Super Bowl 51 may be in the books, but it’s still a popular conversation topic. The game itself made records, although it wasn’t as big of a ratings hit as expected, the commercials were mostly lackluster with a few exceptions, and Lady Gaga nailed her halftime performance. 117.5 million viewers worldwide saw the 30-year-old singer perform a medley of some of her greatest hits, after seemingly leaping into the center of Houston’s NRG Stadium from the structure’s roof. Well, it has come to light that a little Hollywood magic was used to create the breathtaking entrance.

The opening of Gaga’s performance utilized 300 drones, creating a patriotic backdrop as she sang excerpts of “God Bless America” and “This Land is Your Land.” After that, Gaga took a leap into the stadium (which has a retractable ceiling) and launched into her repertoire of hits. According to Intel’s Natalie Cheung, the woman responsible for choreographing the drones’ performance, the segment was pre-recorded on January 30th, and there’s a valid reason for that:

“So there’s a lot of weather and environment (issues),” Cheung said. “In February, you don’t know what it will be like during Super Bowl day. We’d hate to plan all this and, if the wind speeds are too high or if it’s raining and the roof is closed, no one can see this spectacular show. So our creative team as well as the Super Bowl creative team felt this would be best to be filmed. Lady Gaga also was on the roof when this was filmed, and from a logistics and creative perspective, it’s a bit hard for her to go from the roof all the way down to the floor of the stadium.”

[From USA Today]

Video taken from the crowd perspective showed the pre-taped segment and Gaga coming down from pretty high up in the stadium. Note that the retractable roof on the stadium is closed.

LADY. GAGA.#SuperBowl #LadyGaga #PepsiHalftime pic.twitter.com/VKwvCIZpu5

— NFL Brasil (@NFLBrasil) February 6, 2017

Hey, she was pretty high up there. It’s admirable that she had the guts to do it, as I sure wouldn’t. Of course, haters were quick to accuse Gaga of stealing Pink’s act. And, proving she’s still a class act, Pink took to Instagram to give props to Gaga for her performance. In her post, she said, “Who cares if I flew first? Cause I didn’t! Cirque and Peter Pan been in the air for years!”

Love you, Pink. My only complaint is if she was able to pre-record the jump, why did she look so awkward doing it? I guess I wouldn’t want to do a second take either, and hey, if nothing else, the moment made for some hilarious memes.

Since the NFL spared no expense in putting together this extravaganza, you can only assume that Gaga wasn’t staying at the Motel 6 in Houston during the rehearsals and festivities. Quite the contrary. The singer chilled at a lavish $20 million mansion located a few miles from the stadium. The five bedroom, 10,000 square foot home, called Villa Encantado, boasts amenities fit for a celebrity, including a gym, sauna, movie theater, indoor game room, bocce court, pool and jacuzzi. If you want to live like Gaga, you can rent the home through Airbnb for a mere $10,000 per night (with a seven night stay minimum).

Thank you @airbnb for the gorgeous home in Houston for #SB51

A photo posted by xoxo, Joanne (@ladygaga) on Feb 6, 2017 at 7:01am PST

It may be just my opinion, but Gaga deserved the royal treatment, her performance was spectacular and managed to have a positive message. Although she had been told by the NFL to leave politics out of her performance, Gaga assured her fans during a pre-game press conference that she would remain true to her values:

“The only statements that I’ll be making during the halftime show are the ones that I’ve been consistently making throughout my career. I believe in a passion for inclusion. I believe in the spirit of equality, and that the spirit of this country is one of love and compassion and kindness. My performance will uphold those philosophies.”

[From Huffington Post]

Being a woman of her word, Gaga delivered on her promise, including a message of tolerance and acceptance for the LBGTQ community with the lyrics from her hit “Born This Way.” She used her moment in the worldwide spotlight to sing, “No matter gay, straight, or bi / Lesbian, transgendered life / I’m on the right track baby / I was born to survive.” Well played, Gaga. Well played. It was sure a great way to promote her upcoming Joanne tour, which kicks off on August 1 in Vancouver.

And now for the most important Gaga news – for me, at least – it’s official, Mama Monster will be the special guest judge on the Super Bowl for drag performers, RuPaul’s Drag Race! Gaga has had a long relationship with RuPaul and her girls, filming the lyric video for 2013’s “Applause” at a famed West Hollywood drag bar. The video featured Drag Race faves Raven, Detox, Shangela, Shannel and Morgan McMichaels. Gaga’s always wanted to be a judge and when she asked Ru if she could be a part of the show, Ru naturally responded “Yes!”

YES! RT: @ladygaga: Can I PLEASE be a judge on drag race! @RuPaul I started out in these club, these women taught me how to serve! pic.twitter.com/qEm3RbH6Bn

— RuPaul (@RuPaul) February 7, 2017

Gaga will lend her ability to judge the queens’ charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent on the season 9 premiere of the show, coming later in 2017. She shared the news on Twitter on Tuesday, with a short clip and the announcement, “The time has come! I’m joining the girls on the season premiere of @RuPaulsDragRace! #DontBeADrag #JustBeAQueen.”

The time has come! I’m joining the girls on the season premiere of @RuPaulsDragRace! #DontBeADrag #JustBeAQueen ? pic.twitter.com/XzKcKapsgw

— xoxo, Joanne (@ladygaga) February 7, 2017

I am beyond excited about this. Ru’s had some great judges, but this is going to be epic. 2017 is already proving to be quite the banner year for Gaga and I’m excited to see what’s next for her.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photo credit: WENN.com, Getty Images