FIFA’s World Cup Halftime Show Puts American-Style Spectacle on the World Stage

国际足联世界杯中场秀：将美式盛景搬上世界舞台

It was all Chris Martin’s idea. During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Coldplay frontman called Hugh Evans, the CEO of Global Citizen, for whom he curates the Global Citizen Festival, with something new to pitch. “Wouldn’t it be incredible,” Evans recalls Martin saying, “if we could do the first-ever halftime show for the World Cup?” Evans agreed, and connected with FIFA president Gianni Infantino at the organization’s headquarters in Switzerland to sell him on Martin’s plan. He didn’t need to.

这一切都是克里斯·马汀（Chris Martin）的主意。2022年卡塔尔世界杯期间，这位酷玩乐队（Coldplay）的主唱致电“全球公民”（Global Citizen）首席执行官休·埃文斯（Hugh Evans）——他曾为该组织策划过“全球公民节”——提出了一个新想法。埃文斯回忆道，马汀当时问：“如果我们能举办世界杯历史上首场中场秀，那该有多棒？”埃文斯表示赞同，并联系了位于瑞士的国际足联总部，向主席詹尼·因凡蒂诺（Gianni Infantino）推销马汀的计划。但他其实并不需要费力推销。

Infantino had already had a similar idea—and was a Coldplay fan. “So he actually had already independently decided that he wanted to work with Coldplay and that he wanted to achieve this dream,” Evans says.

因凡蒂诺本人早已有了类似的想法，而且他还是酷玩乐队的粉丝。埃文斯说：“所以他实际上已经独立决定要与酷玩乐队合作，并希望实现这个梦想。”

The result of those conversations, set to take the pitch during Sunday’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina at New York New Jersey Stadium, is a massive but just 11-minute-long show featuring Justin Bieber, Madonna, BTS, and Shakira. They’ll be joined by Coldplay and a chorus from Staten Island’s PS22 school, and watched by millions of people in homes, bars, and street corners around the world.

这些对话的成果即将在周日于纽约新泽西体育场举行的西班牙对阵阿根廷的世界杯决赛中场呈现。这场盛大但仅有11分钟的演出阵容豪华，包括贾斯汀·比伯（Justin Bieber）、麦当娜（Madonna）、防弹少年团（BTS）和夏奇拉（Shakira）。他们将与酷玩乐队以及来自史泰登岛PS22学校的合唱团同台献艺，全球数以百万计的观众将在家中、酒吧和街头巷尾共同见证这一时刻。

The show is also part of an effort to raise $100 million for Global Citizen’s youth education efforts worldwide. FIFA is donating one dollar from each ticket sold during the tournament to the fund, and Shakira is donating royalties from her World Cup anthem with Burna Boy—”Dai Dai”—to the effort as well.

这场演出也是为“全球公民”组织的全球青年教育项目筹集1亿美元资金计划的一部分。国际足联将从赛事期间售出的每张门票中捐出一美元，夏奇拉也将其与伯纳·博伊（Burna Boy）合作的世界杯主题曲《Dai Dai》的版税捐赠给了该项目。

Not that all World Cup fans are necessarily excited to see the show. Soccer fans have been skeptical of the final having a halftime show for months. The World Cup has never done such a thing, the argument goes, and doesn’t need one now. Given that halftime shows are practically synonymous with the Super Bowl, some fans think having a halftime show is part of an effort to “Americanize” the World Cup, or make it more appealing to viewers in countries where soccer is less popular. Others have, for example, chafed at things like “hydration breaks” which are seen as just another way to get eyeballs on ads.

并非所有世界杯球迷都对这场演出感到兴奋。几个月来，足球迷们一直对决赛设置中场秀持怀疑态度。他们的观点是，世界杯从未有过此类先例，现在也不需要。鉴于中场秀几乎已成为“超级碗”的代名词，一些球迷认为，引入中场秀是“美国化”世界杯的举措之一，旨在让足球运动在那些普及度较低的国家更具吸引力。另一些人则对“补水时间”等安排感到不满，认为这不过是增加广告曝光率的另一种手段。

“The World Cup has traditionally centered its musical identity on a single iconic anthem and an opening ceremony rooted in the host nation,” says Tiffany Naiman, director of the Berry Gordy Music Industry Center at UCLA. “So when FIFA unveils an 11-minute halftime spectacle, featuring Madonna and Justin Bieber, and Tom Cruise attached to the closing ceremony, it reads to some as importing an American made-for-TV sensibility.”

加州大学洛杉矶分校贝里·戈迪音乐产业中心主任蒂芙尼·奈曼（Tiffany Naiman）表示：“传统上，世界杯的音乐标识集中于一首标志性的主题曲，以及植根于东道国文化的开幕式。因此，当国际足联推出一场由麦当娜和贾斯汀·比伯领衔的11分钟中场盛宴，并让汤姆·克鲁斯（Tom Cruise）参与闭幕式时，在一些人看来，这就像是在引入一种美式的电视制作审美。”

Oh yeah, Tom Cruise. Much like he did with the closing ceremony for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Cruise is scheduled to appear during the World Cup’s closing ceremony ahead of the final match.

没错，还有汤姆·克鲁斯。就像他在2024年巴黎奥运会闭幕式上的表现一样，克鲁斯计划在决赛前的世界杯闭幕式上亮相。

Naiman stresses that while some may fear the inclusion of a halftime ceremony Americanizes the event, it’s being done with a global roster of artists. Bieber is Canadian, after all, and his home country is a host to the Cup. The majority of the acts aren’t from the US. “Ultimately, what’s being globalized isn’t American culture so much as the production model,” she says. “FIFA is borrowing the language of the Super Bowl while filling it with artists who reflect the geography of its audience.”

