So what year did the NBA halftime show start?

This issue has been googled for a long time and has not been googled.

But it doesn't matter, when it comes to halftime shows, the first thing that naturally comes to mind is the hot cheerleading squad. Where there are women, there is traffic.

Aside from the NBA, let's talk about cheerleading first.

The earliest cheerleading in the modern sense appeared at Princeton University in the 1880s, and in American football games, cheering people shouted in unison "Lalala, tigertigertiger, Hehihi, bouncing ~~~, PrincetonPrinceton!! "To boost morale. A few years later, Princeton University alumnus Thomos Peebles brought this chorus of cheers to the University of Minnesota in 1884. But it wasn't until 1898 that Johnny Campber, a student at the University of Minnesota, Joh

yCampbell) began to stand at the front and direct everyone to shout slogans together, which made him the first official cheerleader. Soon after, the University of Minnesota formed a "team call" group of four male students.

Although more than ninety percent of modern cheerleaders are girls, the early cheerleading squads were all boys.

In the 190s, when there were not many sports for female college students, girls began to join the cheerleading team, but in the 1940s, this activity became mainly for girls. Cheerleading is related to the type of competition, the most common sport with cheerleading is American football, followed by basketball. Football and wrestling rarely have cheerleading squads, while some games such as baseball never have a competitive cheerleading team composed of beautiful girls.

As for the cheerleading performances in the NBA, it probably starts with Lakers owner Buss in the 70s of the last century.

In 1979, Buss bought the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Kings (ice hockey) and the Los Angeles Forum Arena (the Lakers' former home stadium) for $67.5 million. At the time, the Lakers were in a difficult situation and were valued at about $16 million.

Bath introduced Hollywood ideas and turned competitions into entertainment shows. Hired a Hollywood A-list production team to produce the coolest promo for the Lakers. He also recruited the most beautiful cheerleading girls, and invited the most famous sports bands in the United States from USC to play for the Lakers, making the Lakers' games as entertainment events in Los Angeles and the United States as the Oscars.

Small kiosk

Since then, cheerleading has become an important part of the NBA, an important part of the halftime show.

These sexy girls made Kobe Bryant and Xiaobei drool. In addition to singing and dancing on the field, they will also throw all kinds of souvenirs into the stands to interact with the fans.

Mascot performance

Much like a cheerleading show. Each team in the NBA has its own specific mascot. During the pause of each game, the mascot dressed in the team's uniform will rush to the center of the stadium to perform, and there are many tricks to perform, which greatly enriches the atmosphere between games and entertains the audience.

Performances by big-name stars

Because of the big names, it will only appear in some major tournaments. For example, in the All-Star Game, the NBA will invite some stars to perform at halftime. In the midtime of the 00 All-Star Game, Mary Kelly, wearing a Wizards jersey, gave Jordan a song "Hero", which became an eternal classic.

Zooperstars show

It's a very, very young acting project. A group of performers dressed in giant inflatable animal coats perform simple movements on the field. But because the shape is too cute, it is loved by many young age fans.

The performer will swallow a live crew directly (in fact, swallowing it into the costume), this is such a performance, which can always provoke bursts of laughter in the audience, in the words of an American media reporter: "I know these people are acting like children of the age of a child, but I really laugh so that my cheeks hurt." ”

In addition to the above performances, there is also a significant performance and a Chinese girl. It was a bloom of Chinese culture in the NBA.

RedPanda, Chinese name: Niu Rong (transliteration), is the existence of the biggest name in the NBA halftime show. When you can't see the NBA live yet, she's already performing at NBA halftime.

On Thanksgiving Day in 199, the Clippers called her. Before that, she had only performed for some company and school celebrations, and it was the first time that a big girl in the NBA arena had been in a sedan chair. She was worried that her performance would not be popular, but when she finished, the applause and cheers were even louder than watching the players play.

When "The Big Sedan Chair" plays as the background music, a Chinese girl steps on a unicycle and begins her acrobatic performance of "Top Bowl". The top bowl is a traditional Chinese acrobatic project, and the performer will hold a stack of porcelain bowls on his head to complete movements such as splitting, golden rooster independence, and handstand. Niu Rong's top bowl is combined with a wheelbarrow, on which she tosses multiple porcelain bowls high with her feet and catches them with her head.

Some fans are so accustomed to her presence that they even think she is the team's lucky star to make the playoffs. People like to stay and watch her perform at halftime, and the NBA's official purpose has been achieved. But in the 01-14 season, due to her family's illness, Niu Rong left the NBA, and she did not perform on stage for many years.

Perhaps it's because of Chinese culture and this Chinese girl that the NBA has found the secret to keeping fans in the court at halftime: acrobatics make people more engaged and harder to move off. There were more similar performances after this. What impressed the fans was the acrobatics of "TheAmazingSladek" in the 016 All-Star Game: "Stacking Chairs".

In addition to acrobatics, the NBA halftime show also featured other Chinese culture and Chinese elements.

The world-famous Shaolin has appeared in the NBA halftime show. On January 0, 018, at the invitation of the Los Angeles Clippers, the Shaolin Cultural Center in Los Angeles served as a guest performer in the NBA league held at the Los Angeles Sports Center on the same day to show Shaolin culture to the audience.

It's not just Shaolin culture, but during this year's Chinese New Year, Chinese style swept the NBA in the Midwest. Including the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, and the Timberwolves. During the Chinese New Year, unprecedented Chinese New Year halftime shows were launched on the court, which also demonstrated the importance that the NBA attaches to Chinese fans and the huge potential of the market for more than 100 million Chinese fans.

With the appearance of traditional Chinese culture, there will inevitably be Chinese pop culture.

Zhang Yixing, the popular fried chicken, appeared in the halftime show in the NBA China game in 015, performing an 8-minute song and dance, and also showed Chinese pop culture. Overseas, diva Beyoncé, fruit sister Katy Perry, and Grammy Award winner Ne-Yo have all appeared on the NBA stage as guest performers, and this is also the first time that the NBA China has set up a halftime show.

The Chinese market is the most important part of the NBA outside of the United States. Whether it's a player or a halftime show, the NBA has to take into account China, such a big market. A large number of Chinese cultural elements appeared in the NBA, which is also an opportunity to show Chinese culture to the world. It's also important for our own country. In the future, we hope to see more diverse Chinese culture on the NBA halftime show and show the world China's unique cultural characteristics.

Finally, I found a paper written by three American scholars, with a different view on the halftime show.

"Three American scholars studied the sports that boys liked to watch in 000 and found that halftime shows conveyed a deep sense of race, gender, and ideology, and shaped boys as typically white men. They found in the sample that black and female commentators rarely appeared in the live reports and intermission analysis. While there are many Black athletes in sports, especially the NBA, Black people or women rarely appear in the live room as authoritative voices. (To be continued)