Here’s What Lady Gaga Should Perform At The Super Bowl, According To Pandora Listeners
What can we expect from Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl Halftime Show performance? There’s no telling, but chances are it will look nothing at all like that time she poured “blood” on herself at the VMAs in 2009. And there’s a high probability that her backup dancers won’t be vomiting paint on her this time around.
In fact, when Gaga takes the stage at Houston’s NRG Stadium on Sunday night, you can probably expect it to be the exact opposite of that. In a recent interview with Radio Disney, she said her goal is to have “every kid laughing,” saying, “In my mind they’re having this really powerful family experience watching the Super Bowl.”
This shouldn’t be all that surprising. This is the Super Bowl after all. And not only do Super Bowl performances tend to be pretty PG — OK, barring the occasional wardrobe malfunction and middle finger — but performers tend to pick a set list that spans their entire catalog, rather than using it to showcase new material.
So with five studio albums in her catalog, what should Gaga perform? Let’s look at the data.
Many performers have been able to sprinkle in a couple newer songs in their set list. In addition to fan favorites “I Kissed a Girl,” “Teenage Dream,” “California Gurls” and “Firework,” Katy Perry’s record-setting 115.5 million viewers in 2015 heard two of her latest singles with “Roar” and “Dark Horse.” And Halftime veteran Beyoncé managed to kill it with a song only a day old.
But judging by Pandora data, Gaga may benefit from putting a larger emphasis on older hits over new ones. Her latest album, Joanne, hasn’t quite lived up to her earlier albums, and has failed to produce singles as successful as “Roar” or “Dark Horse.” While “Million Reasons” and “Perfect Illusion” hit the Pandora Top Spins Chart, they couldn’t manage to enter the top 25.
Looking at her top-performing songs on Pandora — based on spins, thumbs up and track station adds — here are the songs that Gaga should sing on Sunday.
‘Poker Face’
Despite the fact that it’s nearly a decade old, “Poker Face” is still getting a lot of love. In fact, in the past 30 days, the song has gotten more love than any other Gaga song in both Track Station Adds and Thumbs Up — with nearly 82,000 Track Station Adds in the past 30 days.
‘Just Dance’
Close behind “Poker Face” in terms of monthly Track Station Adds and Thumbs Up is fellow Fame standout “Just Dance.” In addition to being a strong performer on Pandora, it’s also pretty PG. Add to that the fact just about everyone is bound to know it — whether they’re a lifelong Monster or just here for the sports — and you’ve got yourself a halftime winner.
‘Bad Romance’
OK, so we already have a very strong inclination that Gaga will perform her Fame Monster standout “Bad Romance” on Sunday. Pepsi gave us a hint when they released a behind-the-scenes teaser that showed dancers rehearsing to the song. And I mean, honestly, why wouldn’t she? Even though “Bad Romance” isn’t the top-performing songs when it comes to Pandora spins — more on that below — in the past month, it has been her highest-performing song in terms of Track Station Adds.
‘Telephone’
But the most popular song on Pandora in terms of raw spin counts? That crown goes to “Telephone,” which has seen close to 170 million spins to date. The song, off 2009’s The Fame Monster, is also the second-thumbed Gaga song. Oh, and it also features Beyoncé, who has a track history of certifiably slaying the Super Bowl. So maybe a surprise appearance? Hey, one can dream.
‘Born This Way’
With its anthemic chorus, energizing rhythm and empowering message, “Born This Way,” off 2011’s album of the same name, is pretty much made for fireworks and 70,000-capacity stadiums. And it’s still seeing a ton of fan engagement, too. This month, the song came in at #5 in both Thumbs Up and Track Station Adds among Lady Gaga’s catalog.
‘Paparazzi’
Performing similarly “Born This Way” is “Paparazzi,” the creepy yet catchy single off her 2008 debut. The song has been averaging right around 80,000 thumbs up and 500 track station adds per month over the past three months.
‘Million Reasons’
Surely Gaga won’t want her entire show to be made up entirely of her pre-pre-2011 catalog. So what should she pick off of Joanne? While something like “Perfect Illusion” or “A-YO” would be more cheery choices, “Million Reasons” has been outperforming any other Joanne song across Pandora spins, thumbs up, and track station adds over the past month.
