In this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, the NFL decided to showcase Madonna. I was originally surprised when she was announced as the act, for a couple of reasons.
For one, she is almost three decades past her prime. Admittedly, many of the halftime acts of the past 10 years have also been veterans, even elderly performers who were big in the ’60s and ’70s.
But the difference with these performers, such as Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones and The Who, is that they’re legends not just in their genre and generation, but in all of music history.
Hardcore Madonna fans could make the same argument, but the difference with her is that she’s defined herself foremost by her sexual appeal rather than her music. Many of her music videos are more memorable than the music itself. Her status as a sex symbol could be considered legendary, but not in the ordinary music critic’s point of view, unless, of course, “Like A Virgin” is your favorite song of all time.
Madonna is a great performer, but was she the right choice for Super Bowl XLVI? It was only eight years ago when the world witnessed the so-called “Wardrobe Malfunction” that exposed Janet Jackson’s star-studded boob in what was the most embarrassing moment of both her and Justin Timberlake’s careers.
The decision to go with Madonna is a bit ironic because, leading up to the game, we expected to see a more modest performance than the Jackson/Timberlake debacle of 2004. Instead, she performed to an audience of all ages, which perhaps changed her usual style. The major spectacle of her act became the impressive technology on the field, not her sex appeal.
The 53-year-old told Bob Costas before the game that she wanted the show to be “euphoric” and for it to “bring happiness.” She also admitted to Costas that she hasn’t seen the Jackson boob-slip and promised that it wouldn’t happen in her performance.
But the awkward moment of Super Bowl Sunday for many families may have been when parents explained to their children who Madonna is and why she is famous. The Stones, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen were seen as cutting edge in their primes, and so was Madonna. Today, however, all are mainstream performers, but for very different reasons.
Madonna’s age has made her less about the sex, and, to her credit, more about the grandeur of the show. But the fuel that drove her popularity in the ’80s was her scantily-clad clothing and raunchy lyrics. For The Who and Tom Petty, the cutting edge of their act was in their musical style and musicianship.
I’m a fan of bringing back musical legends and giving them their 15 minutes on the biggest stage in the world. Madonna, though, will be remembered more as a sex legend than as a cutting-edge musician.