Despite its near two-hour length, this State of the Union was one of President Donald Trump's most focused, most tightly scripted and well-delivered speeches.
It was also a classic of the "Trump as television producer" genre of political events.
A considerable number of "guest appearances" from sports stars, war heroes, and victims of violent crime were introduced at the appropriate times, helping to break up the heavy-duty politics.
It was light on policy initiatives and new announcements - but the purpose of the State of the Union is to sum up what has happened in the past year, and where the union of states finds itself. Unsurprisingly, the president declared "the state of our union is strong".
The only obvious re-write in the speech was the part where he spoke about tariffs.
Watch: Donald Trump vows to pursue tariffs
With the justices of the US Supreme court sitting right in front of him, he criticised what he called their "unfortunate" ruling that his "reciprocal" tariffs had been unlawfully imposed.
Mr Trump said "almost all" companies and countries want to stick to their existing tariff deals, agreed last year, but he again claimed the ruling gives him stronger powers to impose tariffs under different legal routes, and without congressional approval.
"But the good news is that almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made...knowing that the legal power that I, as president have, to make a new deal could be far worse for them, and therefore they will continue to work along the same successful path that we had negotiated before the Supreme Court's unfortunate involvement.
"...and as time goes by, I believe the tariffs paid for by foreign countries will, like in the past, substantially replace the modern-day system of income tax, taking a great financial burden off the people that I love", the president said.
(In 2024 the federal government collected $2.8 trillion in income tax from individuals - about half its total tax take. In the half-year they were in place, the Trump tariffs amounted to an estimated $150 to $170 billion for the federal government.)
As expected, President Trump focused on the economy and the cost of living. These are the areas opinion polls show him receiving the least favourable ratings from the public.
Read More: Trump hails 'golden age' in State of the Union address
So, swift reminders that the president has got legislation through that means no tax on tips or overtime; 53 record highs on the stock market in the past year, and "trillions" in investments the president claims foreign companies will make in the US economy.
"Factories, jobs, investment, and trillions of dollars will continue pouring into the United States of America, because we finally have a president who puts America first.
"For decades before I came along, we had the exact opposite. From trade to healthcare, from energy to immigration, everything was stolen and rigged in order to drain the wealth out of the productive, hardworking people who make our country run," Mr Trump said.
He also urged members of congress to vote for a bill that aims to ban investment funds and corporations from buying single family homes.
"Last month, I signed an Executive Order to ban large Wall Street investment firms from buying up, in the thousands, single-family homes. And now I am asking congress to make that ban permanent, because homes are for people, not corporations," he said.
And he restated his actions to reduce the cost of several key prescription pharmaceutical products through centrally negotiated prices via "Trump Rx". He claimed that, in Iowa, he saw a petrol station selling fuel at $1.85 per gallon (in most places, it's around $3.45).
He emphasised things the public approve of, such as border security, particularly on the southern border, but didn't say much about ICE raids in cities like Minneapolis.
He did focus on some immigrant groups, notably Minnesota's Somali community, which has been at the centre of a series of cases alleging large-scale social welfare and education funding fraud.
Promising a "war on fraud" to be led by Vice President JD Vance, he said: "When it comes to the corruption that is plundering America, there has been no more stunning example than Minnesota, where members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer."
He claimed California, Massachusetts and Maine and others are even more corrupt and racked by fraud.
The president claimed that he could balance the US budget if he stamps out fraud (the budget deficit is 6.5% of GDP) and indicated immigrants from less-developed countries will be targeted in the anti-fraud drive.
"The Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota remind us that there are large parts of the world where bribery, corruption and lawlessness are the norm, not the exception.
"Importing these cultures through unrestricted immigration and open borders brings us problems right here to the USA, and it is the American people who pay the price and higher medical bills, car insurance rates, rent, taxes and, perhaps most importantly, crime. We will take care of this problem. We're going to take care of this problem. We are not playing games," he said.
In the usual way of these speeches, there were many standing ovations, but all of them were from the Republican Party members. The opposition sat - mostly silently - throughout, apparently under orders not to rise to whatever bait was deployed.
The president made several references to the sitting Democratic Party members, and baited them by calling on members to stand up if they believed in the statement "the first duty of the US President is to protect US citizens, not illegal immigrants".