奈曼强调，尽管有些人担心加入中场仪式会让赛事“美国化”，但此次演出的艺人阵容是全球化的。毕竟，比伯是加拿大人，而他的祖国也是本届世界杯的东道国之一。大多数表演者并非来自美国。她说：“归根结底，被全球化的并非美国文化，而是制作模式。国际足联借用了超级碗的语言，但填充其中的是能够反映其受众地理分布的艺人。”

This focus on worldwide appeal was important for Evans, and it has already attracted at least one hugely influential international fan base: the BTS Army. Members of the Army have been in his mentions in recent weeks, dropping their signature purple hearts. They’ve also helped Global Citizen get closer to its fundraising goal: They raised some $40,000 for the Global Citizen fund in the first week “without even being asked,” Evans says.

这种对全球吸引力的关注对埃文斯来说至关重要，它已经吸引了至少一个极具影响力的国际粉丝群体：BTS的“阿米”（Army）。最近几周，阿米成员们频繁在他的社交媒体评论区互动，留下标志性的紫色爱心。埃文斯表示，他们还帮助“全球公民”更接近筹款目标：在第一周内，他们“甚至无需被要求”就筹集了约4万美元。

Interest in the halftime show is also showing up on Kalshi and Polymarket, which have both seen tens of billions of dollars in World Cup prediction market trading, according to a CNBC report. One Kalshi market had Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie” marked as a potential highlight of the show. A Polymarket market opted for “Dai Dai.” The latter seems more likely as it is the official song of the World Cup, and features Burna Boy, who is also slated to perform.

据CNBC报道，对中场秀的关注也体现在Kalshi和Polymarket等预测市场上，这两个平台的世界杯预测交易额已达数百亿美元。Kalshi的一个市场将夏奇拉的《Hips Don’t Lie》标记为演出的潜在亮点。而Polymarket的一个市场则选择了《Dai Dai》。后者似乎更有可能，因为它是世界杯官方主题曲，且由同样计划登台表演的伯纳·博伊演唱。

Whatever songs are performed, they won’t get much time. Madonna may not even have four minutes to save the world. Given that the show is slated to be 11 minutes, I asked producer Lee Rolontz how she thought about managing that time. Essentially the solution was to break the show down into “chapters” with each artist getting roughly 1:45 of time to perform. “It’s definitely made it more challenging,” she says, “but it’s also made it more global.”

无论表演什么歌曲，时间都不会太充裕。麦当娜可能连“拯救世界”的四分钟时间都没有。鉴于演出时长定为11分钟，我询问了制作人李·罗隆茨（Lee Rolontz）她是如何管理这段时间的。本质上的解决方案是将演出拆分为“章节”，每位艺人大约有1分45秒的表演时间。她说：“这无疑增加了挑战性，但也让它变得更加全球化。”

Having multiple artists from all over the world is also, Rolontz believes, what sets the show apart from something like the Super Bowl halftime show. Not that she didn’t go to the NFL for tips. One of the biggest challenges her team faced was protecting the pitch during the show. FIFA has strict rules about the quality of the grass footballers play on, so the turf can’t sustain any damage. So the production team consulted with the people responsible for the integrity of FIFA pitches and also with NFL field director Nick Pappas.

罗隆茨认为，拥有来自世界各地的多位艺人，正是这场演出区别于超级碗中场秀的地方。当然，她也向NFL寻求过建议。她的团队面临的最大挑战之一是在演出期间保护球场草皮。国际足联对球员比赛所用的草皮质量有严格规定，因此草皮不能受到任何损坏。为此，制作团队咨询了负责维护国际足联球场完整性的人员，以及NFL场地总监尼克·帕帕斯（Nick Pappas）。

“I shared some best practices that I have found to be helpful when protecting the playing surface during in-game entertainment/concerts/etc.” Pappas says in an email, adding that the NFL has worked with FIFA on matches held at US stadiums during the FIFA World Cup and Club World Cup.

帕帕斯在电子邮件中表示：“我分享了一些在比赛期间的娱乐活动或演唱会中保护比赛场地的最佳实践经验。”他补充说，NFL曾在世界杯和世俱杯期间，就美国体育场举行的比赛与国际足联进行过合作。

During the show, the pitch will be covered, Rolontz says, and any equipment being rolled out onto the performance area—staging materials, camera dollies, and such—has been constructed to not damage the grass. It’s also designed to move quickly. All told, Rolontz’s team will have between 3 and 4 minutes to get everything on and off the pitch.

罗隆茨说，演出期间球场将被覆盖，任何推入表演区域的设备——如舞台材料、摄像机轨道车等——都经过特殊设计，以确保不会损坏草皮。它们还被设计为可以快速移动。总而言之，罗隆茨的团队将有3到4分钟的时间完成所有设备的进场和撤场。

It’s incredibly meticulous work, but also seemingly worth it. Ask Rolontz about comparisons between her show and the Super Bowl halftime show and she’ll repeat the refrain about the show’s global appeal, adding that it also “has a purpose.” It’s meant to be something for soccer fans all over the world; it’s also a fundraiser.

这是一项极其细致的工作，但似乎非常值得。当问及她如何看待自己的演出与超级碗中场秀的对比时，她会重复强调演出的全球吸引力，并补充说它还“具有某种使命”。它旨在为全世界的足球迷带来享受，同时也是一场慈善筹款活动。