Getting booked to be a Super Bowl halftime performer holds a monumental amount of pressure. Save maybe The Olympics, the Super Bowl is unarguably one the most watched sporting events–which means millions of eyes on whatever artist is tapped to play the big halftime show.
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This year, Usher is primed to take that stage. He has big shoes to fill, as many performers have been universally applauded and remembered across decades. However, he can take solace in the fact that there have been some flops over the years. The track record for the Super Bowl is anything but perfect.
Check out three halftime performances that audiences found lackluster, confusing, or infamous, below.
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1. Black Eyed Peas
With as many hits as the Black Eyed Peas have, you’d think their Super Bowl performance would go off without a hitch. Nevertheless, viewers found the foursome’s performance a little lackluster in 2011.
On top of the group’s vocals being a little iffy, the production wasn’t as grandiose as we’ve come to know the Super Bowl to be. Though the space-age theme felt cohesive with the band’s aesthetic, something about it didn’t elicit a sense of excitement. Even the addition of Slash couldn’t save this performance. Although we did get a glimpse of Usher as a halftime performer. His section of the show was promising and leaves us excited for his headlining turn this year.
2. Indiana Jones tribute
The 1995 Super Bowl halftime show was certainly a spectacle–we’re just not sure it was a welcomed one. For some reason, the powers that be thought doing a tribute to Indiana Jones was going to be the move that year. While we certainly glean the popularity of that film, it doesn’t seem to have translated well to the halftime show.
The tribute performance featured the likes of Patti LaBelle and Tony Bennett–two master vocalists with oodles of stage presence. Nevertheless, the confusing direction was almost too distracting to appreciate either performer. It was one for the books, we will say that…
3. Nelly, Diddy, Kid Rock, Justin Timberlake And Janet Jackson
It’s not that this performance was bad by any means, but any merit of the show has long been overshadowed by the infamous wardrobe malfunction between Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake.
Exactly how it happened is still a mystery, but it certainly generated a hefty amount of drama–drama that still lingers years after the fact. Despite having some of the biggest names billed to play that particular year, the only thing people can remember is the look on Jackson’s face after the fateful moment.
(Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)
