July 19, 2026
World Cup Final: Bieber, Shakira, BTS,...YES! Tom Cruise ... Huh?
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RSS Feed We just watched the world’s first ever Half-Time show for the World Cup, and give it two enthusiastic thumbs up. Madonna may have lip synched her opening, but it was iconic to watch her kill it in her 70s. Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso handing it off to Justin Bieber was just perfect. And Beiber, who was armed only with a guitar and a microphone, slayed signing ‘Hallelujah’ with composure and grace. We also loved watching BTS and Shakira, who had the cutest kids on the planet dancing alongside her.
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00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey, that folks.
00:00:02
Speaker 2: It is Sunday, July nineteenth, and it is actually halftime. It is halftime of the World Cup, and we were hopping on because we just discovered a few stars. They standout stars of that halftime. First ever World Cup Final halftime show. Whoever those kids were dancing next to Shakira and Justin Bieber. Welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Just a quick hop on. This is the first ever, so a piece of history here, just the ideas of them doing it. What do you think about the idea in the first place, This is a longer halftime than we're used to, so we're waiting still for it to start back up.
00:00:37
Speaker 3: But I love the idea because this is an event, This is a big deal that it's here in the Americas. And I thought it was so cool to begin with Madonna, like a nod to iconic. You might disagree, but this white girl here grew up with Madonna as her icon so I love the idea that they kind of threw a nod to her her. I think she has been one of these American musical legends, so to have her and look, she's in her seventies and I was impressed that she was out there shaking her thing, doing her thing. It was lip SYNCD for sure, but I was still impressed.
00:01:17
Speaker 2: And again we yes, we claim her, but she is a worldwide icon and has been for a long long time. We will get into and I didn't say at the top, we're going to get into Tom Cruise. We were supposed to hop on and talk about it just the halftime, but Tom Cruise almost stole the show for me at the top of the broadcast. We'll get to that in a second. Rooms I have been saying, once he got past that teeny bop stage that Justin Bieber was in kind of with the baby, Baby Baby, that wasn't my lane for me, even though I respected what he did bro it was the last five years, certainly of him making music. He's been one of my favorite artists. I am in awe of what he just did.
00:01:56
Speaker 3: Right because I mentioned Madonna came out she lip sync and look, that's understandable, but it was evident from the moment Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso handed him the mic, which I loved that little bit, by the way.
00:02:10
Speaker 1: That was perfect, That was perfect to blend things like that. That was really well.
00:02:15
Speaker 3: They set up the introducing of Justin Bieber perfectly with sudeikis there as Ted Lasso. And then when Justin took the mic, you said, is that the wind on his mic? Which is so cool because look, so much is pre produced and perfect. It is wonderful to see someone who is willing to be authentic, real and raw and then nail it. So there he was with him and his guitar, strumming with the wind on his microphone as he walked in front of how many people are in that stadium?
00:02:45
Speaker 2: Well, here's my thing. The entire world is watching you and hearing nothing but your voice and you strum a guitar. That is incredible to me. What the entire world is staring at him as he's singing live and playing nothing but a guitar. There's no safety net, there's no backup singer, there's nothing.
00:03:10
Speaker 1: I find that. The talent is there, the nerve.
00:03:14
Speaker 2: Even I am just I was in awe of it, and I would saying, wait a minute, is this pre produced or is this pre shot? Because how is the crowd of seventy whatever thousand robes this quiet? And y'all said, because he's that talented.
00:03:28
Speaker 3: Yes, you could hear a pin drop, which was quite the opposite of what was happening when Tom Cruise was speaking.
00:03:35
Speaker 4: But more on that later.
00:03:36
Speaker 3: I would actually say the Justin Bieber moment was juxtaposed almost to the Tom Cruise moment when they both were there in front of that huge crowd. But yes, when Bieber was singing, you could hear a pin drop, which was incredible. And he's singing Hallelujah, and then he starts ad libbing World Cup Hallelujah.
00:03:57
Speaker 4: It was unreal.
