Who should join Jennifer Lopez and Shakira at the Super Bowl 2020 halftime show?

Jennifer Lopez and Shakira will be performing the Super Bowl LIV halftime show, and it’ll probably wind up being better than, well, most Super Bowl halftime shows. Not only are they two absolute bosses, but Lopez is having a major career resurgence at age 50.

Even though they really don’t need anybody else to spice up the performance, there will be guests. Adam Schefter confirmed as much, and some of them will likely be leaked before Super Bowl Sunday.

Rather than tell you all the reasons Lopez and Shakira teaming up is the ballerest (it’s a word, don’t argue) choice for the halftime show in a long time, we’re going to offer suggestions for who should be a guest performer on Feb. 2 in Miami.

Fiona Apple is back in the public eye, after giving a rare interview to Vulture. The reclusive pop star spends most of her time at home, working on music and generally being a shut-in. As a shut-in myself with similar mental illnesses to Apple, that speaks to me on another level. But there’s more here than just Apple being back.

She’s working on a new album, due out next year (if possible), and among the things she discussed in her interview with Vulture was ... Jennifer Lopez! More specifically, Apple talked about a scene from Hustlers in which Lopez pole-dances to Apple’s 1997 hit “Criminal.” While Apple hasn’t seen the movie, she was effusive in praise for Lopez’s ability to break it down.

“Listen, I just want to say: I would give my song to Jennifer Lopez to dance to for free, any day, any time,” Apple said. “I really want to see the movie. If I were a person who actually left my house, I’d go.”

Finally, she also had quite a few things to say about Lopez’s butt. No, really. You should read the interview to get that. Apple claims she and Lopez have never met. What better way to remedy that after all these years than being a badass at the halftime show!? — James Brady

In a haze of post-Super Bowl 53 ennui, I made a few early predictions about the 2019 season. Seven months later, most of them have aged poorly. I chose Andrew Luck as this year’s MVP, picked a six-win (LOL) Dolphins team to beat the Patriots, and thought the Steelers would keep Antonio Brown around. Eeesh.

BUT, I did nail one of them. Well, sorta. I guessed that J. Lo would make her long-awaited Super Bowl halftime debut, alongside special guests Will Smith, Pitbull, and DJ Khaled.

Let’s make it happen. Lopez has collaborated with the latter two, who are from Miami. It’d be a missed opportunity, though, if the halftime show didn’t throw it back to the heyday of TRL by putting Will Smith and J. Lo on the stage together — and let Big Willie Style welcome us to Miami. — Sarah Hardy

Shakira is definitely going to perform “Hips Don’t Lie” in some fashion, so we need Wyclef Jean on stage not to do his verse in the song or anything, just to yell “Shakira! Shakira!” in his Haitian accent as he does in the studio version of the song. The song is not the song without that.

I’m screaming into the void on this one, but bringing in Alejandro Sanz to perform “La Tortura” would make for my favorite Super Bowl halftime moment since Left Shark. — Tom Ziller

It’s Miami. There is water. There are boats. People should be on them. Enough said. — Alex McDaniel

OK, I realize that local guys DJ Khaled and Pitbull are more commercially known than Ricky Rozay, but if Atlanta can incorporate Big Boi in its halftime show, Miami can put Rick Ross out there, dammit. — Morgan Moriarty

Yeah, I don’t know. Flame shirts, spiky bleach blonde hair, and a pair of Oakleys just seems quintessentially Miami, even if he’s not actually from there. Give me Guy Fieri out there dancing with J.Lo and Shakira, and it’d be great. — Adam Stites

If we’re really going to go full Miami here, which we should, then Estefan has to be on the bill. You want to try and tell me that a halftime show isn’t going to include “Conga” and “Rhythm is gonna get you”? Nah, that’s not a halftime show for me. Seriously. Open up your preferred streaming app, listen to Conga, and tell me it would not be perfect. — Whitney Medworth

If J. Lo is taking the stage, it’s a safe bet she’s coming armed with her 2001 mega-hit “I’m Real,” a song that features a verse from Tupac cosplay rapper Ja Rule. Rule was one of the most successful pop-rappers of the early aughts, but it’s possible he’s never been more relevant than he is right now. That’s because everyone loves a good grift, and Ja Rule was involved in the most infamous one of this moment in time.

We need Ja Rule involved in the Super Bowl because “I’m Real” isn’t the same without him. We also need Ja Rule in the Super Bowl because The Big Game could always use some scammer potential. — Ricky O’Donnell

Listen. No, really — LISTEN. The NFL is losing viewers. Sports in general have struggled to get people in seats watching their games, but the NFL has especially seen a decline over the years. Sure, 2019 has had a bit of a resurgence, but who knows if that is going to last.

What the NFL needs is new fans. New viewers. A YOUNGER audience.

So let’s bring in Pinkfong to wow the world with some “Baby Shark.” (Yes, I know it didn’t originate with them, but the version “Kleiner Hai” by Alemuel is kind of 8mm horror movie, and Johnny Only’s “Baby Shark song” is very, well, Canadian — not that Canadian is a bad thing, but it’s not so great in this very specific instance.)

So let’s bring in Pinkfong, pack children in front of the television, and let the entire country sing along to one of the most popular, albeit nauseating, songs to ever be recorded (at this writing, the YouTube video had 3,515,787,292 views).

New fans, NFL. Think about it. And just imagine what Shakira and Jennifer Lopez can do if they get a chance to collaborate on a new version of “Baby Shark” — it could be downright epic. Or, you know, just extra annoying. But we’ll never know if we don’t try. — Sam Eggleston