Maroon 5 is having a rough go of its halftime duties at the Super Bowl, and it looks like they’re really going to bring a sea sponge to clean things up. The band primarily responsible for halftime entertainment at Super Bowl 53 has seen a significant bit of backlash over its decision to perform given the NFL’s blackballing of Colin Kaepernick, to the point that the NFL actually cancelled the band’s pre-Super Bowl press conference.
In fact the only bit of good press for the halftime show was that the band had actually considered playing a SpongeBob SquarePants song, “Sweet Victory,” after an online petition got more than a million signatures demanding the band play the track from a 2001 episode of the Nickelodeon cartoon.
If you somehow haven’t seen this episode of SpongeBob, you should track it down. “Band Geeks” (season 2, episode 35) is an absolute classic that has one of the funniest (and most musical) moments of the show’s history.
It’s also one of the few episodes in which Squidward actually has a happy ending. Which means it holds a special place in the hearts of many SpongeBob fans. But the song that ties the whole episode together is actually a pretty solid stadium rock track. The show’s music has always been really good —outside of the catchy but overwhelming theme song, that is— and so it makes sense that the song has endured through the years.
And if you believe a few reporters on site in Atlanta this weekend, it seems like Maroon 5 will actually include it in the halftime performance.
Caught a peek of @SpongeBob while @maroon5 rehearsed for #SBLIII at the @MBStadium #SweetVictory pic.twitter.com/5H09kAfmQ2
— Jamal St. Cyr (@JStCyrTV) January 31, 2019
CONFIRMED: @JWilliamsWDEF and I can verify that #SpongeBob WILL BE USED during the Pepsi Halftime Show!
We can hear @maroon5 practicing right now. pic.twitter.com/AedPuhi4Q1
— Angela Moryan (@AngelaMoryanTV) January 30, 2019
It’s unlikely the band plays the entire song — not even the “Band Geeks” episode actually plays a full-length song, mind you — but it definitely looks like Maroon 5 will make at least an homage to SpongeBob and the Bikini Bottom Super Band as part of its medley on Sunday. Which is about the best news you can hope for given how much controversy the group’s decision to support the NFL and show up in the first place has caused. It certainly won’t fix any wrongs the NFL and its owners have done, but at least some cartoon fans will be happy come Sunday evening.
