The Weeknd had football fans transfixed as he put on a rare solo performance for Sunday’s Super Bowl LV.
But the flashy performance featured some eye-catching visuals that quickly became fodder for memes on social media.
One sequence from the 30-year-old singer featuring a kaleidoscopic trip through a mirrored funhouse in particular inspired Twitter users to come up with their own funny captions.
Parody: The Weeknd, 30, inspired some of the best memes to come out of Sunday’s Super Bowl LV thanks to a sequence set in a lit-up mirror funhouse
The Weeknd (real name: Abel Tesfaye) walked through the brightly lit corridor late in the performance, which showed him pretending to be lost as he bounced against walls and turned his head widely.
He was decked out in the same kind of red blazer and black shirt and pants combo he’s been wearing to promote his 2020 album After Hours, though he ditched the elaborate bandages and fake plastic surgery makeup he has previously worn.
The Weeknd did his best to look disoriented as he tried to make his way through the funhouse, but the fish-eye lens it was filmed with, which distorts the edges of the frame, added to the effect.
One Twitter user cued into Tesfaye’s absurd facial expressions in the sequence and shared a screenshot while writing, ‘What my coworkers see on zoom meetings when I think my camera is off.’
Another person was similarly inspired by the way the way The Weeknd’s face was distorted by the wide-angle lens.
‘My camera roll when I take my iPad back from a toddler,’ joked another person while posting a blurry screenshot of the singer.
Too real: One Twitter user cued into Tesfaye’s facial expressions in the sequence and wrote, ‘What my coworkers see on zoom meetings when I think my camera is off’
Blurry: Another person was similarly inspired by the way the way The Weeknd’s face was distorted by the wide-angle lens. ‘My camera roll when I take my iPad back from a toddler,’ they wrote
Doing their best: Tesfaye’s distorted faces also remind some users of their technologically illiterate elders
Tesfaye’s distorted faces also remind some users of their technologically illiterate elders.
‘When your parents try to talk to you on FaceTime,’ Matt Harmon joked using screenshots of The Weeknd’s crazed stare.
Others focused on how the hitmaker looked like he didn’t know where he was going, even though it was all carefully choreographed.
A popular circulation clip of The Weeknd making his way through the maze was featured in multiple humorous posts.
‘Entering an apartment where I know a dog lives,’ joked one user.
Looking for the pup: A popular circulation clip of The Weeknd making his way through the maze was featured in multiple posts. ‘Entering an apartment where I know a dog lives,’ joked one user
Speedy: One person was inspired by the mad dash to get their money’s worth in a museum
Topical: The ongoing coronavirus pandemic also payed into the meme. ‘Trying to find a vaccine site with extra shots about to go to waste,’ another user wrote
One person was inspired by the mad dash to get their money’s worth in a museum.
‘Try to take make [sic] the $25 admission price worth it when they tell you the museum is closing in 5 minutes,’ they wrote.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic also payed into the meme.
‘Trying to find a vaccine site with extra shots about to go to waste,’ another user captioned the Weeknd’s confused march.
Another post was more literal about the image: ‘When you lost in the club.’
Blinding lights: Another post was more literal about the image: ‘When you lost in the club’
In one ear, out the other: The comic actress Alyssa Limperis joked that about being as directionally confused as The Weeknd appeared to be
Lost: Another user simply wrote ‘MOM!!!’ and added the hashtag, ‘#lost’
The comic actress Alyssa Limperis joked that about being as directionally confused as The Weeknd appeared to be.
‘Me immediately after someone gives me specific directions,’ she tweeted.
Another user simply wrote ‘MOM!!!’ and added the hashtag, ‘#lost.’
The writer R. Eric Thomas went meta with his post, writing, ‘When everyone is tweeting a version of a meme and you try to figure out what the reference is.’
Although Tesfaye’s lit-up funhouse was the clear meme winner on Sunday, some viewers were able to repurpose other portions of his show, including a sequence when bandaged impostor Weeknds march on the field.
‘This is the most people that have worn masks in Florida in months,’ one user joked.
Clever: The writer R. Eric Thomas went meta with his post, writing, ‘When everyone is tweeting a version of a meme and you try to figure out what the reference is’
Pandemic humor: Although Tesfaye’s lit-up funhouse was the clear meme winner on Sunday, some viewers were able to repurpose other portions of his show