Halfway through her epic and exuberant Super Bowl 51 half-time show at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on Feb. 5, Lady Gaga—bedazzled in a Swarovski-covered Versace bodysuit—paused from her frenetic dancing to gauge the crowd’s mood as she settled down at a piano to perform her latest single, “Million Reasons”. “How ya doing tonight, Texas? America? World?” she asked, surrounded by twinkling smart-phone lights. “We’re here to make you feel good. Do you want to feel good?”
More than 117.5 million TV viewers in the US alone took up her call, tuning in to watch the pop star, 30, tear through a set complete with a pre-recorded rooftop rendition of patriotic songs, wirework akin to Pink’s acrobatics, choreographed dance routines for hits such as “Poker Face”, “Born this Way”, “Telephone”…