The NFL yesterday announced performer Beyonce would headline Super Bowl XLVII’s halftime show and the announcement is “a great decision both from the Super Bowl organizer’s perspective and viewer’s," according to Erin Strecker of ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY. Beyonce is the “perfect choice: She’s ‘down with the young people,’ but she is also the consummate professional who isn’t going to swear or do any other kind of ratings stunt.” After the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" during Super Bowl XXXVIII in '04, the event has "played it safe with Talented Old Guy choices such as Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones." Elements of the show last year “got a little more risqué -- Madonna kept things fun, but her special guest M.I.A. got some feathers ruffled with a misplaced middle finger” (EW.com, 10/17). ABC's Chris Connelly notes the game will be Beyonce's "first Super Bowl appearance since 2004, when her luminous National Anthem stood in stark contest to that halftime's Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake Nipplegate no-no.” But viewers should not "expect anything inappropriate when Beyonce takes the stage,” as the halftime appearance is “yet another peak in what stands as pop's most impeccable career” ("GMA," ABC, 10/17). In DC, Matt Brooks noted Beyonce “turned 31 last month, which makes her considerably younger -- and many would argue more relevant -- [than] recent performers.” Beyonce’s husband, rapper Jay-Z, would “seem an obvious choice for an on-stage cameo, along with the singer’s former co-stars in the female R & B group Destiny’s Child” (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 10/16). The choice of Beyonce “seems to be the beginning of the NFL skewing younger” (ESPN.com, 10/16).
BIG SHOES TO FILL: In L.A., Matt Donnelly wrote Beyonce is “beyond capable of the job, but there's definitely some pressure there: Madonna's 2012 spectacular was almost universally praised, and the telecast itself was the highest rated in Super Bowl history at about 111 million viewers.” Should she include “the ramp-up to the Super Bowl in the documentary-style film she's directing about her life, that could attract a football-loving demographic if and when the movie gets released” (LATIMES.com, 10/16). Meanwhile, in Tampa, Sean Daly writes Beyonce and her “entrepreneurial hubby Jay-Z are indeed this generation's Camelot couple” (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 10/17).
