Worst Modern Super Bowl Halftime Show

Though I guess the Madonna one gets an honorable mention for spawning the single stupidest controversy of all time.

the latest spate of pop acts on the SB halftime show have been disastrous tbh. beyonce was good tho.

yeah I'm gonna have to go with The Who, even Madonna and Black Eyed Peas had kinda neat visuals

The Who was definitely the most boring (as my friend put it, "Daltrey couldn't hit these notes *20 years ago*!"), but I think it wasn't a surprise that it sucked and was kind of ordinary.

But the Aerosmith one I think is the disaster of all time. You had N'Sync sprinting from the locker room so they were so winded they could barely sing...Steven Tyler singing "It's GONNA BE MEEEEEEEEEEE" as the segue from the aforementioned tune into his band's "Jaded", Britney Spears awkwardly applying her sex-pop voice to "Walk This Way", and then inexplicably, Nelly rains down from the sky and drops a verse.

I'm sure the conversation in the board room the next day went something like "It sounded great on paper..."

would take chubby checker over all of these

re: how Nelly got to do the SB twice, he was a late add to the first one he did (about two weeks prior to the event, him and Britney were added). I was always so mad when he boasted "Can you top the super bowl?" in "#1" cos he was barely in the damn thing and was one of the most awkward parts of it.

oh my god, I didn't the rabbit hole that is Super Bowl halftime show videos today

2001 is full-on hilarious:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeLnwbJzLO0

Remember when Justin was in full-on Goat Boy mode all the time?

"Bye Bye Bye" performance makes a strong argument for lip-synching. lol at wavery voice while dancing/winded

"I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" is such a flaccid fucking tune. all the energy gone from the crowd

AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA, lol at the arpeggiated harmonies on "It's Gonna Be Me"...I forgot about that gaffe.

first three are all at appropriate volume and fourth guy comes in blaring GONNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA obliterating any chance of blending

the fuck wa sthe point of Mary J Blige showing up

lmao @ Aerosmith introducing themselves with "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing"

Have to vote for the Metrodome's legendarily awful one.

xpost "let's get the crowd going with two of the most dire, energy-sapping songs in our ouevre"

boy band choreography makes me irrationally angry

http://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/sports/superbowl-halftime-show-history/#intro

wow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjXSqaSmhh4

how do you ruin a double bill of zz top and james brown

answer - jim belushi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC_iiq06qck

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I lived through the 1980s and swear I don't remember them being this square! This is from 1982:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4mTTigqTSA

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

1991: New Kids on the Block, Disney characters, Warren Moon, 2,000 local children, audience card stunt 0

C'mon, people.

IX
January 12, 1975
Tulane Stadium (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Tribute to Duke Ellington
Mercer Ellington & Grambling State University Marching

^^sounds pretty cool imo

sorry, didn’t see a general halftime show thread

How did The Who get this gig in 2010

boobies

o'riley

I think the thing that bugged me about The Weeknd's show had nothing to do with him, but how the camera followed him around so he had to awkwardly sing to the camera. it didn't really work.

also it sounded mostly lip-synched? or mixture?

I like the Weeknd tho.

anyway this is still Black Eyed Peas

phoebe bridgers smashing her guitar over an unsuspecting tom brady in 2022, putting him out of commission for the second half and cutting short his nascent presidential run, is still the best

concussions don't stop Presidential runs

he was just spooked from then on. wasn't the same. every room he entered, he was always looking over his shoulder, afraid that bridgers was lurking somewhere with another guitar

to prevent this from happening again,Congress introduced the "Brady bill"

you deserve a pat on the back for that one.

from PHOEBE BRIDGERS.

BEP... I mean you know it’s bad when usher’s coming down from a helicopter and I’m all “yes omg usher save us!!!”

and Usher looked down and whispered "No"

IX
January 12, 1975
Tulane Stadium (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Tribute to Duke Ellington
Mercer Ellington & Grambling State University Marching

^^sounds pretty cool imo

― brimstead

sounded cool to me, too, so i downloaded an off-air recording of the complete 3 1/2 hour broadcast of super bowl IX so i could check it out. (i'm also into 1970s off-air television recordings, which helps.) i gotta tell you, the announcer's corny shit is kinda distracting. still, i mean... cootie williams is there! way better than the who. no question.

i don't think i'm going to bother watching the game, but it has original commercials! that's really cool. i'm into that kind of shit.

incidentally i actually liked the who's super bowl set. it exuded the sort of pleasant low-stakes tedium i associate with sporting events. i didn't grow up on football - i grew up on baseball. the only thing i would've loved better would've been eddie layton on a hammond organ.

The only good one that comes to mind is Rihanna's.

1992: Gloria Estefan with Olympic Figure skaters Brian Boitano & Dorothy Hamill	1

All but 1 voter clearly hadn't seen this one

ice skating on grass seems tough

easier than ice skating on molly