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And Finally Artist News
Ed Sheeran won’t play Super Bowl because he lacks “pizazz”
By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 17 August 2023
Speculation about who might play next year’s Super Bowl halftime show is already well under way – aided by claims that Lizzo has been stricken from the official consideration list as a result of the recent allegations made by her ex-dancers. But which world class pop star might do it? Ed Sheeran? Not bloody likely!
The problem, you see, is that the halftime show is a big American event and Ed just doesn’t have the pizazz to pull it off. Or at least that’s what critics of the idea of him playing the show are saying. Well, one specific critic: Sheeran himself.
“I think it’s an American thing. I don’t have pizazz”, he said in an interview for SiriusXM. “You watch Prince, you watch Michael Jackson, you watch Katy Perry, you watch Lady Gaga, you watch Rihanna, you watch Beyonce, all of these amazing performers – I’m just not that. I’m not gonna have dancers on stage, I’m not gonna have fireworks and blah blah. I just can’t, that’s not me”.
“I don’t think that anyone wants to see me do the Super Bowl either”, he added. Although, only as the headliner. He said that he would do it as the guest of another act who has the necessary pizazz.
Indeed, he added, there had been “a conversation” about him joining Coldplay to perform his song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ when they played the event in 2016. In the end though, they were joined by Beyonce and Bruno Mars instead, because – well – presumably because Chris Martin needed his guests to provide the necessary pizazz.
But, says Sheeran, “I would do it as a guest, and then I could say I did the Super Bowl with [whoever]”.
So, whoever ends up playing next year, keep Ed in mind. While he’s unlikely to boost the pizazz of any performance, he does say that he “could wear sparkles for it”.