For the 55th annual Super Bowl singer, The Weeknd, took on performing for the Pepsi Halftime Show by himself. The performance went as planned, but the singer has been receiving some mixed reviews from the viewers.

“Things the entire world can all agree on: 1) Cheese is good 2) The Weeknd put on an amazing Super Bowl halftime show.” said Cosmopolitan. They raved on The Weeknd’s 14 minute performance, but other viewers weren’t as kind.

Fox News evaluated Tweets sent out after The Weeknd’s performance. They found people saying, “That was terrible. I mean the sound mix, the choreography, the concept, the masks … ridiculously bad #HalfTimeShow,” and also, “Probably the worst and most boring #HalfTimeShow to date…. where is my #lady gaga or #Shakira at?”

The Weeknd spent his own money for the performances preparations, which ended up totaling to $7 million dollars. This led fans to have high hopes for this year’s halftime show, even though The Weeknd was restricted in what he could do due to COVID-19 guidelines.

Also, fans were speculating that, like most Super Bowl performers, surprise guests were going to be in The Weeknd’s gig. Ariana Grande was the name being dropped around, but Elle said “The Weeknd made it very clear ahead of the game, though: Don’t expect Grande to be there or anyone else.” He said adding in another performer would not fit the storyline he was wanting to get across.

The Weeknd did have the right to not add another performer, like most halftime shows have had, because The Weeknd did not get paid to perform at the event. Forbes said, “While he’s the first, as far as we can tell, to brag about spending his own money on the show, he’s by no means the first to perform for almost no pay.” The Super Bowl does not pay the halftime performers because they get revenue through the number of streams and albums sold.  Additionally, the artist gets exposure to a huge audience from the event.

Of last year’s performers, Cosmopolitan said “…the songs Shakira and J.Lo performed saw a 1,013% sales increase on Super Bowl Sunday, collectively selling 16,000 digital downloads”

The Weeknd may be receiving some criticism; however, in the end he should be making revenue from the Pepsi HalfTime show. It hasn’t been announced yet how much he has made, but it is likely more than the $7 million dollars he spent on his performance.