Super Bowl Halftime Show 2019: Song List, Reaction for Maroon 5 Performance

Perhaps Adam Levine might want to consider sticking with his position as a judge on NBC's The Voice and hanging out with country music star Blake Shelton.

The Levine-Shelton buddy routine—the two regularly go after each other the way best friends do—seems to go over quite well with the public.

Maroon 5's halftime show at Super Bowl LIII on Sunday did not go over well. The show was hammered by critics on Twitter and by numerous publications.

The New York Post said the halftime show was "more mundane" than the 13-3 New England victory itself. 

The hard-punching satirical website The Onion skewered the Maroon 5 performance with a tweet saying the performance was marred by a "functioning sound system."

Maroon 5's set list included "This Love," "Girl's Like You," "Sicko Mode," "I Like the Way You Move," "She Will Be Loved," "Sugar" and "Moves Like Jagger."

The show appeared to have little flow, and the performance was uneven and somewhat uninspired. 

A USA Today headline criticized the performance as "white bread" but acknowledged it was not the worst ever.

Maroon 5 may have been in a position when it could not have won because of the criticism it took for agreeing to do the halftime show after several performers turned down the offer to perform because they wanted to show solidarity with unemployed NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The former 49er became a controversial figure when he took a knee during the national anthem as a form of protest. 

Cardi B and Rihanna both turned down the assignment before Levine and Maroon 5 accepted the gig.

The Daily Beast, a snarky website that features colorful opinions, labeled the show as "mind-numbingly dull as you feared."

Levine also stripped down during his performance of "Moves Like Jagger," taking off his shirt and gyrating throughout. 

Kevin Fallon of the Daily Beast took note of it with this assessment. "Maroon 5's halftime show, with blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameos from Travis Scott, Big Boi, and, uh, SpongeBob SquarePants, was bland mediocrity in all its tatted, half-naked glory."

Fallon later captured the primary issue with Maroon 5's performance in an even-handed manner, writing: "Maroon 5 performed their music, and the music was fine as always. I tapped my foot. I hummed along. I smiled twice. It was a performance that matched all the intensity of a first half that ended with a score of 3-0." 

The Super Bowl itself lacked big plays and the excitement that high-scoring offensive teams can bring when they are at their best. Much more was expected.

That was also the case at halftime, as the Adam Levine/Maroon 5 performance was routine and lacked any kind of a spark.