Sorry if repost...couldn't find anything related. I really hope this is not true.
https://www.gq.com/story/timberlake-hologram-prince-halftime?mbid=social_facebook
In a press conference on Thursday, Timberlake denied rumors that he was planning a surprise 'N Sync reunion for his halftime performance on Sunday (Beyoncé already played the reunion card in 2013, after all). Instead of performing with his old band mates, Timberlake will reportedly appear onstage with Prince, resurrected via hologram.
Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre famously gave the first major performance alongside a hologram in 2012, when Tupac appeared onstage with them at Coachella. The technique hasn't really grown beyond a gimmick since then, though Jared Leto used it last summer to accommodate his busy schedule. It's a risky move for Timberlake, because the whole shtick could easily upstage his performance.
While it makes sense to do an homage to Prince when the Super Bowl is happening in his hometown (and Timberlake recently held a listening party for his new album, Man of the Woods, at Paisley Park), the timing feels a little weird. Prince died in 2015, so it's an oddly long wait to do a tribute. And it's hard to not think that Timberlake might be trying to ride the coattails of one of the most memorable halftime shows in history. There's debate about which halftime show exactly is the greatest of all time, but Prince's in 2007 is iconic. The whole show was capped off with a performance of "Purple Rain" with actual rain falling, one of the only times ever that weather turned sour during a halftime show. Following up such an amazing, organic moment with basically a replicant version of Prince could really easily veer into bad taste.
And there's one more wrinkle: Prince himself was anti-hologram, according to a 30 year old interview with Guitar World.
GW: With digital editing, it is now possible to create a situation where you could jam with any artist from the past. Would you ever consider doing something like that?
Certainly not. That's the most demonic thing imaginable. Everything is as it is, and it should be. If I was meant to jam with Duke Ellington, we would have lived in the same age. That whole virtual reality thing... it really is demonic. And I am not a demon. Also, what they did with that Beatles song ["Free As a Bird"], manipulating John Lennon's voice to have him singing from across the grave... that'll never happen to me. To prevent that kind of thing from happening is another reason why I want artistic control.
Reportedly, the idea of a Prince hologram was floated by the late artist's sister, but hopefully Team Timberlake has done a lot of planning and troubleshooting on this. It'd be a shame if this ended up turning Prince into a CGI version of Left Shark.
https://www.gq.com/story/timberlake-hologram-prince-halftime?mbid=social_facebook
In a press conference on Thursday, Timberlake denied rumors that he was planning a surprise 'N Sync reunion for his halftime performance on Sunday (Beyoncé already played the reunion card in 2013, after all). Instead of performing with his old band mates, Timberlake will reportedly appear onstage with Prince, resurrected via hologram.
Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre famously gave the first major performance alongside a hologram in 2012, when Tupac appeared onstage with them at Coachella. The technique hasn't really grown beyond a gimmick since then, though Jared Leto used it last summer to accommodate his busy schedule. It's a risky move for Timberlake, because the whole shtick could easily upstage his performance.
While it makes sense to do an homage to Prince when the Super Bowl is happening in his hometown (and Timberlake recently held a listening party for his new album, Man of the Woods, at Paisley Park), the timing feels a little weird. Prince died in 2015, so it's an oddly long wait to do a tribute. And it's hard to not think that Timberlake might be trying to ride the coattails of one of the most memorable halftime shows in history. There's debate about which halftime show exactly is the greatest of all time, but Prince's in 2007 is iconic. The whole show was capped off with a performance of "Purple Rain" with actual rain falling, one of the only times ever that weather turned sour during a halftime show. Following up such an amazing, organic moment with basically a replicant version of Prince could really easily veer into bad taste.
And there's one more wrinkle: Prince himself was anti-hologram, according to a 30 year old interview with Guitar World.
GW: With digital editing, it is now possible to create a situation where you could jam with any artist from the past. Would you ever consider doing something like that?
Certainly not. That's the most demonic thing imaginable. Everything is as it is, and it should be. If I was meant to jam with Duke Ellington, we would have lived in the same age. That whole virtual reality thing... it really is demonic. And I am not a demon. Also, what they did with that Beatles song ["Free As a Bird"], manipulating John Lennon's voice to have him singing from across the grave... that'll never happen to me. To prevent that kind of thing from happening is another reason why I want artistic control.
Reportedly, the idea of a Prince hologram was floated by the late artist's sister, but hopefully Team Timberlake has done a lot of planning and troubleshooting on this. It'd be a shame if this ended up turning Prince into a CGI version of Left Shark.
