Let's make snide comments at the expense of the Super Bowl Performers thread! (1 Viewer)

[MickeS]

I only tuned in for the half-time show, and it wasn't very good.

Yes, U2 did a good performance (they're the best band I've ever seen in concert), and I'm glad they played my favorite U2 song ("where the streets have no name"), but the whole 9/11 tribute was just... weird. They should have done something more somber and meaningful than just playing two rock songs and displaying the names of the victims.

And the Paul McCartney interview was embarrassing...

/Mike

 

[MikeAlletto]

And the Paul McCartney interview was embarrassing

Oh it was just 2 guys having some fun on the air...no big deal.

 

[Howard Williams]

Paul McCartney and Bradshaw was pretty goofy. Terry was just being Terry but Paul should not have gone there with him.

I'm no big U2 fan but I understand why they are so popular. I can accept the tribute for what is was. 30 minutes of silence with the names scrolling might have been a more impressive statement but.

As for the pre game stuff, being patriotic can often come off as being very corny. Much of it was rather corny but it still made remember how proud I am to be an American.

Frank:

Each singer uses the original musical score of the national anthem strictly as a blueprint for how the song is to be performed. As artists they take that blueprint and add parts of themselves to imbellish on the original. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. You remember when Marvin Gaye sang the national anthem at a basketball game a long time ago? You would not have recognized it all by the music alone. His redention was extreme even by most soul standards but it was totally unique and absolutly beautiful. I thought Whitney Houston's & Mariah Careys rendetions were excellent. Sounds like you would prefer they stuck to the script, note for note. That would be pretty boring, I think. Singers sing. Artist create and perform.

 

[MickeS]

I thought Whitney Houston's & Mariah Careys rendetions were excellent. Sounds like you would prefer they stuck to the script, note for note. That would be pretty boring, I think. Singers sing. Artist create and perform.

There's a time and place for everything. When it comes to singing the national anthem before a sporting event, it should not be about creating or trying to stand out as an artist, it should be about performing the National Anthem, as it's written and meant to be performed. I cringe every time I see these singers change the tunes and phrasing around, just to be different and prove how great they are. Go ahead and do that with your old songs, please leave the national anthem to be as it is. It's a beatiful song, they won't be able to improve it.

/Mike

 

[RogerB]

I appreciated the tribute.

I think the "bed sheet" or screen coming down was NOT intended to resemble the towers falling. It was likely blocking the view for half the stadium. Granted, they should have turned off the projector before letting it fall.

 

[Brian Perry]

I think part of the problem with highly stylized versions is that it prevents people from singing along. I agree that non-standard versions can be beautiful; it's just a matter of whether one thinks the singer is there simply to perform the anthem or to lead the fans.

 

[McPaul]

Some points and questions.

It's the superbowl. You've got to keep these people entertained for the 30 or so minutes during half time. It's always been an 'entertainment' show. 30 minutes of listing the names would just be silly because no one would be paying attention.

A friend told me that the stage and his actions were just like what they did on tour, and they had that 'bedsheet' on tour at some or all of their shows as well.

I noticed in parts of the parformance that the projecting on Edge's and the others' faces all throughout the performance, how did they project a list of names like that? was it from a catwalk somewhere? Cause I would assume that the list went straight up towards the roof, correct? I'm curious how they did this.

I'm guessing that the sheet coming down was either an accident, or just to give the people in the back a view again. More than likely, just for the view.

And in this limited a time, you can't really have each individual on the projector with their family and a bio... so just a list of names seems adequate to me. What would you have liked to have seen?

I don't know if you watched the pregame show, Vince and others, but FOX really played it up as football=heroes=firefighters and military etc.. as someone said earlier, so i think that given this 3+ hour pregame show was so gaudy, and in my opinion distasteful, the halftime show wasn't all that bad at all. I liked the tribute, and LOVED U2's performance. 2 of my favorite songs of theirs.

I liked the ESPN countdown a lot better than the FOX pregame. It actually focussed on the GAME.

And finally, Although I sometimes find Mariah Carey to be a bit grating, I thought she did a good job on your anthem. I agree that she's an artist, and they put their own signature on every song they perform. That's what Whitney and others have done previously, why can't she? I think that the singing of the national anthem at the superbowl is also a little different than just the singing of it at an every day baseball game, or public function. You WANT to make it 'entertainment'.

 

[Kevin_W]

I wondered about that scrolling tribute... When it stopped, U2 was about half way into their second (and last) song, yet they were only into the D's. Then all the sudden it stopped... the whole thing was weird and not planned right I think.

Vince said:

I'm not sure how turning people into names, or what is worse a super bowl half time show, honors the memory of people.

I disagree - at least about the turning people into names. I think it (tried) to symbolize in the same way something like The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall does.

Kevin

 

[MickeS]

What would you have liked to have seen?

A good half-time show with no mention of September 11th.

/Mike

 

[Mitty]

Bill Maher used a term on his show tonight: tribute fatigue.

That's sort of how I feel at this point. Was it really a sincerely intended tribute? Or did the NFL and Fox not want to be the first major televised event that didn't pay some sort of tribute. Couldn't you realistically justify similar tributes forever? It felt a little bit shameless to me. I'm imagining being a fly on the wall at the meetings where they formulated the program for the day, and I'm hearing the words "they'll eat it up!" a lot.

A truly classy move would have been for the NFL/Fox to offer tickets/transportation to some of the victims' families, and not just as a ploy to get them onto the field and fly a bald eagle over their heads, or some such exploitation.

 

[McPaul]

Understood MikeS, but considering the 3 hour 9-11-01 tribute *ahem* I mean pregame show, you HAD to know that the halftime or kickoff shows would involve a tribute as well.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Mitty nailed it. I was happy with U2 and their performance. I do respect them and enjoy their stuff. Mariah didn't bother me much either. But the pre-game tributes were certainly too much for me.
Most Americans thought that cops and servicemen and firemen were heroes on September 10th and every day before as well as every day after. I don't need a sports analyst or Hollywood actor like John Travolta to clue me in.
Like Mitty said, Fox chose patriotism as their theme because they knew the gaudy excess show they had planned wouldn't go over well in our newly introspective culture. I doubt it dawned on them to just treat it like a really exciting football game.
A small tribute would have been nice. And I am always for supporting our servicemen and -women, especially those deployed. I have watched a Super Bowl that started at 1 AM myself. Beyond that, it was Fox congratulating themselves on congratulating America. But if it worked for more people than not, I am glad they did it. I just didn't enjoy it myself.
Take care,
Chuck
Edited for grammar, sorry

 

[Dean DeMass]

U2 played? I only saw the Playmates playing at half-time.
-Dean-

 

[Stan]

Whitney Houston did a fantastic version of the Star Spangled Banner a few years ago. She may have her problems, but she can certainly sing.

Mariah Carey can do a pretty good job with a song, and her version was pretty decent until she sang that horrid screech of a high note. May as well have been fingernails on a chalkboard. She may have an incredible range, but she needs to learn how to use it more appropriately.

 

[Bill Balcziak]

...the gaudy excess show they had planned wouldn't go over well in our newly introspective culture.

What newly introspective culture?

Sorry to say, but introspection was swept away during the Christmas shopping season, Chuck. The Super Bowl "tribute" was there to sell ad time.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Bill, perhaps I should have included quotes. I was being somewhat sarcastic. It took about 1.5 months to get back to the banality on network news. The "introspection" I stated wasn't really what I meant. Of course Fox just wanted to sell...they just chose what people are buying now.

Take care,

Chuck

 

[Chris Lock]

> Just a couple weeks till pitchers and catchers report!
They're opening a gay bar in your town?