She didn’t wear a meat dress.
But Lady Gaga still made quite the statement during halftime of Super Bowl LI on Sunday night.
She performed all 13 minutes of her act solo, dedicating the show to “love, diversity and compassion,” based on a Tweet the artist sent not long before taking the field:
But… wait! She didn’t actually take the field.
At least not at the outset of her performance.
We opened with Gaga standing on top of the NRG Stadium’s roof, singing a few verses of“God Bless America” and “This Land is Your Land.”
She then recited the Pledge of Allegiance prior to dropping down off the roof and on to the field while suspended by wires in mid-air.
It was quite the spectacle (and, really, quite the advertisement for whichever company made those cables.)
Gaga was then lowered to the stage for a gravity-defying performance of “Poker Face,” flipping and turning in the air while singing.
(Yes, singing. Gaga most definitely did not lip-synch.)
From there, it was on to a smoke-and-lights rendition of “Born This Way,” with a bevy of backup dancers supporting the artist, who was front and center and doing her talented thing
Viewers were also treated to a rendition of “Telephone,” which led into another classic Gaga jam, “Just Dance,” along with the emotional “Million Reasons.”
The latter song included Gaga just sitting at a piano and giving a shout-out at one point to her mom and dad.
She also asked America how it was doing (HA! What a loaded question!) and said she was on hand to make us feel “good.”
To close out the impressive performance, which was very well received on Twitter, the star ditched her sparkle-laden outfit for a white football-inspired look, putting a unique and sexy twist on the concept of a shoulder pad.
This look complemented a full-length version of the singer’s massive 2009 hit “Bad Romance.”
While she belted out the lyrics, Gaga was flanked by dozens of dancers and massive stage explosives, bringing the show to a frenzied peak.
Oh, and she ended things by hurling her microphone to the ground… catching a football… and leaping off the bleachers.
Never one to be shy about speaking her mind, Gaga told a Las Vegas radio show last week that she did not plan on making a pointed political references on stage.
We knew going in that she would not bring up Donald Trump or any of his policies.
“No, that’s not what the show is about,” she said, explaining:
“The show is something that is coming from my heart to everyone in America that I love so much. This is my country and I’m proud to be a pop star from this country. …
“I want people that watch the Halftime show that Pepsi Zero Sugar is putting on with us to feel the greatness of the USA.”
Did you feel the greatness of the USA while watching?
WATCH THE FULL PERFORMANCE HERE…
… AND THEN GRADE IT HERE: