Aguilera + Halftime Show Recap

National Anthem

First let me state that I was very excited when I first heard that Christina Aguilera would be singing the National Anthem. She has easily one of the best voices in today's music. I am not going to kill her for messing up the National Anthem either, her voice sounded great during the "remixed" version she just messed up one line. Instead of singing the song's fourth line with the correct words - "O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?" - Aguilera sang, "What so proudly we watched at the twilight's last gleaming?" If anything I think this further proves that singing the National Anthem at every sporting event isn't necessary. In 2009 Jesse McCartney goofed the words before the NASCAR Fontana Race. In Dec. 2010, the lead singer of the Eli Young Band flubbed the words before a Kansas City Chiefs-Denver Broncos game. The amount of mistakes or terrible renditions of the National Anthem can't be counted on two hands, if you have like three-four hours to spare just go to Google and type in "terrible National Anthem versions" or "lyrics messed up on National Anthem." The one thing we can say for Aguilera was at least she was singing live, there have been many reports of recent years of performers recording it before the game and just lip-syncing.

Halftime Show Recap

Unlike the National Anthem where I was excited for who was performing, I was not as excited for the Black Eyed Peas. I didn't expect much from the Black Eyed Peas, not because I didn't like their music but because rap music doesn't play well live generally. The audio for the past few Super Bowls has been sub-par to say the least and that is for less-bass heavy classic rock. The vocals seem to always cut out on performers, ala last year on The Who (who pre-recorded their show). Well the Black Eyed Peas started by falling from the sky and right when they started their first song, "I Gotta Feeling", my concern about the audio proved true as everyone on stages microphones cut out numerous times. Besides the bad audio though I thought the show was actually entertaining, I wouldn't call it great, or terrible, but entertaining really.

Set List:
I Gotta Feeling
Boom Boom Pow
Sweet Child of Mine
Pump It
Let's Get It Started
OMG
Where Is the Love
Time of My Life
I Gotta Feeling

My favorite part of the show was probably the dancers on the field in colored jumpsuits with flashing lights on them. They started as white, and then after they became green for the second song, during Where Is the Love they were red and formed a heart it was very cool looking. Slash was a great addition to the show when he came out from under the stage to play his famous riff in Sweet Child of Mine, I thought Usher was a terrible addition as he hasn't been relevant in years and didn't even really sing. Overall I would have rather seen a classic rock band but I was entertained by the show despite the terrible sound audio.