Beyonce shakes it for ‘Single Ladies’ at the Super Bowl. Photo: Mike Ehrmann, Getty Images. Click for more.
It was virtually guaranteed going into Sunday’s wild Super Bowl nail-biter that Beyoncé’s halftime show would leave people divided, whether she really sang or not. And make no mistake: she sang her barely covered tail off.
Granted, never as eloquently or soulfully as Alicia Keys did at her piano for a brilliant, measured rendition of the National Anthem. Not to further drag on the debate about Bey’s supposed inauguration faux pas, but like Kelly Clarkson’s performance of “America” (aka “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee”) at President Obama’s second swearing-in, Keys’ unadorned yet movingly paced and unquestionably live spotlight put all the mane-wagging and rump-shaking that came later to shame.
But that doesn’t mean Beyoncé didn’t deliver where it counts — or seem to knock power out at the Superdome.
Halftime shows, especially in recent years, are intended to make a big splash in a shallow pond. Like those million-a-minute commercials, they grab block-party viewers with striking visuals, dazzle ’em for a few minutes, then return ’em to the game. Even the Rolling Stones and the Who did precisely that, albeit with much less gyrating (OK, maybe Mick Jagger came close). U2’s appearance months after 9/11 is the only moment since halftime became as big as the game itself that’s worth recalling for more than spectacle or malfunctions.
Compared to Madonna’s meatless wow last year and the Black Eyed Peas’ abysmal futuristic nonsense the year before that, Beyoncé’s hits-stuffed routine ranks as a cut above, succeeding with relative simplicity, relentless motion and mildly sexy moves that never outstripped her natural classiness.
In some ways, though it was not remotely as musicianly as Prince’s 2007 performance, it emulated his set to a T. Her stage didn’t transform throughout the show, nor were increasing amounts of over-the-top pageantry paraded in. Like Prince’s glyph get-up, there was merely a large circular platform, lit up to look like Beyoncé in mirrored portrait, with key cut-outs allowing for groups of fans, more teams of female dancers, or hydraulic effects.
One of those was unexpected and impressive, when during “Baby Boy” a giant screen behind the singer made it look as though she were being cloned. Similarly, her dance floor was an even larger display that, when viewed from above, shifted from kaleidoscopic Busby Berkeley swirls to a fleeting glow as regal as the billowing sheets extending from the stage, intended to look like her hair. (Sometimes it just made her look like a Comanche.)
The other trick – a reunion with her sisters in Destiny’s Child, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams – was entirely anticipated, yet still managed some impact, thanks in part to the popped-out manner in which they surfaced and how scantily clad yet fiercely determined both looked, Rowland in particular.
It’s a shame they weren’t uniformly mixed to sound their sharpest, however. Their opening scat from “Bootylicious” was spot-on, a cleanly harmonized take-off that lasted through a fire-ringed groove on “Independent Women,” which segued into a cheesy Charlie’s Angels pose after the ladies indulged a dozen-second three-part vocal swoop.
Frankly, I could have done with less deliberate camera posing and more unadulterated performance. I also disliked the filmic sheen layered onto the show, a now-common gimmick that deprives the purity you get from straight video takes, like Jennifer Hudson’s very fine (but faked?) rendering of “America the Beautiful.” (Mimed or not, that was easily overshadowed by the tear-jerking wallop packed by the sweet sight and innocent sound of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Chorus, who backed and preceded her.)
But back to the DC cameo: When Beyoncé turned a verse of “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” over to her cohorts, neither Rowland nor Williams could be heard half as powerfully as the star attraction.
Which suggests one of three things:
- Their mics were merely mixed too low, which is possible.
- They weren’t live at all, which is doubtful.
- Beyoncé was deliberately turned up too high, which is most likely.
That much was evident from the get-go. Though her strutting command of the crowd, quickly inviting them to feel and return her energy, had infectious spirit from the first blast of “Crazy in Love,” it also immediately smacked of Beyoncé overcompensating because of the recent lip-sync flap, shouting instructions as if to prove her microphone was indeed on. She needn’t have tried so hard. By the time she was wailing the finale of “Halo,” she’d provided all the proof anyone required that she was truly live – and coming across tremendously.
To people who enjoy Beyoncé, that is, which isn’t any more the lion’s share of the Super Bowl viewing audience than Madonna or the Black Eyed Peas received – or the Who or the Stones, for that matter, both of which aren’t always young people’s cups o’ tea.
That’s what I mean about this being yet another divisive halftime show: There are so few performers popular and talented enough to step onto such a gigantic global stage, and fewer still who are aesthetically unifying. You can’t satisfy everyone: rockers can’t do it, neither can pop divas.
And so it will remain. I’ve been wondering for years why there has yet to be a major country bash at halftime. When that finally happens, it too will be just as polarizing as Beyoncé’s turn.
Recently:
;
Super Bowl XLVII: Beyoncé goes live and delivers is a post from: Soundcheck
