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| FILE - In this Nov. 7, 2012 file photo, Bruno Mars performs during the 2012 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York. Mars will perform at this year's Super Bowl. |
NEW YORK (AP)
-- Everyone is in Bruno Mars' ear about one thing when it comes to
performing the Super Bowl halftime show: How will you deal with the
freezing cold?
"Everyone's putting the fear in
god in me like there's going to be a blizzard," Mars said in a phone
interview this month from Los Angeles, asking about the weather
conditions in the New York-New Jersey area for his "research."
"I'm
going to wear a beekeeper suit, I don't know," he answered about how he
will keep warm when he performs Feb. 2. "I'm not going to know until I
get there ... I'm not trying to hype myself up too much.
"I know it's going to be cold and I just got to face it."
The
28-year-old pop crooner will hit the stage for the Super Bowl at
MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The singer, whose hits range
from "Grenade" to "Locked Out of Heaven," typically performs with a full
band where he sings, dances and strums the guitar onstage. Mars'
performance follows Beyonce's electrifying set earlier this year, where
she danced tightly and sang powerfully, with the help of background
dancers and Destiny's Child at the big game in New Orleans.
Lee
Anne Callahan-Longo, the general manager of Beyonce's production house
Parkwood Entertainment, said performing in cold weather creates many
challenges.
"It makes it harder to sing. It
certainly makes it harder on a woman for choosing wardrobe. It can be
really cold out there," she said. "But I think once you get on stage and
your adrenaline gets pumping, it doesn't matter. They get in the zone.
Most artists get in the zone once they start their performance. And if
you're professional, you do what you need to do."
Katy Perry echoed Callahan-Longo's thoughts.
"The
weather affects your vocal cords and if you're playing guitar you can't
wear mittens, you know, and your fingers are hitting these strings that
are cold as well," she said. "I've been in some situations where it
just like dries out your voice - the cold does. It's not where you shine
your best, but you do what you have to do."
Much
like his epic performance on "Saturday Night Live" that became the
following week's water cooler topic as well as a ratings success, Mars
understands that his Super Bowl stint is massively high profile, and
could boost the pop star - who has two platinum albums, a plethora of
radio hits and sold out international tours - to new heights. The singer
debuted on the music scene in 2010, costarring on B.o.B's "Nothin on
You" and Travie McCoy's "Billionaire" - multi-platinum hits Mars sang
on, co-wrote and co-produced. He went on to release his debut single,
"Just the Way You Are," months after, topping the charts on his own and
earning his first Grammy Award. Mars' debut, "Doo-Wops & Hooligans,"
launched back-to-back hits and reached near double platinum status, and
last year's "Unorthodox Jukebox" mirrored its success and is nominated
for four Grammy Awards - including song and record of the year - to air a
week before the Super Bowl.
"When we got that
phone call, again, what do you say? `Nah.' What do you say?
`Absolutely. Let's rock,'" he said excitedly. "It was something exciting
for me and my (band). It wasn't too long ago when we were performing in
clubs and bars and pubs, and even when I put (my first) album out, (we
were) opening acts for a bunch of different artists, living in a van and
traveling around and kind of putting in the work and time. It might
seem fast to the outsider looking in, but you know, it's just another
thing we can celebrate and I feel like as a group we all achieved it
together.
"You know, performing on TV and stuff, whatever the NFL saw they dug it and that's why we got the call."
Mars
won't be the only one performing in the cold to round-out the NFL
season: The Foo Fighters and Zac Brown Band will perform on a cruise
ship docked at Pier 88 in Manhattan on the Hudson River a day before the
big game. The Roots, Imagine Dragons, Run DMC and Fall Out Boy will
also take the stage on the ship as part of the Super Bowl festivities.
The
Red Hot Chilli Peppers will perform at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn
on Super Bowl Eve, and a day before, Robin Thicke and Kendrick Lamar
will headline ESPN's party on Pier 36. Mary J. Blige, John Legend, and
Marc Anthony will also sing at Cipriani's for an event by Men's Fitness
and Shape magazines, and Patti LaBelle and Donnie McClurkin will perform
at Madison Square Garden for the annual Super Bowl Gospel Celebration.
Mars,
who was named Billboard's top artist of the year, said while the crazy
weather conditions somewhat frightens him, he'll pull through.
"You know what, it's awesome. ... even if I have to build a chimney onstage, perform around a fire, I'll do it," he said.
And
his peers have his back, including Kelly Rowland, who was part of
Beyonce's Super Bowl performance along with Michelle Williams.
"He
is going to be great. Trust me. Bruno Mars will find a way to stay
warm. He's so hot," Rowland said in an interview. "He's going to be just
fine."
What about Beyonce?
"No,
you got her number," a laughing Mars said of getting advice from the
diva. "Just from what I know - we played a Houston rodeo, which is a
stadium, so it is a different beast and there's a different way to
attack it."