00:03:59
Speaker 3: And his confidence, his composure, his authenticity, it was his energy. It just emanated throughout the whole crowd. It was something to witness.
00:04:10
Speaker 2: Okay, and then he added over to Shakira, who who did what Shakira does? I mean, this is just high energy, joyful it is. That's just energy, always in what she does, and not how many of these has she done Super Bowl performances and whatever made she.
00:04:25
Speaker 4: Shared it with j Lo. It was kind of cool to see her do it. Those kids you mentioned at the top.
00:04:30
Speaker 3: Those kids with their smiles and then they're dancing. I could have watched that group go on for another fifteen minutes.
00:04:39
Speaker 4: Just that song was it Let's go.
00:04:41
Speaker 3: It was let's go basically in several different languages, but it was just it was uniting.
00:04:46
Speaker 4: It was joyful. You couldn't help but smile when.
00:04:49
Speaker 5: You watch that, Okay, and I thought I was skipping over somebody. Yes, bts Yes, it's They make me happy. They did dynamite. They didn't do something from a new album that I haven't heard yet. They did It's up like It's dying in my oh, yes, that thing. I They make me happy every time I see them, And they get prettier every time.
00:05:09
Speaker 1: My sho, don't they though?
00:05:10
Speaker 4: Look they know how to do skincare over there.
00:05:13
Speaker 3: That is what that is one of the major exports from Korea.
00:05:17
Speaker 1: Believe me.
00:05:17
Speaker 3: When I got to go cover the Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea, I came back with about a three year supply of skin masks. They know skincare in South Korea, as is evidence by BTSH.
00:05:27
Speaker 1: My goodness, but you didn't even see those.
00:05:29
Speaker 4: Five years where they were off doing duty for their country. Military looks good on you, Yes, it certainly does.
00:05:36
Speaker 2: Were they but they just kind of I don't think they had no they didn't get an introduction. It kind of transitioned from one thing to another and then boom, just there they were and you didn't get a chance to get prepared for him.
00:05:48
Speaker 1: That was fun. They were the same high energy.
00:05:51
Speaker 2: They ended up doing a big number with a bunch of dancers on stage robes, and that felt as worldly as it gets that.
00:06:00
Speaker 1: Moment with them.
00:06:01
Speaker 2: I mean, they are a worldwide phenomenon, and it looked like everybody could have could get behind what they were doing, no matter where you were in the world.
00:06:08
Speaker 3: I agree with that, and so all we knew about every single one of those performers, but we had a surprise performer today that still has some of us scratching our heads.
00:06:20
Speaker 4: Yes, the Muppets.
00:06:21
Speaker 3: We did not hear about their entree into all of this, and they were kind of scattered throughout. And I did see some reaction online. People were very excited. I didn't quite understand it, but they were there. Look, Chris Martin, I didn't see.
00:06:35
Speaker 4: I didn't know Chris Martin's team was behind.
00:06:39
Speaker 3: Producing of this, and it was a really incredible halftime event.
00:06:42
Speaker 4: I have to say I would give that five stars.
00:06:45
Speaker 3: I just the Muppets maybe was just a nod to nostalgic Americana, just some levity, some humor, I.
00:06:51
Speaker 2: Don't know, some more mind it. It was fine, It was fine. It was random, but I didn't mind it at all. Did you like the clothes with the kids and the closing with the kids up and down? It felt good energy and yes, Shakira join even Jason Sudeika's was in the back, Chris Martin's in the middle.
00:07:05
Speaker 3: That I liked it. It was fun. It did feel like this was something. I think it represented what soccer football is to the world, what we're kind of experiencing here for the first time, at least for a lot of folks here in America. Just how big of a sport, this is how it does unite countries and just to see generations, united, races, united countries united.
00:07:26
Speaker 4: I think that was the point. And I think they landed their plane.
00:07:29
Speaker 2: Okay, so the halftime show was fantastic, But we planned on doing something about the halftime show, but I after the opening ceremony to the game, was thinking we should do an episode just on Tom Cruise.
00:07:52
Speaker 1: What was Tom Cruise? What was what was why?
