Would not have guessed N*Sync. Not much overlap between their core demographic and the one that usually watches the Superbowl... my mind even went to boy bands briefly when I was trying to think of acts to guess, but immediately it said "nah.." and moved on.
lol, it was actually a pretty good show. Granted I was 13, but Aerosmith, NSync and Brittney Spears did a medley of Aerosmith songs. Looking back it was practically sacrilegious, but at the time it seemed epic.
You gotta remember the halftime show isn't necessarily for the football fans, its for the people that might tune in to the game briefly but watch band/performer.
I agree with samiamco. I was really looking forward to their performance, but I remember it being all over the place and chaotic. I also remember Fergie being so off, they turned off her mic. Now if we could only get Imagine Dragons to perform during the halftime show, that would be something.
I, for the life of me, could not remember who performed last year. I could have sworn Coldplay was most recent. When the time came up and I saw Lady Gaga, I remembered that I boycotted the halftime show last year. Really though, of alllll the singers...
I think even in America the half-time show is more important than the match itself by now. They tried to imitate the Super Bowl and hired a popular singer to perform a show during the halftime of the German soccer cup final. People were pissed at this display of commercialization and the delay and booed her offstage.
The halftime show is a big deal, but it's nowhere near as important as the game. The game gets two weeks of nonstop fanfare and analysis. The ad spot costs are tied to the gameplay. It's not even close.
I can take or leave the whole half-time show thing, but as the stick-in-the-mud that I am, I'd love to sit here and say, "Paul McCartney's show was the best!" (not to mention "All you kids, get off my lawn!") But honestly, the one I really enjoyed was Lady Gaga. I thought she was fantastic.
While her "wardrobe malfunction" is the lasting image of Super Bowl halftime shows for many, I find that the one that I can't purge from my brain is the one where all the extras came out with jock straps/diapers over their faces 2 years ago. I think it was the Weekend guy.
Half-time shows are entertaining, but the game is really what I am there to watch. I will say that the NFL should refrain from some of the more "seasoned" acts. I remember watching The Rolling Stones perform and it was aweful. They were never very musically strong as a band to begin with. Add to that their advanced age, and you have a very rough performance. It was probably one of the worst I have seen.
Of course who had the best half-time performance is all opinion so each person will have their own view.
You're not wrong. The best halftime show I've seen was Bruno Mars, who is sheer energy and charisma. There are a lot of acts I like better (I'm more of the Springsteen/Tom Petty persuasion), but there is no denying how much verve Brunos Mars brought to his performance.
I wouldn't exactly attach the phrase "never very musically strong" to the Rolling Stones unless you're about 15 years old and have never actually listened to their songs. It is true, however, that their live show performances are pretty rough musically. Nothing like the Eagles and others who perform as smoothly on stage as they do in the studio. And the Stones are way too old (even in this long-time Stones fan's opinion) to be performing at the Super Bowl or any other general forum that isn't full of die hard Stones fanatics.
I'll take an anti-studio live band like Grateful Dead who never played the same set in hundreds of shows, never played a song exactly the same way twice, and did things organically with improvisational magic, albeit with more hiccups and duds, over a polished, canned set, studio regurgitation concert. This dude does not abide.
Of course who had the best half-time performance is all opinion so each person will have their own view.
In case anyone's interested: 12.
"You scored 6/31 = 19%. You have outlived your usefulness."