Kid Rock’s alternative Super Bowl halftime show slammed as ‘embarrassing’

Kid Rock has been brutally criticised after appearing to lip-synch throughout his entire set at Turning Point USA’s ‘All-American Halftime Show’.

Overnight, Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny took to the stage at the Super Bowl’s halftime show with a performance that has been celebrated as ‘spreading a message of love and unity’ as the United States faces immigration raids across the country.

But after the performer was revealed as the headline act for the Super Bowl show last October, Charlie Kirk’s organisation announced its alternative event following conservative criticism against the Spanish-language singer.

Ahead of the concert, TPUSA spokesperson Andrew Colvet said it was ‘an opportunity for all Americans to enjoy a halftime show with no agenda other than to celebrate faith, family, and freedom’.

Aside from Kid Rock – real name Robert Ritchie – the line-up also included country artists Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett.

Playing last, Kid Rock performed just two songs – his 1999 Bawitdaba and a cover of country musician star Cody Johnson’s Til You Can’t.

However, those tuning in quickly questioned whether the musician – who began his career as a rapper – was in fact lip-syncing the entire way through. Taking to social media to slam the performance, many called his efforts ‘embarrassing’.

‘Kid Rock couldn’t even be bothered to sing live. Instead, some truly awful lip-syncing,’ user JJ posted on X.

‘I am in tears at how badly Kid Rock is lip syncing,’ Fantoman79 wrote.

‘Seeing people hyping up Kid Rock and dissing Bad Bunny when Kid Rock was lip syncing the whole thing (not even good at it) and out of breath the entire time. Like ok bro pack it up,’ Niki shared.

‘Yeah, and millions tuned in to see Kid Rock lip sync in a pair of jorts. You people are pathetic,’ BeerLife declared.

Meanwhile, several publications who reviewed the show were also less than impressed by what they were forced to watch.

‘The All-American Halftime Show was unable to evoke much more than a shrug, with half-hearted pop-country performances that showed the limitations of booking a big show with minimal talent,’ Variety declared.

‘Their gambit to align themselves with the MAGA crowd might be their only hope in elevating their careers,’ it wrote of the support acts.

Detailing Kid Rock’s performance, the outlet said he ‘resembled someone’s fun-loving uncle four drinks deep in a Tampa karaoke bar’.

Meanwhile Rolling Stone wrote: ‘At its heart, the whole thing was essentially an angry tantrum over the elevation of a Latino, Spanish speaking, pro-immigration artist – who many conservatives assumed was not an American citizen – to one of the nation’s biggest stages. The “in America we speak English” halftime show, if you will.’

In its overview, Slate called the show ‘utterly lame’ and ‘as dumb as expected’. Kid Rock, who graced us with his best-known song, Bawitdaba while wearing a fedora and jean shorts. Does it still count as gracing us if he was neither singing or managing to lip-sync convincingly?’ it added.

Following the Super Bowl halftime show, Grammy-winning country artist Kacey Musgraves posted on X that Bad Bunny’s set ‘made me feel more proudly American than anything Kid Rock has ever done’.

At the weekend it was also announced that Kid Rock’s Rock the Country music festival in South Carolina was forced to cancel after multiple acts dropped out, which followed criticism the event was ‘MAGA-leaning’. Kid Rock has previously sold Trump T-shirts at his concerts and modified his lyrics to express support for the president.

At its conclusion, the Turning Point show ended with a tribute to Kirk, showing photos of the late right-wing political activist kissing his wife, Erika. Soon after, she thanked ‘the millions that tuned in’ online. ‘It’s okay to love Jesus and your country. Ultimately, this is what it’s all about, making Heaven crowded,’ she wrote.

Just two hours before the broadcast, TPUSA announced that its plans to stream the show on X had hit a snag, posting on social media that it was unable to proceed due to ‘licensing restrictions’.

However, the 30-minute show – which hawked merchandise and begged viewers for money – still managed to draw in around 5.5 million viewers at its peak to the YouTube livestream.

Although this will likely still pale in comparison to the NFL’s official halftime show, which last year drew in a record-breaking 133.5 million viewers.

But, not missing his chance to take aim at Bad Bunny’s performance, US President Donald Trump said it was ‘absolutely terrible’.

‘It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence. Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World,’ he posted on Truth Social.

‘This “Show” is just a “slap in the face” to our Country…There is nothing inspirational about this mess of a Halftime Show and watch, it will get great reviews from the Fake News Media, because they haven’t got a clue of what is going on in the REAL WORLD.’

Trump had previously called Bad Bunny’s selection a ‘terrible choice’, also claiming he’d never heard of the rapper, who last week won album of the year at the Grammys and was the most-streamed artist on Spotify last year.

During his acceptance speech for another award at last week’s Grammy’s, the rapper – real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio – also called out the ongoing immigration raids happening across the United States.

‘Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say, ICE out,’ he said before receiving a standing ovation.

‘We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans. I know it’s tough to not hate these days. And I was thinking, sometimes we get contaminated. The hate gets more powerful with more hate.

‘The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love. So please, we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love. We don’t hate them; we love our people. We love our family, and that’s the way to do it – with love. Don’t forget that, please.’

Responding to criticism over Bad Bunny performing at the Super Bowl, last week NFL commissioner Roger Goodell also stood firm saying that he was ‘one of the greatest artists in the world’ who ‘understands the platform he is on’.

As his performance drew to a close, Bad Bunny held up a football stamped with the words ‘Together, we are America,’ as a billboard appeared that read ‘The only thing more powerful than hate is love’ was shown.

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