00:07:55
Speaker 3: I think he was supposed to kind of well, I think he was supposed to be.
00:07:59
Speaker 4: I said, suppose my question, what was he supposed to be?
00:08:02
Speaker 3: I think just maybe like this iconic American actor who has worldwide recognition more than any other male actor in this country. Wouldn't you say, Tom Cruise is one of the most recognizable American faces in the world. Absolutely, so that's why he was there. He's mission impossible, he is top gun, he is all of those things.
00:08:29
Speaker 1: To what it?
00:08:30
Speaker 2: Then, to your what you're saying, to your point, it sounds like they they didn't have a role and needed somebody to fill it. Rather, they just created a role for Tom Cruise. It seemed unnecessary.
00:08:47
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, what he did?
00:08:49
Speaker 3: I think that was what the confusing part was not that he would be a part of somehow the production, but it was like, what, what is the point of what he's saying? He was supposed to be in irrational and just describing what football means to the world, but in a very hollywood Ish way. It came off as a little weird, a little bizarre, a little out.
00:09:09
Speaker 4: Of left field.
00:09:10
Speaker 3: But I you know, look and when he started talking about as soon as you name a country or talk about who was there, the Argentinian started singing their anthem, and they almost drowned him out, which was a little bit embarrassing. Here's Tom Cruise and really he kind of had a Voice of God role, wouldn't you call that?
00:09:27
Speaker 4: What he was doing was a.
00:09:29
Speaker 3: Morgan Freeman esque role at the World Cup, So to have him drowned out by the Argentinian fans was a little embarrassing. Yeah.
00:09:38
Speaker 2: I didn't like that for him, because you remember he showed up at the end of the closing of the Paris Olympics, that whole stunt he pulled off in the Yep, we've seen him do cool stuff at big events. We don't mind him, didn't mind singing him. I just didn't the speech went.
00:09:53
Speaker 3: A little long, it went that would be my critique it he just needed to say maybe thirty seconds. That's the span of attention you're dealing with when you're dealing with people who just want to get through the halftime and they want or they want to actually just see the game. They don't want to actually just listen to you pontificate.
00:10:11
Speaker 1: Well, let's stop pontificating. Idea is starting back up, folks.
00:10:15
Speaker 2: We'll hop back on when I guess when Trump gets on stage,
Speaker 1: Hey, that folks.
00:00:02
Speaker 2: It is Sunday, July nineteenth, and it is actually halftime. It is halftime of the World Cup, and we were hopping on because we just discovered a few stars. They standout stars of that halftime. First ever World Cup Final halftime show. Whoever those kids were dancing next to Shakira and Justin Bieber. Welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Just a quick hop on. This is the first ever, so a piece of history here, just the ideas of them doing it. What do you think about the idea in the first place, This is a longer halftime than we're used to, so we're waiting still for it to start back up.
00:00:37
Speaker 3: But I love the idea because this is an event, This is a big deal that it's here in the Americas. And I thought it was so cool to begin with Madonna, like a nod to iconic. You might disagree, but this white girl here grew up with Madonna as her icon so I love the idea that they kind of threw a nod to her her. I think she has been one of these American musical legends, so to have her and look, she's in her seventies and I was impressed that she was out there shaking her thing, doing her thing. It was lip SYNCD for sure, but I was still impressed.
00:01:17
Speaker 2: And again we yes, we claim her, but she is a worldwide icon and has been for a long long time. We will get into and I didn't say at the top, we're going to get into Tom Cruise. We were supposed to hop on and talk about it just the halftime, but Tom Cruise almost stole the show for me at the top of the broadcast. We'll get to that in a second. Rooms I have been saying, once he got past that teeny bop stage that Justin Bieber was in kind of with the baby, Baby Baby, that wasn't my lane for me, even though I respected what he did bro it was the last five years, certainly of him making music. He's been one of my favorite artists. I am in awe of what he just did.
00:01:56
Speaker 3: Right because I mentioned Madonna came out she lip sync and look, that's understandable, but it was evident from the moment Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso handed him the mic, which I loved that little bit, by the way.
