Halftime Show

The question dominated much of the nonfootball-related chatter in the run-up to Sunday's Super Bowl: As the featured act of this year's halftime show, was Bruno Mars really up to the job of entertaining a television audience of approximately 100 million people? The answer, it turned out, was yes. But before he could prove it, Mars had to weather a storm of skepticism. He's only 28, decades younger than other artists who've played the show recently, such as Prince and the Rolling Stones.

The Canadian industrial band Skinny Puppy has made a three-decade career out of punishing electronic sounds. But it's always intended the pain to be voluntary. However, after the band learned of rumors that the U.S. military had used Skinny Puppy music to torment suspected terrorists at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a member of the group sent an invoice to the military for "royalties," according to the BBC  and other outlets. The amount? A heavy-metal-appropriate $666,000.

Bruno Mars may have been locked out of heaven, but it's looking like he'll have a ticket to the Super Bowl. The crooner is expected to be tapped to perform at the halftime show at Super Bowl XLVIII next February, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. An announcement could come as early as this Sunday. Neither the NFL, which produces the Pepsi-sponsored halftime show, or Fox, which is carrying the Super Bowl this season, would comment. An NFL spokesman would only jokingly say that Janet Jackson and Miley Cyrus have been ruled out as performers.

As our regular readers might recall, Pop & Hiss didn't especially enjoy Red Hot Chili Peppers' appearance Sunday night during the otherwise-delightful Super Bowl halftime show by Bruno Mars. Did our distaste for the band's rendition of "Give It Away" have anything to do with the fact that Flea appeared to be playing a bass that wasn't plugged in, as a number of keen-eyed observers pointed out following the performance? It did not. Before it's a concert, the Super Bowl halftime show is -- like the football game that surrounds it -- a full-tilt TV spectacle, one far more dependent on energy and charisma and visual style than on whether actual instruments are being actually played before our eyes and ears.

Though Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer probably has his players buying into the one-game-at-a-time mantra, the same can't be said of the school's marching band. For weeks, the Ohio State marching band has been putting some Michigan smackdown elements into its halftime shows, despite the fact the Buckeyes won't line up against their longtime rivals until Nov. 30. Much like everyone else outside of Ann Arbor, Mich., the Ohio State band knows the Buckeyes are better than the Wolverines this season, and this brash confidence has inspired some truly incredible halftime shows.

A source familiar with this season's Super Bowl told the Associated Press that Beyonce will be the performer at the halftime show on Feb. 3, 2013, at the Superdome in New Orleans. The official announcement is expected Wednesday. Beyonce has won 16 Grammy Awards and sang the national anthem at Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004. Madonna performed at halftime of last season's Super Bowl in February with guests CeeLo Green, Nicki Minaj, LMFAO and M.I.A. Her performance was seen by 114 million people, a higher average than the game itself, which was seen by an estimated 111.3 million people, according to the Nielsen Co. The Black Eyed Peas performed at the 2011 Super Bowl, with The Who singing in 2010.

M.I.A. is calling foul over the NFL's reaction to her 2012 Super Bowl halftime performance. The British-Sri Lankan pop star has been embroiled for months in a behind-the-scenes battle with pro football officials over her Super Bowl XLVI show. According to the Hollywood Reporter , the league is upset because during a number with headliner Madonna, M.I.A. raised her middle finger and mouthed, "I don't give a .... " Casual viewers of NBC's live telecast could easily have missed the gesture and mouthed obscenity, which lasted only a second before the cameras cut away.

Fifty contest winners will be selected to join Beyonce onstage during her halftime performance at Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3 at the Superdome in New Orleans. Pepsi announced Friday that it is sponsoring a photo contest beginning Saturday on its website , with 50 winners getting to bring one guest each to the game to appear onstage during the show. No word on whether Beyonce's husband, Jay-Z, will take part, or whether there will be a Destiny's Child reunion. Entrants are to post photos of themselves posing in Beyonce-style positions -- finger-snapping, toe-tapping, hip-shaking poses, of course -- that could be used in ads promoting her performance.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are expected to join headline act Bruno Mars during the Super Bowl XLVIII halftime show on Feb. 2 in New Jersey. Mars is scheduled to make the announcement that he has invited the group to appear at the big game during Fox's coverage of the New Orleans Saints-Seattle Seahawks playoff contest on Saturday, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Currently on tour, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were already lined up to play a pre-Super Bowl bash in Brooklyn on Feb. 1, hosted by sports radio station WFAN-AM in New York.

Rumors continue to rumble about who will join Beyonce at the Feb. 3 Super Bowl halftime show and what song she'll perform first. Inquiring minds also are preoccupied with whether the pop superstar plans to actually sing at all on Super Sunday or will lip-sync, as she did while delivering "The Star-Spangled Banner" at President Obama's inauguration, according to the Times of London. In certain dark corners of the Internet, there are even forums devoted to the urgent question of whether Beyonce should or shouldn't lip-sync at America's premier sporting event.

