Super Bowl 2020

By AJ Willingham and Scottie Andrew, CNN

Updated 10:23 a.m. ET, February 3, 2020
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8:34 p.m. ET, February 2, 2020

J. Lo and Shakira bring the heat to the Super Bowl halftime show

AJ Willingham and Scottie Andrew

Al Bello/Getty Images
Al Bello/Getty Images

Latin pop queens Shakira and Jennifer Lopez turned Hard Rock Stadium into a dance hall with their energetic halftime show.

Shakira took the stage first, clad in spangly red sequins, and ran through a medley of her top hits, including “She Wolf,” “Hips Don’t Lie” and “Whenever, Wherever.” Puerto Rican hip-hop sensation Bad Bunny popped up for a moment to collab on the classic boogaloo song “I Like It Like That.” 

Elsa/Getty Images
Elsa/Getty Images

J. Lo, in a nod to her role in "Hustlers," spun on a pole like a pro before a quick costume change and a J Balvin feature. She sang her biggest hits, including "Get On the Floor," "Waiting for Tonight."

In a poignant moment, Lopez's daughter Emme joined her onstage during "Let's Get Loud." After a quick costume change, J. Lo emerged in a resplendent fur (or was it feather?) coat featuring both the American and Puerto Rican flag (Lopez is of Puerto Rican heritage). As Lopez unfurled the coat, her daughter sang a few bars of "Born in the USA."

Elsa/Getty Images
Elsa/Getty Images

8:22 p.m. ET, February 2, 2020

Super Bowl ads champion women

Scottie Andrew

Women aren't on the field in the Super Bowl, so at the very least they can star in some ads touting girl power.

Olay's ad starred some superstar women astronauts, including Busy Philipps, Katie Couric, Taraji P. Henson, Lilly Singh and real-life NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, who retired in 2015. Skin care is important in space, too, evidently.

Oh, and for every tweet #SpaceForWomen gets, the company will donate $1 to Girls Who Code, a non-profit that trains young women in computer science.

Secret donated $529,000 to the US Women's National Team in its fight against pay inequality, so it's no surprise the deodorant brand's ad stars USWNT standouts Crystal Dunn and Carli Lloyd -- the latter reportedly fielded some offers from NFL teams after kicking a field goal in Philadelphia Eagles practice. The gold medalists went undercover as the kicker and holder who score a point in a high-pressure game. But surprise, they're women! And they can still kick with the best of them.

8:42 p.m. ET, February 2, 2020

Second quarter commercial roundup

Scottie Andrew and AJ Willingham

Hard Rock

Hey, we know those people! A heart-pounding Hard Rock spot featured Super Bowl halftime performer Jennifer Lopez, her MLB honey Alex Rodriguez, and DJ Khaled, and was directed by Michael Bay. Remember, the Super Bowl is being played at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, so it's a win-win situation for the brand.

Tide

Oh look, it's Tide again -- and the Bud Light Knight, for some reason. Somehow, Charlie Day traveled to medieval times in Beer Brand Land only to be shamed by townspeople for rocking the same stained shirt we watched him complain about in the first quarter. So, does "later" also mean "earlier?" Why has Tide destroyed the concept of time this Super Bowl?

TurboTax

Doing your taxes isn't that difficult. All you need to do is bend your legs inward and shake 'em like you're doing the Time Warp, except taxes are involved. TurboTaxes really wants you to face tax season head on, legs bent, inhibitions abandoned. Dancing it out makes taxes less scary.

WeatherTech

This Super Bowl desperately needed more dogs. You might've heard about this ad -- Scout, the cute pup wagging his tail throughout the clip, underwent chemotherapy for a tumor in his heart. It's almost gone now, and his owner, WeatherTech CEO David MacNeil paid $6 million to thank the folks at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine who saved Scout's life.

Coca-Cola

Jonah Hill was really about to leave Martin Scorsese on read. Scorsese, the legendary auteur of cinema who directed Hill to his second Academy Award nomination, is left wandering aimlessly around a party where Hill has abandoned him. Hill mulls over leaving him there, but then he drinks a Coke Energy Drink, and that's enough to convince him to make good on his promise.

In case you missed it: Hyundai recruited A-List spokespeople, among them famous Bostonians John Krasinski, Chris Evans and Rachel Dratch and, for luxury brand Genesis, super couple Chrissy Teigen and John Legend. Rick and Morty stacked infinite Pringles. Oh, and Mr. Peanut was reborn as a baby nut after his tragic death. But more on that later.

7:48 p.m. ET, February 2, 2020

How to cut an avocado the right way

AJ Willingham

Teen movie queen Molly Ringwald served up some home shopping humor in the yearly Super Bowl offering from Avocados from Mexico.

Now that we're all thinking green, here's a primer on how to cut avocados correctly. The secret? You cut it into quarters first (make sure to go all the way around!). Then just twist, and pluck the pit out by hand. Easy!

7:29 p.m. ET, February 2, 2020

First quarter commercial roundup

Scottie Andrew and AJ Willingham

These are the best, most interesting and most talked-about commercials from the first quarter of Super Bowl LIV:

Hulu

Tom Brady lives for drama. That black-and-white photo of Brady's silhouette in an empty stadium? It turned out to be a marketing ploy for Hulu, not a retirement prelude as fans feared. Oh, and after he hawks Hulu's live sports coverage, he drops a small announcement -- he's not going anywhere. Season 21, here he comes.

