Serena said:

Yes I'm completely serious. The Superbowl, replete with cheesy marching band and overcommercialized commericials, is the epitome of tackiness. It's horrid. And while performers may play for free, my very reliable sources tell me he got paid. (Can't post a link, so take my word for what it's worth--I don't intentionally post lies...maybe someone can confirm?)




No, he doesn't have to stay cooped up at Paisley Park (although some quality time in the studio might improve his next album). But must he "whore himself" out to trashy "reality" shows like AI and the over-hyped world of professional football? How about an "MTV unplugged type of deal or a televised concert--you know something that's still "entertainment" but not so low brow--more about the music. (And yes, I am a self-admitted snob when it comes to art, music and all that, so I realize that "low-brow" is a snobby term, but that's how I feel about shows like AI, Dancing with the Stars, etc.)



It was $15,000 and you got a ticket for all five concerts. To the best of my knowlege there was no way to pay only $3000 for one weekend (ie Prince). It was an all or nothing type of deal, so $15,000 for Prince (if you didn't want to go to all 5 shows). If I had that type of bank, I would have gone, but considering I work for a non-profit I couldn't go.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

See, out of AI, Superbowl, etc. I consider Verizon the least sell out because it was using a new method of releasing ("freeing") the music, which is something Prince claims to have been interested in for at least a decade now. The others--AI, Superbowl--were just pop culture fluff. I mean he didn't even play an instrument on AI to show them how real music gets made. The Hamptons, Texas & Monaco were just to make money from rich people. (I'm not hatin, just saying even P. needs to get paid, ya know?)

PS. I can tell we will just have to agree to disagree b/c I prefer college basketball to pro football and think Planet Earth is the most horrid album Prince has made since Emancipation, imo.

DevotedPuppy said:



Well, since the Super Bowl gains a world-wide audience, that's what counts, not whether someone likes football and all it's 'pageantry'. I agree the SB is crazy wastefulness, but for promotion, it's a pretty good medium.

As for the band, FAMU is hardly cheesy, do a search and watch some of their performances. Prince invited them because of their showmanship.



Yeah, if he spends time in the studio, then everyone is bitching that he's not out touring. I'd love to see him do an unplugged type of thing or televised concert, but he'll be criticized for selling out for working with MTV or whatever network.


Yeah, I think it was a package deal, but I'm sure folks could've bought single tickets one way or another. But, when someone says it cost $15k to see Prince, that's a little misleading.

btw...I don't work for a non-profit and there's no way I could afford the whole deal either!
[Edited 10/16/07 18:40pm]

I don't think so, That was my best Prince surprise moment EVER!

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

It was a cool surprise, even though I'm not really into AI, but it did create a lot of talk about him, as did the SB. They piqued peoples interest, as it did yours, so the performances were successful in that way.

(and I do know the fangirl scream & butterflies, he makes me feel like a teenager all over again!)

I was disappointed, for missing that show. I hope that his appearance will one
day be added to a collection of interviews, and, clips of his concerts.

Serena said:

Again, I disagree. The Super Bowl is hardly important outside of the USA, I would not classify it as world-wide. Secondly, the number of people who watched the Super Bowl and became Prince fans because of that particular performance is small, I'm sure.




I was familiar with FAMU before the Super Bowl, had seen their performances, and recognized the significance of Prince asking them to play. However they did not "bring it" to the Super Bowl show. Frankly, their performance did not live up to the hype; most of the time they weren't even marching in step...or is marching out of sync and playing off key part of the "showmanship"?

vinx98 said:

Yeah you could well be right, he kept mentioning Big Brother at the O2 after all, maybe its just stuff he likes to watch

aymiderham said:

voyeurism is a trait of people that live secluded lives(if what is wrote about his life is to be believed)

Patrick1985 said:

its the NEW entertainment.

Because shows like the Superbowl, Jay Lenno, any of the morning news shows, Saturday Night Live, David Letterman, etc. have been around for years (before music turned to bullshit) and music is only a portion of their show.

The whole entire show "American Idol" is a bunch of dull ass singers who aren't even part of a band, nor do they want to be part of one. They are happy just to sing their dull slow song and could care less about making music and if they do, they sure as hell won't make anything uptempo and hard. Prince is a musician and has always been either a part of a band or the whole band himself. He's about music and he makes good hard funky music. He doesn't belong on a dull show like that. The celebrities that are more that show's speed are dull ass adult contemporary singers like Celine Dion, Lionel Richie, Barbara Streisand, Shitney Houston, Mariah Scarey, Barry Mannilow, etc. Prince doesn't need to be anywhere near folks like that. Their dullness might rub off on him.

vainandy said:

The problem is a lot of these shows that have been around for a long time he has done over and over again. A lot of the new shows are...BS but its the only outlet and because he did AI over 10 million people heard Lolita. I can't stand AI but the brotha needs to promote...

I don't get how Prince "sold out" by performing on American Idol or any other outlet.

He is an artist, a musician, a performer...that's what he does. I am excited to see him on AI, Saturday Night Live or any show he is on!! Can't beat Prince LIVE.

Paid or not, the superbowl allows the biggest audience so you know the day after people suddenly want Purple Rain and your Best Of CD.

