First-Ever World Cup Halftime Show Is an “Action-Packed 11 Minutes,” Says FIFA Producer

How is the FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show going to pull off performances from BTS, Madonna, Shakira, Burna Boy, Justin Bieber and Gustavo Dudamel and his orchestra in just 11 minutes?

That’s the biggest question heading into the halftime event’s maiden voyage this weekend, and as the show’s executive producer, Guy Carrington of Done+Dusted, tells The Hollywood Reporter, it’s going to come through a tight, highly coordinated mega-mix that’s still got a few more surprises in tow as well.

“Obviously I’m not going to give anything away on the performance itself, but we’ve spent months and months preparing this, developing it and working with all of the artists,” Carrington tells THR.” It’s a carefully curated performance that’s going to be spectacular.”

FIFA had first unveiled the Halftime Show roster back in May, announcing BTS, Madonna and Shakira as the headliners. The organization rolled out even more performers last week, confirming Bieber and Burna Boy’s appearances too, along with Dudamel and the PS22 choir featuring Coldplay.

Coldplay’s Chris Martin oversaw the show’s bookings, as he did for last year’s Club World Cup. When asked about the process for adding Bieber to the mix and when and how that came about, Carrington reiterated it was mainly in Martin’s purview but added that “I think there were conversations happening for a long time.”

“This was always about bringing together the world’s top performers and creating a real moment of collaboration and unity,” Carrington says. “Chris wanted it to feel representative of the world, and so we have performers from all corners of the globe alongside these A-listers. It’s the idea of unity at a time when maybe things don’t feel as unified as they could be, and creating something fun.”

The show serves a charitable cause too, supporting FIFA’s Global Citizen Education Fund, which seeks to raise $100 million through the world cup efforts. With $1 from each ticket throughout the cup going to the fund, FIFA’s raised $60 million to this point.

The natural reference point for a show like this would of course be NFL’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, and it’d be a natural conclusion given that the FIFA show’s director Hamish Hamilton has handled every Super Bowl halftime performance since 2010. Still, Carrington curbs the comparison, adding that “we wanted to create something that felt organic to the tournament and that “there wasn’t any real influence taken from any other shows or anything like that.”

The fact that it is the first ever World Cup final halftime show, it makes a lot of sense to come at it slightly differently,” he says. “We want something a bit different from the traditional. The expected viewing figures on Sunday are going to be enormous, like probably the most viewed match of all time, and watched all over the world. I think it needed to feel representative of that.”

Aside from the sheer amount of content to get through, the show also has some logistical challenges and limitations, as the final will be played on much more delicate natural grass, as opposed to the synthetic turf that usually makes up MetLife Stadium during the NFL season.

“We’re under no illusion that the priority here is the game,” He says. “We’ve done testing with cameras, we’ve done testing with the the clothes people will wear. We’re going to lay out a big cloth over the pitch to protect the grass. We want to be careful nothing that could fall off anyone’s wardrobe. We want to make sure that people’s people’s footwear is lightweight, we’re considering the amount of time people spend in certain areas. All of our rehearsal process has been focused on making sure that we do a spectacular show, but we do it with with zero impact.”

Some football fans around the globe bristled a bit this week following reports that halftime will go beyond the International Football Association Board rulebook’s 15-minute maximum time to account for the show, worrying the change can impact the game.

Carrington didn’t have much to say about that, saying Friday that it “wasn’t something that I’ve really listened to, but added that “we’re here to create a show that, like I said, [will have] as little impact physically on the on the final itself.”

Carrington confirms they’ve got room for some more surprises beyond what’s been announced as well, though at press time, he declines to give much of a hint of what else they’ve got in store.

“Tune in Sunday,” he says. “It’s an action-packed 11 minutes.”