LOS ANGELES — Usher emerged at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium for the Super Bowl halftime show seated on a throne, joined by a marching band and a trove of Vegas performers — but stayed its center.

It was an immediate confirmation of his position as the ideal halftime performer: one with timeless, well-known hits, masterful choreography, and a devoted audience.

He started with “Caught Up,” moving into “U Don’t Have to Call,” “Superstar,” and “Love in the Club.”

Then Alicia Keys joined in front of bright red piano for her song “If I Ain’t Got You,” which morphed into “My Boo,” Usher losing a glove in an apparent tribute to Michael Jackson — notable for a performance during Black History Month.

“They said I wouldn’t make it,” he told the crowd, dedicating the set to his “mama.”

Across 13 minutes during the halftime show sponsored by Apple Music, Usher brought out a number of guests including H.E.R., Jermaine Dupri, Lil Jon (for “Turn Down for What,” which became “Yeah!” — and included a guest appearance from Ludacris).

Across three decades, the R&B superstar had an endless treasure trove of hits to pull from — and did so with costume changes, and a rolling performance of “OMG” while wearing roller skates — at one moment, sliding between will.i.am’s legs.

His album “Confessions” ranks among one of the best-selling music projects of all time and turned 20 this year; “Burn” became an easy performance highlight.

Over the past two years, Usher, 45, has made Vegas a home for his unique talents, with his sold-out residency, “Usher: My Way,” at Dolby Live at Park MGM making him the perfect pick for Sunday’s game.

The eight-time Grammy award winner is also no stranger to the Super Bowl stage — he made a guest appearance with Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am in 2011.

“I got a chance to see a bit of what it felt like,” Usher told The Associated Press in a recent interview. In his first Super Bowl performance, he descended from the stadium ceiling to perform “OMG” in Arlington, Texas.

“Don’t take the moments for granted because you only get 13 of them,” he said in advance of his 2024 performance, referring to the usually allotted 13-minute run time. “The hardest part is trying to figure out how to squeeze it all in when you actually have a large catalog, or a lot of records people celebrate and love.”

Without a doubt — he figured out exactly how to do just that.

Richard Roper, whose debut novel “Something to Live For” (2020) featured a character seeking the aspiration of the title, is back with “This Disaster Loves You,” about another man whose story is not quite what it seems.

Brian owns a pub on the English coast, purchased with his wife more than a decade ago. He worked at a London insurance agency before that, while his wife, Lily, edited a magazine. They bought The County Arms in Thrupstone, U.K., in 2007, refurbished it, and as the online review that prefaces the book says, turned it into a “charming pub” with “lovely wine and local beers, too.”

The story opens in 2017 with Brian waking up, alone, in the apartment above the pub, and we learn that Lily disappeared seven years ago. No note, didn’t take her phone, just vanished. From then on it’s a pretty rapid back-and-forth between the present and the past, as we are treated to the major beats of Brian and Lily’s relationship, beginning with their meet-cute in 1995 on Primrose Hill, to their happiest days as young lovers in London and then owners of their “dream pub.”

When Brian reads a series of Tripadvisor reviews from someone called PinkMoonLily1970 and traces them back to the time of Lily’s disappearance, he sets off on an adventure. The goal, of course, is to find Lily, but it naturally becomes a voyage of self-discovery as well.

Roper writes fluid, readable prose, as charming as The County Arms: “In the flush of youthful love, there I was removing half a Twix from between the pages of an A to Z street map and feeling like the luckiest man in the world,” is how Roper describes the first time Brian rode in Lily’s white Renault Clio. Or Brian’s inaugural meeting of Lily’s parents, Forbes and Verity, who inhabit a different level of British society: “I found myself making lots of nervous jokes about how I wouldn’t know what fork to use with my quail at dinner, and how we should have brought a bottle of the ’52 with us rather than the ’58.”

As Brian’s search for Lily takes him from Bath to Stonehenge to other places worthy of online reviews, he meets a fellow traveler named Tess, a New Zealander separated from her husband after 22 years. Tess provides someone for Brian to open up to and allows Roper to deftly change the tone of the book. By the end, all the details of Brian and Lily’s story are satisfyingly filled in, and we’re dropped off as readers back at The County Arms, which just might earn another five-star review again in the future.

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AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews

NEW YORK — A single pink peony greeted each guest at Carolina Herrera’s latest fashion show, which celebrated the flower with splashy prints and detailed embroidery.

Monday’s New York Fashion Week show was held on the 40th floor of a downtown skyscraper, with 360-degree views of Manhattan serving as the perfect backdrop for a fall/winter collection of bright colors in unconventional combinations, and striking gowns in sumptuous fabrics.

Peonies made several appearances on the catwalk, too. An A-line grey wool collarless coat had pink peonies of varying sizes splashed over it, while a shorter white wool cape was adorned with similar detailed pink and yellow peony embroidering.

Herrera Creative Director Wes Gordon said he saw the flower — one of his favorites — on an art piece and wanted to translate it to his designs. “Beauty and elegance are about the details, and we need more beautiful details in the world,” Gordon told The Associated Press after the show.

There were several more casual, bright yellow gathered chiffon dresses with peony designs. But two of the most dramatic looks were chiffon ball gowns — one in light pink and another in deep purple — covered in darker pink peonies with multiple layers of giant printed chiffon ruffles, accenting the neckline or hips.

“The prints this season were based on a 19th century gouache painting of a pink peony that I found. I rendered it on chiffons in a quite small scale … then I exploded it on a ball skirt … working with our embroiderers who just rendered that painting in individual rows of thread,” Gordon said.

Gordon said his creative process this season started with creating unusual color combinations within specific graphic designs and architectural looks. Two dresses down the long runway were strapless gowns with pockets — one in a bright red, and another with broad diagonal color blocks of black and white.

“I wanted to push forward how we color blocked and incorporate the accessories as well,” Gordon said. He pointed to one model wearing a skinny black pant with built-in pink cummerbund and purple merino wool turtleneck. The look included a leather sling back shoe with the Herrera-red pattern. “You have this red speaking to this cool pink and the warm purple and it’s something really beautiful that results.”

Most of the models wore their hair tied into a tight bun with bright red lipstick accenting their clothes, as they marched slowly down the runway to the score from the new TV series “Griselda,” and Beyonce’s “Halo.”

Diane Kruger sat in the front row with Demi Moore, Anna Wintour, Becky G , Misty Copeland, and Julianne Hough.

Kruger said she’s always appreciated Herrera’s “true American fashion” and called the clothes “very wearable.”

“You know, with this uptown flair that she has — it’s for all ages. As I get older, I appreciate it even more because I do think it’s very beautifully cut for the female form,” the actor said.