How many people were involved in Rihanna’s halftime show?

On Sunday, Barbadian artist Rihanna took to the stage for the first time in more than five years, performing all her biggest songs for the crowd at Super Bowl LVII.

The performance saw Rihanna descend from the sky on an aerial stage, with her dancers on separate stages alongside her.

She also debuted her special guest, revealed when the camera zoomed out to show Rihanna rubbing her pregnant belly, announcing her new pregnancy.

With the number of dancers supporting Rihanna and the constantly moving floating stages, the logistics behind the performance were one that had to be meticulously planned to the last detail.

She came from the sky

Rihanna’s entrance and exit saw her take to the sky to serenade the audience and viewers watching on TV.

As Rihanna explained during her Apple Music interview with Nadeska Alexis, “It’s literally like 300 to 400 people breaking the stage down and building it back up and getting it out in eight minutes. It’s incredible. It’s almost impossible.”

Bruce Rodgers, halftime show production designer, explained to Wired that the decision to get Rihanna and her dancers into the air came about in an effort to protect the delicate grass at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

While hoisting a performing artist into the air isn’t something new for Rodgers, having put Katy Perry into the air at the Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show, where she appeared to be gliding around in the air, the LED-lit floating stages were a new creation made just for Rihanna.

Each stage had 512 lights that were programmed to move along with Rihanna’s performance.

In order to keep the pregnant star safe, the entire production relied on the stadium’s massive Brunel trusses, which are strong enough to “carry a freight train,” Rodgers assured Rihanna’s team.

Aaron Siebert, project lead from Tait Towers, manufacturers of various technologies for performing artists, believes that the show will be the most advanced one yet.

“This will be, in my opinion, the most technically advanced Super Bowl halftime show that’s ever been done because of the amount of tech used to move the platforms,” Siebert said.

How many people in total were involved in the big day?

Rihanna’s big comeback performance involved roughly 800 people, including the camera crew, stage crews, 80 dancers, seven band members, and Rihanna herself.

Rihanna and her dancers took to the air in seven floating stages at the center of the field, rising up and down with the music.

She performed 12 of her biggest songs, including ‘B—- Better Have My Money,’ ‘Rude Boy,’ ‘Work,’ ‘Umbrella,’ and ‘Diamonds.’