My Knowledge Of Kendrick Lamar And SZA Is Pretty Much Zero.

Something they should both take as a compliment.

However it means that in order to cover their Super Bowl Half-Time show I will not only have to find out the setlist of songs and listen to them. I'll also have to dig into their backgrounds to listen to the songs they could have used but didn't. Along with the context of why they made those decisions.

Which really means I've got a full day's work to do before I have anything to write about.

There was though one big theme even I was able to pick up on. America's attempts to learn about and understand the Eurovision Song Contest. It seems to me and quite a few people that America really didn't understand the protests against Israel which thwarted the 2024 Song Contest.

A big difference between Eurovision and the Super Bowl is that Eurovision is a discussion between nations. While the Super Bowl is a discussion amongst one country - America. When it discusses matters which relate to countries which aren't America the Super Bowl can seem like America yelling at people. People who have no right of reply.

The Half-Time Show addressed this by having Samuel L. Jackson dressed as the; "Uncle Sam" character acting as narrator. Essentially the personification of America yelling at everyone.

From the start Kendrick Lamar's Half-Time Show appearance was all about the 2024 Rap Wars. The musical feud he got into with Drake. A lot of Eurovision entries are in that sort of style of musical insults against people you full on hate.

Although a song contest the Eurovision Song Contest is actually organised by TV & Radio broadcasters, rather than record companies. One area of the Social Contract they're particularly interested are so-called; "Moral Standards." Societies attitudes to things like sexuality and nudity and foul language. How far you can go in terms of broadcasting such things on TV & Radio. The Song Contest used to be known as the; "Light Music Competition." So the songs are supposed to be of the type that it's acceptable to play on daytime Radio or show on TV in the early evening, family time.

This can, sometimes, give the impression that people involved in the Song Contest are utterly sex mad. Constantly talking about sex and nudity. Obviously those discussions can be about sex and nudity, they are part of the moral standards. However they can also be a metaphor of other moral standards.

Eurovision is a discussion between 50+ nations. So a lot of the discussion is what the moral standards are across those 50+ nations along with how they're enforced in each jurisdiction. However it's quite common that nations will have a list of words you can't say on TV, or can only say at certain times.

The lyrics of Song Contest entries have to be submitted, in writing, a couple of months in advance. It is very easy to tell whether a word in the lyrics appears on someone's list. It's a binary test, in a way that discussions about whether a skirt is a little too short or a top is a little too low cut isn't.

So part of the drama of this year's Half-Time Show was Kendrick Lamar submitting the setlist and lyrics, in writing, to both the NFL and the broadcaster FOX. To see whether the lyrics would be approved or whether they included words which were on people's lists. What steps, such as bleeping or cutting sound, would FOX and the NFL be taking to prevent any of the words on the list being broadcast.

One thing I find impressive about the Eurovision Song Contest is its ability to drill down into the granular detail of complex topics. In the form of pop songs which are not allowed to overtly reference the topic itself. In part this is because it is a discussion between nations. So, say, Sweden's Nuclear Physicists can go off and have a discussion with, say, Greece's Nuclear Physicists. Even if most of the other people watching can't follow, let alone participate in, the discussion.

Kendrick Lamar's Half-Time Show did try and address one of these complex topics. Urban Planning and Development or; "Urban Geography." The sort of topic that even has people like me nodding off to sleep, despite it being what our degrees are in.

One of the Oscar nominated movies this year is; "The Brutalist" which is about and architect and is named after a specific (Marxist) school of architecture and urban design. So this is a big topic which is going to run and run throughout Awards Season.

Awards Season is really focused on Los Angeles. Parts of which were devastated by wildfires back in January. As a result it's going to require a lot of rebuilding. A process which starts with urban planning and architecture. So this is probably a topic that's going to run and run long after this Awards Season is over. At least until the 2028 Olympics/Paralympics, if the US is still going to bother with that. They do enjoy big, complex construction projects as part of their; "Legacy." Attempts to rebuild Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral were actually pretty small in comparison.

Los Angeles really came into being in the era of the motorcar. So its structure isn't really that of a city. Instead it's a lot of suburbs interlinked by Freeways. So you have the Beverly Hills suburb, the Palisades suburb, the Altadena suburb etc.

As it's not possible to walk between the different suburbs this type of urban design can really increase social isolation and undermine social cohesion. If you don't have a car or good public transport then you're stuck in your suburb. Unable to do things like going to a grocery store to buy affordable and healthy food.

It's a legacy of racism that many suburbs in America are still divided by race. Guess which colour suburbs aren't getting the good public transport links. For example while everyone's been focused on L.A's Palisades suburb the traditionally Black Altadena suburb has been getting a lot less attention.

So Kendrick Lamar's Half-Time Show was set on a stage in the form of an urban street, resembling a Freeway. It began with all the colours of the American flag trying to fit into the one car.

There were certainly elements of a certain Kanye West song in the setlist I did recognise.