When it comes to the Super Bowl, there are varying degrees of British fans. You’ve got the die-hards who will book the Monday off work, stay up all night to watch the game, join in on the national anthem and take pride in their overwhelming knowledge of every play in the American Football rule book.
Somewhere in the middle are the fair weather fans who will join in the hype, send a couple of tweets and fall asleep before the game actually ends. And then you've got the rest of us. The ones who rather than staying up to watch the game, actually went to bed at a sensible hour, woke up feeling refreshed but a little anxious at having slept through that thing that everyone is talking about.
Well this is for you my friends. Here's a handy play-by-play of what actually happened at the Super Bowl last night so you can actually pretend to your mates that you actually have a clue why there are memes of Lady Gaga falling through the sky in a sparkly bodysuit floating around.
So, who played the Super Bowl?
Good question! This is as good a place to start as any. The Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots came head to head at this year’s Super Bowl. This game turned into a bit of a big deal in the end because they ended up going into overtime (which apparently hasn’t actually happened before). To spare you a lengthily play-by-play, the Patriots were down by 25 points and then made some sort of Super Bowl history by making a huge come back and eventually going on to win.
People are rather excited about it. But if you find yourself backed into a conversational corner not quite knowing what to say about America’s biggest sporting event, we’d go with something along the lines of ‘What a comeback! Just didn’t see that coming. Go Patriots!’ and back away slowly.
What happened at Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl halftime show?
Ah, the main event. This year it was Lady Gaga’s turn to take the stage and entertain an audience of roughly 110 million people (and that’s just in the States). So, no pressure. The performance seemed to go pretty well, though.
In a silver, shoulder padded body suit, Lady Gaga appeared on the roof, then jumped off the roof and casually flew down to the stage to get on with the show. Then at the end of the show she proceeded to jump off the stage while catching a football while falling through the air... Casual. There was lots of glitter, lots of dancing and it was all very Gaga.
As you can imagine, there was a lot of anticipation around this performance beforehand. Not just because its Lady Gaga and she knows how to put on a bloody extravagant show, but in light of the political climate over in America right now people expected something dramatic to go down. And for all that there wasn’t really a show-stopping, OMG I can’t believe she said that kind of moment, Gaga did manage to make a statement.
In an interview before the big day, Lady Gaga said that her show would be ‘inclusive’ and celebrate the ‘sprit of equality’. She opened the show with Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land Is Your Land’, a song that has been sung by demonstrators I the streets during protests against Donald Trump’s travel ban. And of course, Gaga performed ‘Born This Way’, the song that many identify as an anthem for acceptance, tolerance and all the things that have felt under threat by the Trump administration.
How long was Lady Gaga’s halftime show?
It was a 12 minute set, which might not seem very long, but Gaga certainly packed a lot into those 12 minutes. Might be why she only changed costume twice though.
What was the deal with the drones at the Super Bowl?
Oh, you spotted those? Yeah, they were part of Lady Gaga’s show, obvs. She used them to literally light up the sky behind her in the colours of the American flag. It was a pretty emotional start to the show. You know, before she threw herself off the roof.
Can you still watch Lady Gaga’s Halftime Show?
Because how else were you planning to spend your lunch break today? Lady Gaga's full set is right here:
Which adverts were played throughout the Super Bowl?
ICYMI the ads are always a big deal. Why? Because the Super Bowl is one of the most watched things on TV, and access to that sort of size audience is pretty rare. So when the Super Bowl comes around, advertisers bring out the big guns.
Speaking of which, don’t freak out, it’s totally not a big deal but there was an advert for the second season of Stanger Things and OMFG.
There's also a lot of buzz about the Budweiser ad that came out a little earlier in the week. Budweiser's owners have said that it wasn't created with any political intent in mind, but when you watch it you'll probably be quite struck by the amount it echoes the sentiment that has arisen out of Trump's travel ban.
Which American football team actually won the Superbowl?
Oh yeah. By the way, just to clarify, it was the Patriots. The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl 2017.
Like this? You might also be interested in...
Lady Gaga Was Obviously Great But The Lego Movie Song Was The Best Performance Last Night
Lady Gaga’s Oscars Ode To Sexual Assault Survivors: Your Need-To-Know
‘Don’t Blush Baby’: What It’s really Like To Be A Female Sports Reporter
Follow Jazmin on Instagram @JazKopotsha
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.