"The Big Game" Halftime thoughts

I may have blogged about this before, but I love how the NFL completely shot itself in the foot about using the name of its championship game without paying to. What does the rest of the world do? Just refer to it as the big game. We all know what we’re talking about and it’s a nice thumbing of the nose at the NFL.

So…the halftime show. Thanks to my amateur sociology degree that comes from watching people on Facebook, I’ve concluded that there are three schools of thought about the halftime show..

1) It should always be an exciting pop music extravaganza, filled with as much excited dancing and as little clothing and as many acts that have released new music in the last 3 years as possible.

2) It should always be a classic rock (meaning acts where the lead singer is older than 60) act, a classic three-song set and the audience classically holding up lighters and some 65 year old guy yelling FREEBIRD in that classic rock way.

3) It should be nothing but marching bands.

Although I’m in the first camp, I think it should be an even 2/3 split — two years of pop and one of rock. I need something to complain about.

So…the halftime show. It’s the only part I watched, plus the last minute of the game itself. This is because of the internet! Instead of dying of boredom through the entire 8 hours of the game, I can check the score merely by typing “giants game” into Google. I keep an eye on Twitter to see when it’s halftime. I tune in just in time for the show, then I go away. I go back into Google, find out the Giants are about to humiliate the Patriots with a minute left, and then watch the end of the game. Later that night. I watch the ads on Hulu. I love the Internet.

So…the halftime show. I really really enjoyed it. I think Madonna pulled together the perfect show. It had some old material, some new material, some artists for the next generation forward to recognize and a lot of crazy theatrics. The theatrics could have been dialed back a few. I know, Madonna, you’re very fit. We can see that and we know what your arms look like under those sleeves. But you don’t have to do very slow assisted cartwheels during the show.

I enjoyed the marching band and cheerleader overtones. It’s a football game, after all, and that’s a nod to the marching band population.

Nicki Minaj (whom I only know of because of the mom who made her 8 year old sing a slutty Minaj song on YouTube for 3 2/3 minutes of fame) looked absolutely THRILLED to be there and I loved seeing that. When I saw LMFAO I was hoping Madonna would attempt the shuffle, and she did. If I didn’t live on the 8th floor, I’d have learned that dance by now.

When Madonna and Cee-Lo began Like A Prayer, I knew the controversy had to be coming. I thought those robes would come off and they’d be wearing LED-embellished fig leaves. I thought they’d haul Cee-Lo up on a cross and Madonna would kiss his feet. But no. Those days are decades ago, and the song just turned out to be a lovely Gospel-tinged song to wrap up the show with. And the only controversy came from the non-Minaj girl who couldn’t stay classy for 2 1/2 minutes and had to flash the middle finger.

I knew people wouldn’t like it but I’m shocked at all of the cuts at how Madonna looked old. I think she looked great. Yes, there’s been some work done and she kept the imperfect parts covered. It seems unfair because she seriously does look better for her age than past “classic” acts have.

I wonder if it’s just a reaction to people digging on the Who and McCartney and the Stones both being and looking old. Part of the “you pick on my fave, I’ll pick on yours” culture.

Tl;dr : I enjoyed the halftime show. Too bad I’m not even close to being the target audience for the Big Game. Also, I loved the M&Ms ad.