00:02:10
Speaker 1: That was perfect, That was perfect to blend things like that. That was really well.
00:02:15
Speaker 3: They set up the introducing of Justin Bieber perfectly with sudeikis there as Ted Lasso. And then when Justin took the mic, you said, is that the wind on his mic? Which is so cool because look, so much is pre produced and perfect. It is wonderful to see someone who is willing to be authentic, real and raw and then nail it. So there he was with him and his guitar, strumming with the wind on his microphone as he walked in front of how many people are in that stadium?
00:02:45
Speaker 2: Well, here's my thing. The entire world is watching you and hearing nothing but your voice and you strum a guitar. That is incredible to me. What the entire world is staring at him as he's singing live and playing nothing but a guitar. There's no safety net, there's no backup singer, there's nothing.
00:03:10
Speaker 1: I find that. The talent is there, the nerve.
00:03:14
Speaker 2: Even I am just I was in awe of it, and I would saying, wait a minute, is this pre produced or is this pre shot? Because how is the crowd of seventy whatever thousand robes this quiet? And y'all said, because he's that talented.
00:03:28
Speaker 3: Yes, you could hear a pin drop, which was quite the opposite of what was happening when Tom Cruise was speaking.
00:03:35
Speaker 4: But more on that later.
00:03:36
Speaker 3: I would actually say the Justin Bieber moment was juxtaposed almost to the Tom Cruise moment when they both were there in front of that huge crowd. But yes, when Bieber was singing, you could hear a pin drop, which was incredible. And he's singing Hallelujah, and then he starts ad libbing World Cup Hallelujah.
00:03:57
Speaker 4: It was unreal.
00:03:59
Speaker 3: And his confidence, his composure, his authenticity, it was his energy. It just emanated throughout the whole crowd. It was something to witness.
00:04:10
Speaker 2: Okay, and then he added over to Shakira, who who did what Shakira does? I mean, this is just high energy, joyful it is. That's just energy, always in what she does, and not how many of these has she done Super Bowl performances and whatever made she.
00:04:25
Speaker 4: Shared it with j Lo. It was kind of cool to see her do it. Those kids you mentioned at the top.
00:04:30
Speaker 3: Those kids with their smiles and then they're dancing. I could have watched that group go on for another fifteen minutes.
00:04:39
Speaker 4: Just that song was it Let's go.
00:04:41
Speaker 3: It was let's go basically in several different languages, but it was just it was uniting.
00:04:46
Speaker 4: It was joyful. You couldn't help but smile when.
00:04:49
Speaker 5: You watch that, Okay, and I thought I was skipping over somebody. Yes, bts Yes, it's They make me happy. They did dynamite. They didn't do something from a new album that I haven't heard yet. They did It's up like It's dying in my oh, yes, that thing. I They make me happy every time I see them, And they get prettier every time.
00:05:09
Speaker 1: My sho, don't they though?
00:05:10
Speaker 4: Look they know how to do skincare over there.
00:05:13
Speaker 3: That is what that is one of the major exports from Korea.
00:05:17
Speaker 1: Believe me.
00:05:17
Speaker 3: When I got to go cover the Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea, I came back with about a three year supply of skin masks. They know skincare in South Korea, as is evidence by BTSH.
00:05:27
Speaker 1: My goodness, but you didn't even see those.
00:05:29
Speaker 4: Five years where they were off doing duty for their country. Military looks good on you, Yes, it certainly does.
00:05:36
Speaker 2: Were they but they just kind of I don't think they had no they didn't get an introduction. It kind of transitioned from one thing to another and then boom, just there they were and you didn't get a chance to get prepared for him.
00:05:48
Speaker 1: That was fun. They were the same high energy.
00:05:51
Speaker 2: They ended up doing a big number with a bunch of dancers on stage robes, and that felt as worldly as it gets that.
00:06:00
Speaker 1: Moment with them.
00:06:01
Speaker 2: I mean, they are a worldwide phenomenon, and it looked like everybody could have could get behind what they were doing, no matter where you were in the world.
