ET exclusively spoke with creative producers Napoleon and Tabitha D'umo (aka Nappytabs) ahead of the big game on Feb. 2 in Miami.
We're less than a week away from Super Bowl LIV, and we can't contain our excitement over what Jennifer Lopez and Shakira have in store for their sure-to-be epic halftime show!
Following the second quarter of the NFL Championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 2, the Latina superstars will separately take center field inside Miami's Hard Rock Stadium. Ahead of the big night, ET exclusively spoke with J.Lo's creative directors, Napoleon and Tabitha Dumo (aka Nappytabs), who teased what fans can expect from the co-headlining performance, and whether the ladies will share the stage at any point.
"Of course, selfishly, we would love all of the time to ourselves, at least being the creative director," Tabitha joked. "But we took it as, sometimes great collaborations and something new and something fresh could be an exciting adventure, so we were open to all."
"It's a co-headline, so Jennifer and Shakira are splitting the time. But they will come together, and it is going to be exciting... and visual," she teased. "I can't say much more because everyone just has to tune in!"
Napoleon shared similar sentiments, adding, "It's two very beautiful, talented women together on the stage, repping what they rep. It's something that wouldn't matter if it was on [TV] or on their Instagram. It will be one of those performances that, when they're together, you'll be like, 'Why didn't this happen before?'"
The married, Emmy Award-winning dance duo teased that J.Lo's portion of the show includes a four-minute set that features approximately 130 dancers. They've been rehearsing nine hours a day, there will be three costume changes, 27 props involved and a whole army of field team members to help strike up the stage within mere minutes.
"There's a whole choreographic performance in just the setup," Napoleon explained. "Let's take Jennifer's tour for instance. It took us three full days to set that [stage] up and perform. For Super Bowl, you're doing that in seven minutes. It's outrageous."
Being a part of this year's Super Bowl experience is extra special for Napoleon and Tabitha, who have been working with Jennifer for over a decade. Most recently, they served as creative directors for her It's My Party tour and Video Vanguard performance at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards. They also co-executive produce World of Dance alongside the "Let's Get Loud" singer.
"I have such a great friendship, relationship with Jennifer. We've been working together for the last 10 years, but one of the things we haven't been able to do together is the Super Bowl. It's been on our bucket list," Tabitha shared. "So this year, doing the Super Bowl, it's surreal. It's exciting to share it with someone that you work with who is also a friend."
"It's like nothing else. It's a perfect pitch," Napoleon added. "Jennifer's one of the premier performers of our time. And what better place to be able to show it off than at the Super Bowl?"
Napoleon and Tabitha worked their first Super Bowl halftime in 2012. They choreographed an extravagant, stunt-filled routine for Madonna that was, at the time, the most-watched halftime show in history with 114 million viewers (higher than the game itself). This time, they're returning as creative directors and producers, a role that puts them in charge of "overseeing everything that goes on the field" for Jennifer.
"The stuff that people don't realize is the difficulty from venue to venue. We're in Miami this year; there's no roof, it's open-air and there's natural grass [in the stadium]. So with that comes a whole bunch of restrictions of different things," Napoleon explained. "The amount of space to get into this venue is different than other venues. It's not a big, wide-open door that you could just throw everything in. So the planning is critical and outrageous. Producing this one is far more difficult than, say, producing a show that's in one of the newer, open stadiums."
"People watch the Super Bowl halftime show and they're like, 'Oh, that's the coolest new thing I've ever seen,' which bodes well to who's performing," Tabitha added. "I think this Super Bowl becomes more about the actual performance than any big to-do [list] if that makes sense. And who better than the people who are actually on the field? And what better place than Miami to have two Latina women at this time in a very machismo, manly sport, doing it in front of a huge Latin audience? It's pretty epic and pretty big."
