Super Bowl XLV 2011 - Halftime Show - Black Eyed Peas

Super Bowl XLV 2011 - Halftime Show - Black Eyed Peas [HD][Full]

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Was the Super Bowl Halftime Show Underrated?

By TONI MONKOVIC

PlayersOnly 

On the Fifth Down live blog of the Super Bowl, we received an almost unanimous thumbs down from readers on the Black Eyed Peas’ halftime performance. The Times’s ArtsBeat blog noted a similar reaction on Twitter.

Maybe this is a bit of a contrarian view, but are we expecting too much from the Super Bowl halftime show?

It has become a national pinata — these guys are dinosaurs, those guys are selling out – and the Black Eyed Peas were merely taking their turn being whacked. Not to suggest that the Peas were brilliant (or have ever been brilliant); some of the vocals were sketchy. But the overall spectacle — with the dancers, the light shows, the guest performances of Slash and Usher, and yes, the Peas, themselves — didn’t seem to deserve condemnation.

Here’s a short roundup of reaction:

Nekesa Mumbi Moody of The Associated Press reflected the consensus, and said the Peas seemed “tentative and tense.”

On second thought, maybe Usher should have been the headliner for the Super Bowl halftime show.

The superstar had only a brief cameo in the showcase, but his tightly choreographed moves and acrobatics marked the brief exhilarating moment of a surprisingly stale medley from the normally frenetic headliners, the Black Eyed Peas.

But …

Greg Kot of The Chicago Tribune has been a longtime detractor of the Peas on the excellent “Sound Opinions” weekly radio program he co-hosts with Jim DeRogatis. He said the halftime show somehow worked, mainly because the format fit the group’s limited skills:

The Black Eyed Peas, the first contemporary pop act to headline the Super Bowl halftime since Janet Jackson was over-exposed by Justin Timberlake in 2004, proved to be an oddly appropriate choice for the National Football League’s big international party Sunday in Dallas.

With lyrics like Madison Avenue slogans plastered over relentless beats, the quartet’s big, proudly superficial music advertised and celebrated itself. It’s not meant to be scrutinized, but blasted over big speakers at Cowboys Stadium or in saloons worldwide hosting Super Bowl parties.

It’s nearly impossible to do anything nuanced or thoughtful on such a stage in 12 minutes. So the Peas went for the gusto and the spectacle, wearing neon spacesuits and surrounded by flourescent dancers.

Coming in short minute-long bursts, the Peas’ songs actually benefited from the nervous, jump-cut energy of the medley.

Jay Lustig of The Star-Ledger said the Peas had some surprises to offer:

And while it’s true that when there wasn’t something spectacular going on, visually, they didn’t offer much in the way of vocal dynamics, it’s also true that there was usually something spectacular going on, visually — those hordes of glowing dancers really were pretty cool — so the 12 minutes passed very quickly.

It was a solid B performance — but nowhere near an A.

Extra point: Feel free to add your grade and mini-review. And what would it take for a halftime show to be considered a success?