SAN DIEGO  – The score was 10-9 with the New England Patriots leading the New York Giants and on came Madonna accompanied by MIA, Nicki Minaj, Cee Lo Green and “LMFAO” (a texting abbreviation for “Laughing My F** A** Off,  which is what this observer was doing) for a half-time show, which I viewed on TV with family and friends

 The 12-minute gig started with a rendition of “Vogue.” Madonna was seated on a huge gold throne as an army of gladiators paraded through Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The ensemble of vocalists sang several of Madonna’s hits including “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” before Cee Lo Green joined her on stage for the finale.  

In many Super Bowls the halftime show will have a moment that is either uncomfortable or awkward or  classless, for example the “wardrobe malfunction” when Janet Jackson performed with Justin Timberlake in 2004.  This time, MIA used some of her camera time to “flip off”  everyone watching the most watched event in the world. NBC has since issued an apology for showing this.

Madonna closed her set in dramatic fashion, disappearing through a hole in the stage with smoke surrounding her.

Stars including Pink Floyd, Steve Martin, Reba McEntire and Estelle gushed about the pop superstar’s set on their respective Twitter accounts. 

Country star McEntire wrote to her fans, “Madonna did a fantastic job on the Super Bowl Half Time show!! She is amazing!!! Great job!!!! Loved it!!!!!”

Although Madonna’s peers were positive, many in the younger generation did not have kind things to say about Madonna’s performance on Sunday. Madonna, 53, has been performing longer than most of the “younger” generation has been alive.

After the set ended, the second half of Super Bowl XLVI began, and the Giants went on to win an exciting 21 – 17 thriller that came down to the last play of the game.

From a game in which the first score was a Giants’ safety, the final play of the game was an incomplete  “Hail Mary” pass.

The Giants have won two Super Bowls in the last four years and Eli Manning, quarterback, won MVP both times in those games. 

*

Burke is a reporter for the GC Summit. He may be contacted at [email protected]