Just a day after Rihanna rocked Glendale’s State Farm Stadium (February 12) with a slew of her greatest hits as headliner of the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show, ‘Rolling Stone’ ranked her epic performance as the third-greatest of all time (among female performers).
Months later, that critical acclaim continues to roll in for the Pop diva – a testament underscored by the batch of Primetime EMMY nominations it’s attached to per the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ (ATAS) announcement Wednesday (July 12).
The most-watched Super Bowl performance in history, Rihanna’s pregnancy-revealing performance is nominated for Outstanding directing for a variety special, Outstanding music direction, Outstanding technical direction and camerawork for a special, Outstanding production design for a variety special, and Outstanding variety special (Live).
With a whopping 5 nods, it makes Super Bowl history as the second most-nominated showing ever (following Lady Gaga‘s six nods from 2017).
The Pop diva wasted little time taking to social media to acknowledge the recognition.
“5 EMMY NOMZ is craaaaazzzyyy,” Rih said on Instagram. “Im [sic] so grateful for every single person involved in creating these memories!”
No stranger to EMMY attention, the Bajan beauty’s ‘Savage x Fenty Show’ has collected multiple nominations from the TV Academy – even snagging an award for Outstanding Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming in 2022.
At the 2023 ceremony, she is set to face off against ‘Chris Rock: Selective Outrage’ (Netflix), ‘Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium’ (Disney+), ‘The 2023 Oscars’ (ABC), and the ’75th Annual Tony Awards’ (CBS) in the Outstanding Variety Special (live) category.
If she defeats the competition, she’ll be the second woman in history to collect the trophy following Mary J. Blige as part of the Hip-Hop ensemble that rocked the “biggest spectacle on Earth” in 2022.