Music
Lauren O'Neil
Posted on February 08, 2021
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weeknd super bowl

Here's how Scarborough reacted to the Weeknd's historic halftime show

Music
Lauren O'Neil
Posted on February 08, 2021
Report Inaccuracy
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Scarborough's very own Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd, made history last night as the first-ever Canadian to solo headline a Super Bowl halftime show, leaving his home country prouder than punch and his home borough trending on Twitter.

With a spectacular medley of chart-topping hits and a full-on army of bandaged dancers, the chart-topping superstar put on one heck of a show at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium during Super Bowl LV.

Some might say it was his most-important performance to date, given how many people it reached (99.9 million, according to preliminary Nielson data), and many have called it the best halftime show since Michael Jackson's in 1993.

The Weeknd, who takes musical, stylistic and dance inspiration from the King of Pop himself, would no doubt be honoured by the comparison. 

No corner of the world was most excited by the performance and reaction to it, however, than Toronto's eastern-most borough, where 30-year-old Tesfaye was famously raised.

Scarberians were thrilled to be represented on the world stage at Super Bowl 55.

Local institutions were quick to claim the award-winning singer / songwriter / musician / producer / designer as their own.

Any connection to the Weeknd that could be flaunted, was. 

You love to see it.

Leaders of all stripes were similarly jazzed by the performance and resulting rush of attention for Scarborough on Twitter.

Even mayors from neighbouring cities, like Mississauga's Bonnie Crombie, celebrated in The Weeknd's success.

It's not like the artist wasn't incredibly famous before the Super Bowl LV halftime show, but last night provided a great opportunity for Toronto to once again remind the world of its prowess for pumping out stars.

It was also a prime opportunity to create some, new Scarborough-specific memes.

The Weeknd's performance provided much interesting fodder for memes in general, one of which was used by locals to poke fun at Toronto's oft-confusing infrastructure and public transit system.

The entire halftime show sparked its fair share of funny reactions, including one cheeky tweet about the artist's lyrical content.

It also, however served as a powerful moment of inspiration for young Canadian artists on the come-up.

All in all, the performance — which The Weeknd reportedly sank an extra $7 million of his own money into — was a hit. 

Congratulations, Abel! Eat dirt, Grammy Awards nominating committee.

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