Justin Timberlake Doesn’t Worry About Perfection in Behind The Scenes Super Bowl Halftime Rehearsal Video

What’s it like to rehearse for the most-watched 13 minutes of your life? Get a look with this week’s Pepsi behind-the-scenes video chronicling Justin Timberlake’s prep for Super Bowl LII on Feb. 4. Though he’s rock a million faces and played just about every major event there is, Timberlake will reach a rare peak during the matchup between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles when he takes the stage at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis and becomes the only artist to perform during halftime at three Super Bowls.

The cameras take you to a rehearsal studio in New York where choreographer Marty Kudelka and associate choreographer AJ Harpold are putting the dancers through their paces for what Harpold says is easily “the biggest performance of any of our lives”. The endless days of going over the steps packs a ton of intensity and pressure into a very short time, according to dancer Dana Wilson, who says “you better not mess up”.

Wearing one of his now-signature Man of the Woods flannel shirts, boss Timberlake adds “it’s gonna go by quick… like [snaps fingers]”. The montage shows Justin Timberlake popping and locking along with two male dancers over the beat to “SexyBack”, with Harpold describing the unique, special relationship the singer has with Kudelka, who he’s worked with since his *NSYNC days. “He has his own style of movement which compliments the way that I like to move on stage… it’s crisp without being showboaty”, Timberlake says of Kudelka.

The crew is seen in endless rehearsals, working out moves over and over, with the Tennessee Kids band backing them up and Justin Timberlake adding a simple caveat to soothe any nerves: “Unity, that’s all we’re gonna try to do. I don’t worry about if things go wrong, because perfection is the death of greatness”. The goal: to have fun.

Billboard