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Jennifer Lopez, Shakira Booked For The Super Bowl's 2020 Halftime Show

Jennifer Lopez and Shakira will perform at the Super Bowl LIV halftime show in Miami on Feb. 2, 2020.
Courtesy of the artists
Jennifer Lopez and Shakira will perform at the Super Bowl LIV halftime show in Miami on Feb. 2, 2020.

Those of us who've dreamed of a Super Bowl halftime show with Lizzo since at least 2017 will just have to wait a while longer. ESPN's Adam Schefter reports Thursday that Super Bowl LIV's halftime show will feature Jennifer Lopez and Shakira — an appropriate pairing for a host city, Miami, known for its rich history with and connection to Latin music.

Some expected a musical appearance by rapper Jay-Z, whose Roc Nation entertainment company recently announced a controversial partnership with the NFL amid fallout from the league's relationship with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. But a Jay-Z halftime show will have to wait until at least 2021, it seems.

For Lopez, her addition to the halftime stage marks another major recent milestone: The singer and actress, who turned 50 in July, has attracted Oscar buzz for her performance in the movie Hustlers, and she was given MTV's Video Vanguard Award at the 2018 VMAs. Her 20-year recording career has spun off a long string of hits too, of course — but even Lopez can't match the massive and sustained global success of Shakira, who remains one of the world's biggest music stars. Both women have released albums in English and Spanish, so expect a set that reaches well beyond the English-speaking portion of the Super Bowl audience.

More guests will be announced in the runup to the big game. And, not that any of the decision-makers involved are likely to be reading this, but ... you know that Lizzo is in Hustlers, too, right?

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Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)