Shabz’s Thanksgiving halftime show — what you don’t see on TV

The Detroit Lions got a win on Thanksgiving Day, and so did Shabousi, who put on a show at halftime of Thursday’s first of three NFL games.

The nearly seven-and-a-half-minute performance featured three tracks from the six-time Grammy-nominated country singer and rapper’s latest album, Where I’ve been is not where I’m going – “Last of My Kind,” “Highway,” and of course “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” currently tied for the longest-running song on the charts advertising billboard 100 at 19 weeks. Shabuze wore a Lions uniform for the event and was accompanied by his touring band and 10 local stage dancers choreographed by Fatima Robinson, with the Lions cheerleaders in front of the stage and 500 behind him Fans volunteered for it.

“Our goal is to be able to bring artists and music that we think will resonate with a broad audience and families and be as culturally relevant as possible — I don’t know if that applies to any artist more than Shaboozey right now,” NFL music director Seth Dudowsky said. advertising billboard after the show on Thursday. He said the league began considering hiring artists for Thanksgiving halftime at the start of the season and selected Shabuzer around mid-September. “With the NFL, we certainly want to work with the greatest artists and… artists that are on the rise. So, really, it’s just perfect timing and perfect artists.

Lenny Wilson followed Shabuzer for a surprise duet with Jelly Roll during halftime of the Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants game on Thursday in Arlington, Texas. And Lindsey Sterling received the honors night during the Green Bay Packers’ home game against the Miami Dolphins. Of course, millions of people watched Shaboozey’s segment on CBS — a hit despite the echo in parts of the stadium — watching the NFC conference-leading Lions beat the Chicago Bears 23-20. But many viewers didn’t get to see it – but Billboard did, thanks to the live show at Detroit’s Ford Field…

It’s not over yet

The show didn’t stop when the music ended on Thursday. Instead, Shabuzi walked off the stage and headed straight to the Lions sideline, where he clapped his hands and posed for selfies with fans in the front row — at one point standing up for a closer look. touch. He spent a few minutes with the crowd before continuing through the team tunnel, greeting a group of U.S. Marines serving as pregame color guards and stage crew, and posing for photos with fans in their seats. club.

Bruce Rodgers, the halftime show’s production designer, wasn’t surprised by the unscripted “encore.” “I’m not surprised at all after meeting him,” Rodgers told reporters as his Salem, Conn.-based Tribe, Inc. prepares for Super Bowl 19 in February. advertising billboard. “He’s a really cool guy. When you meet an artist who’s rising so quickly in their music career, they still remember how to be a normal person, and they want to make a connection.

Rodgers added that Shabuzi was “very excited” to be involved at halftime, but also “very nervous”. You could tell he was just over excited, but also super nervous, but he just kept working, and of course when you get into a room of 60,000 people (64,275 people, according to the Lions) and you’re such an artist, It just opens what you need.

raise the bar

The Lions brought in Rodgers and Tribe to elevate the halftime show — which in some ways is more challenging than the Super Bowl.

“I learned how to do a play on the field in seven minutes and a play off the field in six minutes — and that’s what we did for the Super Bowl,” Rodgers said. “Here I have to start the race in five and a half minutes and finish it in four minutes, so it’s more intense. We have a tunnel here and the athletes have to use the same tunnel. So there’s a lot of coordination involved.

Rodgers and his company made the trek to Detroit in early November to inspect the site and presented Shaboozey and his team with a range of designs to choose from. The tribal gang—Rogers and eight production executives who often work with him on Super Bowls—then trained 400 local stagehands and 15 local supervisors on the operations. “At the beginning, you take 20 minutes, and by the second day of rehearsal, you’re down to five minutes,” Rogers said of the stage, which is divided into 10 sections and discreetly stored in the stadium. edge. “There’s a certain way to build these things in front of a crowd like this. We just learned the technology and how to train people.

Thursday’s show follows two days of rehearsals, including bringing in 500 fans the afternoon before. Everything went smoothly on race day, with the various sections rolled into the tunnel and packed away at the end of the race.

have fun with it

While Schabuzer was on the stage, the Lions and Bears position kickers and punters took to the field for the usual second half preparations. The Lions’ Jake Fox even did a warm-up swing to “Bar Song (Drunk).”

…and all the trimmings

Schabzi wasn’t the only big star inside Ford Field on Thursday.

Detroit resident and Lions regular Eminem was in the house, with his “Lose Yourself” playing on the video screen during the second quarter and his song playing on the radio. James Hetfield of Metallica, one of Lions head coach Dan Campbell’s favorite bands, wasn’t there in person but posted a taped cue during the second half to get the crowd excited.

Detroit veteran and “old-school Lions fan” Tim Allen was also at the game, visiting the sideline before the game with his wife, Jan Hajduk, a big Shaboozey fan. “We were in Leland (Mich.) all summer, and every time[‘Bar Song (Drunk)’]came on, they were dancing. She loved it.” However, Hejduk is quick to point out, “We were A huge football stadium” fans, Shaboozey is an added bonus.”

Allen is gearing up for the Jan. 8 premiere of “Shifting Gears,” an ABC sitcom about a widower who suddenly lives with his estranged daughter and her teenage children. “At my age, I know exactly what I like to do,” Allen said. “I can’t believe they found my favorite subject. I always wonder what Tom Brady said in Tampa Bay, ‘This is the offense we’re thinking about’… He said, ‘I What’s needed is two intermittent slot takeovers”… At some point, the jockeys are going to have to ride the horses. But I’m excited about it.

Actor-singer-songwriter Jeff Daniels also performed a song about the Lions — “The Curse of Bobby Layne” — during the pregame show. Daniels, who previously wrote a song about the Lions’ “decades of darkness,” “Silver and Honolulu Blue,” hopes to record the new song and release it in the near future.

Daniels quipped, “If I do this song well, maybe one day they’ll ask me to perform at Thanksgiving halftime.” ·Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the 1986 nuclear summit in Iceland. Daniels traveled to his home in Chelsea, Miss., for Thursday’s game, but explained that the Thanksgiving game “is as traditional as turkey to Lions fans. It’s been in our lives since the beginning — Or the NFL. It’s a great day – especially if we win, we haven’t won in a long time, even with this team, so we hope today is different.

In fact, the Lions’ win was the team’s first win in the annual holiday showdown since 2016.