There was plenty going on during Jennifer Lopez’s dazzling halftime performance with Shakira at this year’s Super Bowl — and Lopez has plenty of thoughts on the show’s most iconic moments.
Appearing on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, Lopez said she began orchestrating her set in November all the way up to Super Bowl Sunday. It was a deliberate flex of talent and power, starting from the moment Lopez entered the stage on a pole on top of a makeshift Empire State Building.
“I wanted it to be like, ‘Women are on top of the world,’” Lopez said. “We’re on top of the world right now. I wanted to be on top of the Empire State Building and do ‘Jenny From The Block.’”
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Lopez also explained how it works behind the scenes. As a seasoned pro, she said, she’s only thinking about the performance and doesn’t let any other noise in. That laser-focus helped her pull off a cartwheel in the middle of a routine with the Colombian dance group Swing Latino, along with an instantly-viral slide across the stage.
Similarly, one of the most buzzed-about elements of Lopez’s show was her extended pole dance sequence during “Waiting For Tonight.” Fallon showed photos of Lopez up on the pole, her arms outstretched.
“That was my little nod to Hustlers,” Lopez said, referencing her powerhouse role (and very rude Oscar snub) in the 2019 film. “I just felt, again, like it was a very powerful move. Look ma, no hands.”
Even though it was a massive show, there were some personal moments in there — such as when Lopez’s 11-year-old daughter, Emme Maribel Muñiz, joined her on stage. Mum and daughter sang a mash-up of “Let’s Get Loud” and “Born In The U.S.A.,” complete with a blessing from Bruce Springsteen, who called her after the show to say she and Shakira could “really sing and dance.”
“[Emme] has the performance gene,” Lopez explained — though with parents like Lopez and internationally renowned salsa singer Marc Anthony, perhaps even that’s an understatement. “She doesn’t let it in her mind, you know, how big it is or how it scares you...I think she gets amped, she gets excited, but, like, a cute excited? I wish I felt more like her.”
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Still, Lopez’s energy and confidence radiated through the show.
“I didn’t want to miss it by being too nervous or being too anxious or anything. I wanted to feel good,” Lopez told Fallon. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience, the type of thing that as an artist that you always dream of doing.”