While the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers are the main event for Super Bowl LVIII, many fans are undoubtedly excited for the impending halftime performance by multi-Grammy winner Usher.
Sunday won't mark the first time Usher has performed at the Super Bowl. He also appeared at Super Bowl XLV during a guest appearance with headliners, The Black Eyed Peas. Now the legendary R&B and pop star is set to return with top billing.
Fittingly, Usher's performance at Allegiant Stadium will come not long after he wrapped a Las Vegas residency at the Park MGM.
While fans never know exactly what to expect from a Super Bowl halftime performance, Taking a few guesses is usually part of the fun. Below, we'll dive into a couple of the latest prop bets from FanDuel in Ontario (h/t Mike Breen of the Sporting News) and make a few predictions of our own.
Odds for How Many Songs Will be Performed
- Over 8.5 Songs -125 (bet $125 to win $100)
- Under 8.5 Songs -125
Presumably, Usher will run through the hits, of which he has many. Considering his first album released roughly 30 years ago, he may choose to go through the list quickly.
As Breen noted, Usher understands the difficulty involved with covering his storied musical career.
"What songs do people know me for, what songs have been a celebration of all of the journey?" Usher said, per Jonathan Landrum Jr. of the Associated Press.
Usher's latest album, Coming Home, just released on Friday, so fans could be treated to a new song or two as well.
Hitting the over during a performance that may span 13-14 minutes won't be easy, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see several hits compressed into a medley. Rihanna managed to knock out 12 songs during last year's halftime performance.
According to Breen, each song only needs to be played for 10 seconds to qualify, so our prediction is that fans will be treated to at least nine distinctly different snippets on Sunday.
Prediction: Over 8.5 Songs.
Odds on Guest Performers
- Alicia Keys: -330
- Ludacris: -250
- Lil Jon: -105
- will.i.am: +220
- Nicki Minaj: +280
- Sean Diddy: +350
- Pitbull: +390
- Justin Bieber: +450
- Lil Wayne: +500
- Taylor Swift: +500
While Rihanna performed as a solo act in 2023, Super Bowl halftime performances have typically featured guest artists. It would be a massive shock if usher didn't have multiple guests on Sunday, given his long list of collaborative efforts.
Alicia Keys is the favorite, and for good reason. The pair released "My Boo" in 2004, and it quickly rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
It wouldn't be a surprise to see Justin Bieber appear either, since Bieber's career really got started with Raymond Braun Media Group, a joint venture between Usher and talent agent Scooter Braun.
Bieber featured Usher on his 2010 hit "Somebody to Love."
However, the safe bets here are Lil Jon and Ludacris, even if Lil Jon has slightly longer odds. Ludacris and Lil Jon collaborated with Usher on the 2004 smash hit "Yeah!" and appear likely to do so again on Sunday.
"I would be a fool to not play 'Yeah!' let's just start there," Usher said, per Meredith B. Kile of Entertainment Tonight. "It would be foolish to make it all the way to Las Vegas, Jon is here, Luda's here and not play 'Yeah!'"
Considering "Yeah!" was featured in the official Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show trailer—and Ludacris was featured in the initial teaser trailer—it's probable that both have a highlight segment during the show.
Prediction: Alecia Keys, Lil Jon and Ludacris all appear.
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