Tide

It's always sunny in Schitt's Creek until Emily Hampshire wipes her sauce-covered hands on Charlie Day's starchy white shirt at a Super Bowl party. He can clean it later, she tells him. But when is later? Surely not during the commercial breaks -- the Bud Light Knight tells him as much in a cross-promotional cameo. A few decades "later" and a weathered and grey Charlie Day is rocking the same stained shirt. Then "later" never comes -- Tide doesn't condone laundering during the Super Bowl. The ad ends without closure.

Walmart

Try to count the references in Walmart's commercial touting their grocery pickup services. Let's see...we spy The Enterprise (Star Trek), Marvin the Martian, Buzz Lightyear, Bill and Ted, the aliens from "Mars Attacks," Legos, Frank the pug from "Men in Black" ... who did we miss?

Donald Trump

The Trump campaign ran an ad during the first quarter featuring Alice Johnson, a first-time nonviolent drug offender who was granted clemency by the President.

Trump commuted the first-time nonviolent drug offender's life sentence in June 2018 one week after Kim Kardashian pleaded her case in an Oval Office meeting with the President.

The ad featured an emotional Johnson thanking Trump for commuting her sentence.

7:02 p.m. ET, February 2, 2020

How the Super Bowl teams got their names

AJ Willingham

By now, your conversation topics (and the salsa bowl) are probably running low. How about some trivia?

How the 49ers got their name

It all makes perfect sense, actually.

The "49ers" is the nickname for those who flocked to northern California in 1849 hoping to take advantage of the gold rush. The influx of opportunists was a boon for California's economy, and hastened its admittance into the union in 1850. (A 49er is also a kind of Olympic-style racing dinghy, which would make for an equally rich team name. Alas.)

Read more about the history of the 49ers here.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young drops back to pass during Super Bowl XXIX against the San Diego Chargers in 1995. The 49ers won 49-26.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young drops back to pass during Super Bowl XXIX against the San Diego Chargers in 1995. The 49ers won 49-26. George Rose/Getty Images

How the Chiefs got their name

As for the Chiefs, the history of their name is a little more complicated. From CNN's Leah Asmelash:

Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt bangs the drum before the AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots on January 20, 2019.
Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt bangs the drum before the AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots on January 20, 2019. David Eulitt/Getty Images

It started with, of all things, the Boy Scouts. The Tribe of Mic-O-Say is part of the Boy Scouts of America program in Missouri and was created by Harold Roe Bartle in 1925.

Bartle was not a Native American, but claimed he was "inducted into a local tribute of the Arapaho people." Bartle was called "Lone Bear," and went by the name Chief Lone Bear in his Mic-O-Say organization.

Almost 40 years after the founding of Mic-O-Say, Bartle became the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri for two terms. Colloquially known as "chief," Bartle helped convince Lamar Hunt, owner of the Dallas Texans football team, to bring the team to Kansas City.

In name-the-team competitions, "Chiefs" kept popping up as an option in connection to Bartle.

So, they went with it.

Read more about the history of the Chiefs here.

7:32 p.m. ET, February 2, 2020

Trump Super Bowl ad leans on criminal justice reform

AJ Willingham

The Trump campaign ran an ad during the first quarter featuring Alice Johnson, a first-time nonviolent drug offender who was granted clemency by the President.

Trump commuted the first-time nonviolent drug offender's life sentence in June 2018 one week after Kim Kardashian pleaded her case in an Oval Office meeting with the President.

The ad featured an emotional Johnson thanking Trump for commuting her sentence.

"Trump got it done," it concluded.

Trump also promoted the ad on Twitter.

6:36 p.m. ET, February 2, 2020

Demi Lovato crushes the national anthem

AJ Willingham

Dressed in an all-white suit, Demi Lovato turned in a soulful (and expeditious) rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner." We're waiting for the official time, but it was definitely under two minutes.

Elsa/Getty Images
Elsa/Getty Images

Lovato has been having quite a moment lately. At the Grammys last week, she debuted "Anyone," a poignant ballad about her struggles with substance abuse. She also recently opened up about the moment she told her parents that she may end up dating a woman some day.

6:41 p.m. ET, February 2, 2020

NFL greats among special guests for 100th season celebration

From CNN's Scottie Andrew, Nicole Chavez and Amanda Jackson

Elsa/Getty Images
Elsa/Getty Images

Tom Brady isn't playing in the Super Bowl this year, but he was still on the field before the game started. Brady was honored as part of the NFL 100 All-Time Team along with 99 of the greatest NFL coaches and players since the league's start.

Retired quarterback Peyton Manning posed with Brady after the ceremony. New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick flashed his Super Bowl rings. And Joe Montana, who spent most of his 16 seasons with the 49ers but ended as the Chiefs' quarterback, just had fun -- he can't lose, after all.

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle invited the family of US Army Sgt. Martin LaMar, who was killed in Iraq in January 2011.

LaMar's widow Josephine and 16-year-old son Nicolas will honor LaMar, a longtime 49ers fan, during Super Bowl LIV.

"I have a lot of family in the military, so it's something that I just respect and the sacrifice that they give is the ultimate sacrifice," Kittle told reporters on January 24. "So if I can ever give back and make a family's day or just make them smile a little bit, then I feel like I've done a little part in their lives."

Also in attendance are four 100-year-old World War II veterans. The NFL invited the men to officiate the coin toss in honor of the NFL's 100th season.

Col. Charles E. McGee, a Tuskegee Airman, presided over the coin toss. He was flanked by Staff Sgt. Odón Sanchez Cardenas, Lt. Col. Samuel Lombardo and Cpl. Sidney Walton.