The World Cup closing ceremony pre-match concert was made for television. Unfortunately, it did not look particularly good on television.Before Spain faced Argentina at New York New Jersey Stadium, a drumline and a group of break dancers surrounded a circular stage shaped like a football when seen from above. Models of New York landmarks, including Washington Square Arch and the Vessel, rose around it.Much like at the opening ceremony, scale rarely came across on screen. Wide shots exposed large patches of empty seating as supporters continued to enter the stadium, while tighter angles left the performers stranded in the middle of the production. Pyrotechnics added noise and colour, but the direction never found a way to make the stage or its surroundings look impressive.Post Malone performs Chrome Heartbreaker before returning for the finale. ReutersInfoIShowSpeed supplied much of the energy himself. The American streamer raced on to perform World Cup (Champions), catching and kicking a golden football as dancers pranced around him.Like Post Malone and Swae Lee, he appeared to be performing over a fully recorded vocal track. The sound did not noticeably change when any of the performers moved their microphones away from their mouths, and little effort was made to maintain the illusion of a live performance.That is hardly unusual at a large stadium show, where choreography and broadcast timing can take priority over live vocals. It becomes harder to overlook when the performers also seem detached from the occasion.Speed did not. He looked genuinely delighted to be there and appeared to have a connection to the tournament that went beyond accepting a booking.A golden football took centre stage amid models of New York landmarks. EPAInfoThat enthusiasm has been evident throughout the World Cup. His streams have been filled with attempts to speak to supporters in their own languages, including a widely shared moment in which he addressed a Chinese fan in Mandarin and encouraged him to join in.There is plenty of chaos in Speed’s persona, but there is also curiosity and humility. He travels ready to look foolish, learn a few words and connect with whoever is in front of him. In that sense, he offered an appealing image of a young American on the world stage: loud and excitable, but open to the rest of it.Post Malone followed in denim for Chrome Heartbreaker, accompanied by dancers in similarly styled outfits. Swae Lee then performed Sunflower alongside women in multi-coloured tracksuits, shaking hands and dancing with Malone before he returned for his verse.It was the only major hit in the short set and the closest the performance came to creating a shared moment. Even then, the supporters visible around the stage seemed more concerned with reaching their seats than joining in.The show existed for the broadcast rather than the crowd inside the stadium. That can work, as the Super Bowl has repeatedly shown, but it requires cameras, staging and editing capable of hiding the gaps and creating a sense of momentum. Here, the filming only drew more attention to the empty seats and the lack of response.Robbie Williams had been announced for the wider closing ceremony alongside Laura Pausini, Nicole Scherzinger, but those names did not appear during this section of the show.Fifa had also saved its biggest names for the first World Cup final half-time show, where Madonna, Shakira, Justin Bieber and BTS led a line-up that also included Burna Boy, Coldplay and Gustavo Dudamel. Against that, the pre-match closing ceremony concert felt like a holding act before the production Fifa really wanted people to remember.Cheers greeted the end, although the crowd shown during the performance had rarely seemed so enthusiastic. That in itself delivered some novelty, as Post Malone is unlikely to play to a half-empty New York stadium again.