th birthday Wednesday, when a large crowd serenaded him with “Happy Birthday” in his first Super Bowl appearance since a controversial outing with Janet Jackson in 2004.
“You get a little nervous when people watch you sing, huh?” he joked. “Try 130 million people.”
Sunday will be the former N’Sync star’s third Super Bowl performance, which is the most of any entertainer.
While he remained glib about the show, Timberlake did say you can expect “Can’t Stop the Feeling” to be part of the show, and also hinted at a theme of unity.
“Without giving too much away, we’re doing things with this halftime show that they’ve never quite done before. I’m excited to do that,” he said. “I always like to push, to be able to do something like that. It’s a moment where you have the opportunity to bring so many people together through what I think is the greatest art form, which I think is music.
“That has been sort of the ethos and inspiration behind putting the set list together and managing how the visuals would all sort of come together.”
He also said there will not be a reunion with Jackson, and he shot down a question about whether or not he would reunite with his former N’Sync bandmates as well.
Timberlake also commented on iconic Minnesota artist Prince, who died in April 2016, and hinted that there may be a chance he slips some sort of homage to the pop star into his performance.
“The greatest all-around musician who I can think of in popular culture,” Timberlake said. “The time I get to spend around him, with him, talking about music, those are memories I’ll take with me forever because he’s always been such a big idol of mine.”
