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Super Bowl Halftime – Brief History
Photo Credit: telegraph.co.uk
Madonna wowed audiences at the most recent Super Bowl halftime show.
Daniel Counterman, Editor-in-Chief
February 22, 2012
Filed under Entertainment
The Super Bowl halftime show has become a celebrated part of American culture, treasured each year by millions of people across the nation. Oftentimes, this particular extravaganza even manages to outshine the Super Bowl game itself, though it was not always this way.
In the beginning, the Super Bowl halftime show was considered nothing special. The first Super Bowl game in 1967 featured a simple piece of entertainment, one that could be found at most college-level sports events. Two college marching bands, as well as a high school drill team, took to the field as the halftime show performance. For the most part, this trend continued with the majority of early halftime shows being rather small in scope with a few notable exceptions, such as jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald and early rock and roll star Chubby Checker.
The show became rather unpredictable with certain acts defying audience expectations but not always in a good way, such as the infamous halftime show featuring Elvis Presto, an Elvis impersonator sponsored by Pepsi. The show was widely panned, and from that flop onward attempts were made to connect with modern audiences. Teen pop sensations New Kids on the Block, as well as pop superstar Gloria Estefan, were brought in to secure a tighter hold on the show’s audience but to no avail. However, in 1992, all that changed.
That year was the year Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, was showcased as the year’s entertainment, and as chicagometrix.com reports, it was the first year the ratings actually increased during the halftime show in comparison to the rest of the Super Bowl. This show is largely seen as the birth of the modern halftime show, seen as a cultural spectacle rather than just another piece of entertainment.
From that point on, the halftime show was expected to have a hefty amount of star power and did so by featuring artists like ZZ Top, Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, Aerosmith with Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, and U2.
Then, in 2004, an infamous incident occurred on stage featuring performers Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. During their performance while they danced together, a wardrobe malfunction led to Janet Jackson having a mount of indiscrection on live television in front of millions of viewers for a few seconds. This incident led to a flurry of complaints by various family groups, which led to an FCC investigation and congressional debate, as well as a very lengthy court case.
After this, the producers of the halftime show strayed from featuring more modern controversial artists and decided to focus instead on veterans of the music industry with celebrated artists like Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Prince, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, and the Who. Trying to break from this pattern, the Black Eyed Peas were given a chance to shine, but their performance was critically panned and once again led to a more seasoned artist being asked to provide the next year’s show, which led to this year’s performance by the reigning Queen of Pop, Madonna.
An overwhelming majority of PCHS students enjoyed this year’s halftime entertainment with 76% of those surveyed giving the show a positive review. This positive reception also extended to PCHS staff with Ms. Ashley Kuhlman stating that she “thought this year’s halftime show was fun. Madonna still looks great, and I enjoyed hearing some of her old-school hits.” Though Madonna’s critically acclaimed show was undermined by a gesture that guest star M.I.A. gave to the camera, it seemed many were not overly concerned with it, and it clearly did not ruin the show.
With the Super Bowl halftime show’s varied and often tumultuous history, one marvels at the show’s evolution through the years. It is with a sense of excitement that we look toward next year’s show and see just how large the scale of the show can get. All it has to do is match this year’s or best it in performance and scope, though that is hardly an easy task.
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