Playing American Idol isn't cool or rebellious but Prince is $ driven. The Musicology tour was serious money spinner than he hits up the UK with 21 main shows and aftershows and adds in special VIP areas and so on. He doesn't need the money, he doesn't even want to spend it on him. (c) The One U Wanna C.

SpecialEd said:

It got me here, didn't it? I was actually searching for Superbowl commericals and there was a playlist on the site called "Best of Prince"... that's where I started watching music videos. And I was hooked instantly after picking out "Little Red Corvette"

Just my luck, my dad already owned Purple Rain. But I started collecting his albums (one of them was "The Very Best of...") as soon as I possibly could, which was around Spring Break.

I think the most the Superbowl did was let people know that he's out there or for those who know him already, that he's still around doing stuff. Made people more aware of him or just aware of him in general. Although the "Best of You" cover had someone at my school's SuperBowl party say "I don't know he did that song." I didn't even know that wasn't his song (see, I knew very little about him at the time).

If the Superbowl really did its job, then I'd have more Prince "lovers" at my school, but as of yet, I've only found one another, and she was my roommate freshman year.

SpecialEd said:

And that's another issue I have with it. The Super Bowl just reinforced in many people's (read: general public) minds that Prince hasn't really done anything big since Purple Rain. Maybe they vaguely remember SOTT, Batman, or D&P, but I bet most of them couldn't name a Prince song written after 1993. To think that most of the viewers went out and looked for anything other than VBoP or The Hits would be giving them too much credit. (Case in point: see DreamyPopRoyalty's post).

Granted, Prince didn't really help the situation since he only played songs he wrote from 1984 or prior. And then the most current song he performed was a cover of someone else's song, so how would people (e.g. the general public) realize he's released an album every year or so (at least) since...pretty much forever.

vinx98 said:

I think it was stated before that he actually doesn't care for the show. I'm not sure where the sources for that statement came from though.


As far as the appearance, it gave him a minor boost in sales of 3121, but it was short lived.

Plus there was some bad publicity when the show's main judge, Simon what's-his-face, lambasted Prince's behavior prior to the performance. Most of the press surrounding that performance was centered around the criticism.

There were tons of articles like this one: http://www.contactmusic.c...30_05_2006



Prince was better off to either leave that appearance alone, or show up acting a bit more professional I guess.

Imago said:

what's more professional than showing up, doing his thing, living life in the
spotlight and walking out?

Playing his guitar without the help of the twins?
Allowing an introduction?
Saying "thank you" before taking his leave?

hmm... you got a point... nothing professional about showing up unannounced... but its something that I would expect Prince to do. I don't feel soured by what he did that night, I enjoyed myself

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

It's not just my point

If anybody pulled that on me--Verizon FIOS engineers, my plumber, etc. I'd be perturbed. Simon was pretty spot on in his criticism. Then again, Prince isn't a plumber.

And Prince performance was so-so anyways. It was one of those "why did he bother" appearances.

This is what i love about Prince hes' too much of a rebel to be part of the mainstream. Yet at the same time he too much of a commercial artist to be a rebel. Nobody's happy but him. It's brilliant!

P2daP said:

Wow... I like that answer

I believe that's right on the money about The Purple One
I agree

That's what I liked about it. The only reason I excuse him for performing on such a bullshit show as "American Idol" is because he acted such a bitch about the whole thing. They didn't know if he was actually going to show up or not until the last second, he didn't speak to or interact with anyone, and he got the hell out of there as soon as he was finished. His whole attitude was like he was better than anyone else there and they weren't even worthy of his presence.....and he was absolutely right.

Did you know that when you type in all caps online, that means that you're yelling? Tone it down, pls.

Prince 'sold out' when he cashed his check from For You

...but nothing is wrong with that

vainandy said:

Given that appearance, he had confirmed some of my first assumptions about him. He does come across as very arrogant and above everyone else. And I've always allowed him that right (heck of a lot better than anyone else I listen to anyways)... because he was just being himself. And ain't nothing wrong with that.
He kinda affected the way I've felt about American Idol, I enjoy it a little less and actually wished they had stopped after his appearance (none of their guests will be able to top him). But its very true that he was better than anyone there, haha.

there's a lot of stuff I'd let him get away with...and arrogance was something I knew and accepted from him very early on, before I even came here. Only now I know that there's more to him than sheer arrogance.

vainandy said:

oh, I'm not saying Prince not in a league all his own.


He was just very unprofessional, and the bad press he got for it was a reflection of that. I personally would have behaved no different than Simon, though I wouldn't express my displeasure publicly though.

It was cool for him to get the bad press because the press these days only likes bullshit artists. They don't like anyone that's gonna actually throwdown and get off. They praise artists that never get past the tempo of a funeral. The bad press only made him look like even more a badass than he really is (which is a good thing).

I wouldn't like to see Prince being rude around fellow funkateers like The Barkays, Cameo, Lakeside, etc. but "American Idol" is nothing but a bunch of boring Shitney Houston type wannabee's. Prince behaved himself too well for that crowd. He should have pulled out his dick and pissed on the stage after his performance.

Did Marie Osmond pass out by going on Dancing With the Stars?