Usher’s halftime performance will be longer than usual, he says

By necessity, most Super Bowl halftime shows clock in at about 13 or 13 1/2 minutes, though some past shows have pushed it a bit. Well, you can count Usher in the “pushing it a bit” camp: He says he managed to convince the powers that be to let him have a whole 15 minutes on Sunday, February 11, in Las Vegas.

“I can’t explain why, but it’s a funny thing that I was able to do and craft,” Usher tells Entertainment Weekly. “That was a huge strategic thing that happened between me and my agency.”

He says he’ll count the show as his 101st Vegas show, after completing 100 shows in two years during his official My Way Las Vegas residency. He explains that the night of the Super Bowl, “I get to finally celebrate in the belief that I could come to Las Vegas and do something that was magical.”

The “Confessions” singer also says Rihanna‘s show last year was a big inspiration for his own show, “because of the choreography and the way they did something that felt like a concert.”

As for what Usher hopes fans take away from the 15-minute extravaganza, he tells EW, “I would hope that people would feel excited — whether they knew my music or they just got to meet me for the first time — and that I’m all passion, man.”

“And that this 8-year-old, who now is a 45-year-old, feels just as free as the first time that I thought any of this could be possible.”

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