00:06:08
Speaker 3: I agree with that, and so all we knew about every single one of those performers, but we had a surprise performer today that still has some of us scratching our heads.
00:06:20
Speaker 4: Yes, the Muppets.
00:06:21
Speaker 3: We did not hear about their entree into all of this, and they were kind of scattered throughout. And I did see some reaction online. People were very excited. I didn't quite understand it, but they were there. Look, Chris Martin, I didn't see.
00:06:35
Speaker 4: I didn't know Chris Martin's team was behind.
00:06:39
Speaker 3: Producing of this, and it was a really incredible halftime event.
00:06:42
Speaker 4: I have to say I would give that five stars.
00:06:45
Speaker 3: I just the Muppets maybe was just a nod to nostalgic Americana, just some levity, some humor, I.
00:06:51
Speaker 2: Don't know, some more mind it. It was fine, It was fine. It was random, but I didn't mind it at all. Did you like the clothes with the kids and the closing with the kids up and down? It felt good energy and yes, Shakira join even Jason Sudeika's was in the back, Chris Martin's in the middle.
00:07:05
Speaker 3: That I liked it. It was fun. It did feel like this was something. I think it represented what soccer football is to the world, what we're kind of experiencing here for the first time, at least for a lot of folks here in America. Just how big of a sport, this is how it does unite countries and just to see generations, united, races, united countries united.
00:07:26
Speaker 4: I think that was the point. And I think they landed their plane.
00:07:29
Speaker 2: Okay, so the halftime show was fantastic, But we planned on doing something about the halftime show, but I after the opening ceremony to the game, was thinking we should do an episode just on Tom Cruise.
00:07:52
Speaker 1: What was Tom Cruise? What was what was why?
00:07:55
Speaker 3: I think he was supposed to kind of well, I think he was supposed to be.
00:07:59
Speaker 4: I said, suppose my question, what was he supposed to be?
00:08:02
Speaker 3: I think just maybe like this iconic American actor who has worldwide recognition more than any other male actor in this country. Wouldn't you say, Tom Cruise is one of the most recognizable American faces in the world. Absolutely, so that's why he was there. He's mission impossible, he is top gun, he is all of those things.
00:08:29
Speaker 1: To what it?
00:08:30
Speaker 2: Then, to your what you're saying, to your point, it sounds like they they didn't have a role and needed somebody to fill it. Rather, they just created a role for Tom Cruise. It seemed unnecessary.
00:08:47
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, what he did?
00:08:49
Speaker 3: I think that was what the confusing part was not that he would be a part of somehow the production, but it was like, what, what is the point of what he's saying? He was supposed to be in irrational and just describing what football means to the world, but in a very hollywood Ish way. It came off as a little weird, a little bizarre, a little out.
00:09:09
Speaker 4: Of left field.
00:09:10
Speaker 3: But I you know, look and when he started talking about as soon as you name a country or talk about who was there, the Argentinian started singing their anthem, and they almost drowned him out, which was a little bit embarrassing. Here's Tom Cruise and really he kind of had a Voice of God role, wouldn't you call that?
00:09:27
Speaker 4: What he was doing was a.
00:09:29
Speaker 3: Morgan Freeman esque role at the World Cup, So to have him drowned out by the Argentinian fans was a little embarrassing. Yeah.
00:09:38
Speaker 2: I didn't like that for him, because you remember he showed up at the end of the closing of the Paris Olympics, that whole stunt he pulled off in the Yep, we've seen him do cool stuff at big events. We don't mind him, didn't mind singing him. I just didn't the speech went.
00:09:53
Speaker 3: A little long, it went that would be my critique it he just needed to say maybe thirty seconds. That's the span of attention you're dealing with when you're dealing with people who just want to get through the halftime and they want or they want to actually just see the game. They don't want to actually just listen to you pontificate.
00:10:11
Speaker 1: Well, let's stop pontificating. Idea is starting back up, folks.
00:10:15
Speaker 2: We'll hop back on when I guess when Trump gets on stage,