All the Republicans stood, all the Democrats remained seated.
It was in this part of the speech that provoked a sustained bout of barracking and heckling, led by Minnesota Democrat Representative Ilhan Omar, who was born in Somalia.
"You should be ashamed of yourself, not standing up. You should be ashamed of yourself. That is why I'm also asking you to end deadly sanctuary cities that protect the criminals and enact serious penalties for public officials who block the removal of criminal aliens, in many cases, drug lords, murderers all over our country, they're blocking the removal of these people out of our country, and you should be ashamed of yourself", the president said, shouting Representative Omar down with the aid of the microphone.
He also criticised Democrats by claiming the party supports policies that allow gender reassignment for children. He called on a guest in the gallery, a student called Sage Blair, who was placed in a "social transition" programme in Virginia at the age of 14, which eventually led to her being placed in an all-boys home, before escaping and returning home.
Seeing no reaction from Democrats, he said: "Look, nobody stands up. These people are crazy. I'm telling you. They’re crazy."
There was little new in his foreign policy statement, which was not very long. Eight wars ended, all Israeli hostages (living and dead) returned to their families. Iran - the hot issue of the moment - received the most attention in the speech with the president restating that he will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. He said he hopes this can be achieved by diplomatic means, but said he will not back down from this demand.
"We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven't heard those secret words - 'we will never have a nuclear weapon'. My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world's number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon. Can't let that happen. And no nation should ever doubt America's resolve."
His overall foreign policy approach was summarised thus: "As president, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must."
Throughout this lengthy discourse, the president skilfully deployed his guest appearances, swiftly changing pace and point to keep the public interested. First up: the US men's ice hockey team that won gold at the Winter Olympics on Sunday, the first men's gold in this sport in 46 years. It was a unifying moment, as everyone stood in sustained applause and chants of "USA, USA". The US women's team, who also won gold at Milano Cortina, had declined an invitation to attend, citing scheduling conflicts.
There was not one but two presentation ceremonies for the Congressional Medal of Honor, the US's highest award for military bravery.
One went to a senior NCO, Eric Slover, who was severely injured by gunfire while flying the lead helicopter carrying special forces during the raid on Venezuela that captured Nicolas Maduro.
The other medal went to a 100-year-old Navy captain and fighter pilot, Royce Williams, who flew over 200 combat missions in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. His medal was awarded by first lady Melania Trump.
Another medal, this time the Purple Heart, was awarded to National Guard Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe who survived being shot in the head in an attack in Washington DC, in which his colleague was killed by an Afghan immigrant.
Sergeant Wolfe’s mother Melody, who was also present, had insisted her son would survive when nobody else did.
Assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erica; the mother of murdered Ukrainian teenage refugee Iryna Zarutska - stabbed to death in a shocking attack on the Charlotte NC tram system - and the parents of National Guard Private Sarah Beckstrom - who died in the DC attack - were also present and recognised by the president, who promised justice and burnished his tough on crime credentials.
The speech ended with soaring rhetoric to mark this, the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
"Americans lifted humanity into the skies on the wings of aluminum and steel, and then we launched mankind into the stars on rockets powered by sheer American will and unyielding American pride.
"We wired the globe with our ingenuity. We captivated the planet with American culture, and now we are pioneering the next great American breakthroughs that will change the entire world - all of this and so much more, is the enduring legacy, unmatched glory of the hard working patriots who built and defended this country and who still carry the hopes and freedoms on all of humanity's backs.
"For years, they were forgotten, betrayed and cast aside. But that great betrayal is over, and they will never be forgotten again, because when the world needs courage, daring, vision and inspiration, it is still turning to America, and when God needs a nation to work his miracles, he knows exactly who to ask.
"There is no challenge Americans cannot overcome, no frontier too vast for us to conquer, no dream too bold for us to chase, no horizon too distant for us to claim, for our destiny is written by the hand of providence and these first 250 years were just the beginning".
Did it work?
The mission was to connect with ordinary Americans who are feeling the squeeze from a cost-of-living surge that has far outpaced their earning capacity, and reassure them that good things are either happening or are about to happen in the US economy.
The hot takes in the spin rooms afterward were predictably partisan.
Democrats said it was a failure, Republicans said it was a tremendous performance.
The polls will tell their own stories in the days ahead.