Peyton Manning choked, Bruno Mars shone, Jerry Seinfeld droned and Joe Theismann showed up in the post-game episode of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine. " Where he broke his leg. Again. Where once TV's biggest live event dominated four or five hours of Sunday television, it now claims weeks. Forget the sports-page buildup, the commercials now have their own teaser ads, the half-time show inevitably has "something to prove" (beyond how very old the members of the Who have become), and the follow-up shows go out of their way to leverage the premium spot.

Bruno Mars and his band wore Saint Laurent in their Super Bowl halftime show. Racked toted up the numbers and concluded that Mars' outfit would cost $5,830 (if one paid for it oneself). [Racked] In an interview with W magazine, Miley Cyrus says her image is calculated and that she wants to encourage girls to go for personal style. "Everyone to me looks like Vanna White," she says. She also says her rustic childhood may have something to do with the crop tops and other body-baring outfits she wears now: “We never were inside, and we never wore shoes, I think it's why I like wearing no clothes so much and I'm always naked.” [W]

The question dominated much of the nonfootball-related chatter in the run-up to Sunday's Super Bowl: As the featured act of this year's halftime show, was Bruno Mars really up to the job of entertaining a television audience of approximately 100 million people? The answer, it turned out, was yes. But before he could prove it, Mars had to weather a storm of skepticism. He's only 28, decades younger than other artists who've played the show recently, such as Prince and the Rolling Stones.

On the phone, history-making NFL figure Carol Channing. You mean you didn't know she was the first Super Bowl halftime star? Before her 1970 appearance, Super Bowls had featured only marching bands. Then Channing came marching in, and the game's halftimes would never be the same. In fact, Super Bowl halftime is now considered the most-watched entertainment event in the world. She turns 93 on Friday and doesn't hear well. Over the phone, my questions about her pioneering performance in New Orleans get bantered back and forth like fumbles on a frosty field, her assistant trying to help, her publicist graciously stepping in, me trying to make sense of it all in my usual ham-handed way. Wish I had a recording.

OK, for those of you who have Super Bowl parties scheduled, or for those who tune in to the NFL once a year and for some reason don't know, Super Bowl XLVIII is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J.. That's 3:30 p.m. PST. If you want to plan some kind of activity during halftime instead of watching Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, figure on getting a break in the game about 90 minutes after the start. You'll have plenty of time; some halftime extravaganzas seem to last forever, but the break will probably be about half an hour.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are expected to join headline act Bruno Mars during the Super Bowl XLVIII halftime show on Feb. 2 in New Jersey. Mars is scheduled to make the announcement that he has invited the group to appear at the big game during Fox's coverage of the New Orleans Saints-Seattle Seahawks playoff contest on Saturday, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Currently on tour, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were already lined up to play a pre-Super Bowl bash in Brooklyn on Feb. 1, hosted by sports radio station WFAN-AM in New York.

FOOTBALL URBAN LEGEND : The first pro football halftime show was designed as a way to sell dogs. Today, halftime shows are a consistent part of any NFL game, with the Super Bowl halftime show routinely being the most lavish example. However, in the early days of pro football, halftime shows were non-existent. The players would go into the locker rooms and that was it. Even in college football, halftime shows by the 1920s were a rarity. This changed with the introduction of a new football team in 1922 that was designed all around one very important function...selling dogs.

Mick Jagger and his bandmates may be nearing senior citizenship, but Super Bowl planners want only people 45 and younger to take the field during the Rolling Stones' halftime show. The NFL is offering 2,000 people a chance to watch the Stones play during the Feb. 5 extravaganza. They will be expected to dance, sing and cheer. People are asked to apply in groups of 20 or more and be at least 18 years old and no older than 45.

Though Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer probably has his players buying into the one-game-at-a-time mantra, the same can't be said of the school's marching band. For weeks, the Ohio State marching band has been putting some Michigan smackdown elements into its halftime shows, despite the fact the Buckeyes won't line up against their longtime rivals until Nov. 30. Much like everyone else outside of Ann Arbor, Mich., the Ohio State band knows the Buckeyes are better than the Wolverines this season, and this brash confidence has inspired some truly incredible halftime shows.

M.I.A. is calling foul over the NFL's reaction to her 2012 Super Bowl halftime performance. The British-Sri Lankan pop star has been embroiled for months in a behind-the-scenes battle with pro football officials over her Super Bowl XLVI show. According to the Hollywood Reporter , the league is upset because during a number with headliner Madonna, M.I.A. raised her middle finger and mouthed, "I don't give a .... " Casual viewers of NBC's live telecast could easily have missed the gesture and mouthed obscenity, which lasted only a second before the cameras cut away.