Maeve McDermott

USATODAY





Minutes before her halftime show at Sunday's Super Bowl LI, Lady Gaga previewed her performance in a dramatic black-and-white Tiffany commercial: "I'm coming for you."

She wasn't kidding, kicking off her 13-minute performance from the top of Houston's NRG Stadium with an a cappella snippet of God Bless America and This Land Is Your Land before leaping from the roof.

Her opener indicated how the rest of the performance would go — tightly choreographed and perfectly executed, if a little sterile.

Beginning her set wearing an iridescent studded bodysuit and bedazzled boots, Gaga somersaulted through the air onto the stage straight out of Mad Max, performing Poker Face atop a barbaric metal tower. Surrounded by caped dancers, she segued into a theatrical take on Born This Way, complete with a crotch grab straight from Michael Jackson's 1993 halftime show.

As thrilling as her army of dancers was, perhaps she should've stayed on her high-flying wires a little longer, as her halftime show's risky stunts — and hair-raising surprises — ended as soon as she unhooked from her harness.

Running quickly through her repertoire of hits, Gaga teasing a potential Beyoncé cameo on Telephone (there wasn't one) before emerging in a spiked golden jacket with a keytar for Just Dance, the lyrics projected in lights held by fans on the field. The orbs quickly changed to warm candlelight, as she sat at a piano and declared, "We're here to make you feel good," before a stirring take on Million Reasons that lingered just a little too long.

Stars can't get over Lady Gaga's Super Bowl halftime show

Gaga's Mad Max-channeling performance continued with the night's best, and last, performance. Backed by a stage full of dancers in dystopian white getups, Gaga quick-changed into high-waisted crystal underwear and a sparkling football uniform-inspired crop top for Bad Romance, flames erupting behind her.

Then, she ascended a stairwell, dropped the mike and leapt out of the frame. Show over.

After last year's politically charged statement from Beyoncé during her cameo in Coldplay’s halftime show, where she performed Formation flanked by background dancers in Black Panther-referencing costumes, many predicted that Gaga would unleash a Trump statement during her show. But a political protest never arrived, as Gaga opted for patriotism and unity over making a divisive proclamation, which she hinted at during her pre-Super Bowl news conference Thursday.

"The only statements I'll be making during the halftime show are the ones that I've been consistently making throughout my career. I believe in a passion for inclusion, the spirit of equality and the spirit of this country, one of love and compassion and kindness," she said.

Not all of the set was a surprise for Gaga fans. Before the game started Sunday, she teased her halftime performance on Instagram, preparing viewers for the lack of Beyoncé-sized surprises. "There will not be any guest performers tonight, I'm doing these 13 minutes solo!" she wrote.

Earlier in the night, Luke Bryan warmed up the Super Bowl crowd with his slow-and-steady rendition ofThe Star-Spangled Banner, with Hamilton's original three Schuyler sisters — Jasmine Cephas Jones, Renee Elise Goldsberry and Phillipa Soo — singing America the Beautiful.