Tabitha told ET that they've been working on the show for several months. She first started talking to Jennifer creatively at the beginning of September 2019. "It is one of the biggest shows in America. So, naturally, I was scared to death. I was like, 'Oh my gosh, what are we going to do? What hasn't been done before? What's our approach?'" Tabitha recalled of their early discussions. "We were all excited yet nervous to put something together -- to make it as memorable as possible."
"It flies by. I would say, we started in a place of greed, but then we had a little bit of reality with the space and venue we're in," she continued. "So, we're constantly molding, shifting creative with the same vision in line."
In addition to Jennifer, Napoleon and Tabitha have also teamed up with New Zealand native Parris Goebel, who is choreographing the halftime routine for J.Lo and her dancers. They've known Parris (who has worked with everyone from Justin Bieber to Rihanna) since she was 15 years old, so doing the Super Bowl together is a full-circle moment for everyone.
"It's an evolution for us," Tabitha explained, of producing and directing versus choreographing. "We're all family and we all trust each other. We love to collaborate in this day and age. It's fun, it's inspiring. All of us are in the room, throwing out ideas and trying different things."
"We're making sure everyone gets to do what their little heart desires. Shakira and Jennifer are both two girls that probably dreamed of being on the Super Bowl stage their whole lives. And they're here," she added. "It's everybody's dream to get that stage ... so I think we have to be very sensitive that we deliver something that these girls will be proud of."
The fact that Shakira and Jennifer -- two Latina powerhouses -- are sharing the halftime stage is epic enough, but in order to bring Miami and Latino culture even more to the forefront, Napoleon and Tabitha shared that they have some major surprises in store.
"I think the style of music you'll hear will be very evident of the culture that the ladies both come from," Tabitha teased. "We have flown some performers from out of the country, from a Latin country, to come and join us. So we're representing the culture in a way that shows the great entertainers that they are."
The two confirmed that World of Dance fans will also see some familiar faces during halftime on Sunday. Jennifer is known for bringing them out on stage with her, and even featured some of the performers from the dance competition show on tour with her over the summer.
"Yes, there will definitely be some familiar faces from World of Dance ... lots of familiar faces," Tabitha said. "There's also one female performer from So You Think You Can Dance that's on the show as well, so you gotta pay attention!"
"Even when you think about Parris and the people that she utilizes a lot, that we utilize a lot, if you really look deeply, they were on World of Dance, America's Best Dance Crew," Napoleon added. "They were on a lot of the shows that we've done before. So, we always fall back on all of the big shows that we've been a big part of."
Needless to say, Jennifer and the team are pulling out all the stops to make this halftime performance bigger and better than anything they've done before.
"When you look at Jennifer on tour, in essence, she's running a marathon. But this right here, and the amount of time we have, is a straight world-class sprint from her," Napoleon explained. "So you'll see her at her best. Although it will go by in a short amount of time, you'll see everything she can throw out at you in true J.Lo fashion."
"J.Lo always manages to out-do herself in everything that she does," Tabitha added. "All of the bits that you love, that you see in her tour, the parts that you were like, 'Gosh! That was so great!' It's all pulled into one."
To sum it all up? "It will be action-packed and full of surprises," they shared.
Earlier this month, ET spoke with Jennifer on the red carpet at the Golden Globes, where she gave us an update on how rehearsals are going for the highly anticipated performance.
"I feel good! I'm excited," she teased. "We've been working on an amazing show for everybody. It's a few weeks out, and I'll go right back into rehearsal tomorrow morning."
"It's crunch time," she added while speaking with ET at the 31st Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Film Awards Gala. "It's going to be a great show, what can I tell you? We're going to try to give the best Super Bowl ever."
Jennifer also compared doing the halftime show to "winning an Oscar" in an interview that aired on CBS Sunday Morning in December.
"There's just something exhilarating about it," she raved. "It's the biggest show that there is!"
Hear more in the video below, and tune in to Super Bowl LIV airing Sunday, Feb. 2 at 3:30 p.m. PST/6:30 p.m. EST on Fox.
RELATED CONTENT:
