LAS VEGAS – Usher delivered a Las Vegas-appropriate set heavy on glitz, choreography and nostalgia as he headlined the Super Bowl half-time show on Feb 11, but it was new music from Beyonce and the Taylor Swift cam that grabbed the most attention.

Swift was the night’s most-watched fan as she cheered on her boyfriend Travis Kelce, the tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, from a luxury box with a coterie of famous friends.

Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime to claim the Super Bowl, providing a jolt of megawatt excitement to the Vegas blockbuster and ending a week-long will-she-won’t-she saga that has dominated the lead-up to the football event of the year.

Swift’s relationship with the Chiefs star has been a boon to television ratings, her every move offering headline fodder.

At one point, she delighted the Internet by chugging a beer – she clocked in at 6.6 seconds – as the jumbotron documented the party trick.

The 34-year-old pop star’s arrival some two hours before kick-off sent an almost palpable frisson around the Allegiant Stadium and social media rapidly filled with pictures and video footage of the singer dressed in a black top and jeans with a red jacket slung over her shoulder walking through the bowels of the stadium with celebrity friends, actress Blake Lively and rapper Ice Spice.

A punishing travel schedule in which Swift has flown from Japan to the United States and will then jet to Australia for tour commitments meant her presence was far from a foregone conclusion, and when giant television screens showed Swift for the first time, a ripple of cheers went around the still-mostly empty stadium.

Beyonce was also in attendance with her hip-hop mogul husband Jay-Z – and announced a new album during a commercial she did with telecom provider Verizon. The ad closes with the line: “Drop the music.”

Moments later on Instagram, Beyonce, 42, announced with another clip that...