Madonna in the top 10? On what planet?

Graycap23 said:

Madonna in the top 10? On what planet?

Janet Jackson & Justin Timberlake, 2004 in top 2 is much much more ridiculous.

2 best performances, obviously, between Prince and U2.
MJ - the third.
I don`t know about the rest.
I love Paul McCartney, but, honestly, it was far from great.

Surprisingly, I agree with this for the most part. I start start disagreeing toward the end. I actually thought the Motown half-time show should have been on there in place of Paul McCartney. It was cheesy as hell, but still entertaining.

camile100 said:

I'm not sure if its the poor quality of the clips I've seen on YouTube but I always think the performance is average at best. It's the sound quality and guitar playing I think sounds poor. In places it even sounds like he's out of tune. I hope this is not the case. Anybody agree with this?

I don't think anyone here would necessarilly disagree with you. I think it was good for what he had to work with. Prince has acknowledged that the sound was jacked during that performance. From what I read, one of the cables got sliced when they were setting up the stage. They actually had one person to hold a cord to make it work during the entire set.

For what it's worth, I think it was a good half-time performance for a Superbowl. It was definitely memorable. Some of the others....not so much. After all, the list is about the best half-time show and not necessarilly the best performance.

rightfully so, dude KILT it!

He made me proud.

It's because he ws the BEST! HANDS DOWN!

Diana Ross, was pretty awesome though! Michael, Bruce & The E Street Band, and a few others. I am not going into the details of all of them. BUT Prince, really had me crying.lol

DUDE LAID IT DOWN!!!!

Yup. #1

Best Super Bowl halftime show? There are only six that I can remember as being both quality and really live. Michael Jackson's was good, but it wasn't really live. Aerosmith don't get on the list for the awful company they kept: Useless 'N Sync, Some boring blonde girl named Britney Spears, and the overrated Nelly. Mary J. Blige was the only guest worthy of being onstage with them.

1 U2: It had to be incredible to beat Prince, and it was. The 9-11 tribute was very touching with the names of all the victims, and maybe a Top Ten career highlight for a band with tons of highlights. "Where The Streets Have No Name," lyrics written by Bono on a charity trip to Ethiopia before U2 were really huge, took on a different meaning that day. A poignant moment for all, but a beautiful moment as well.
2 Prince: Awesome at times, but hard to top what U2 did. I never care for medleys, and cover songs. He put bits of 4 other artist's songs in this semi-mess, but his playing was top-notch. By far the best guitar playing the Super Bowl had ever seen. I may be personally sick of the song "Purple Rain," but he probably should have just played that in full with a new song, or perhaps his guitar drenched version of "The Question of U." His quick take on the Foo Fighters "Best of You," was awesome, even for a fan like me who is not really into cover songs.
3 Rolling Stones: They were over the hill before I was 18, but who cares?
4 Paul McCartney: Went through the motions, but hey, he's McCartney!
5 Tom Petty: Kind of bland, but not bad.
6 Bruce Springsteen: He really seemed a bit over the hill, but still brought great energy and emotion. His voice was in rougher than usual, but "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" was awesome.

One thing in common with the best performances? They were just the artist. The stage did not get crowed with the N Synchs or other lastest flavor of the month stars.

Aerosmith, Madonna, and Janet Jackson are all big enough to not have to need help. They would have been all better off by themselves.

camile100 said:

I'm not sure if its the poor quality of the clips I've seen on YouTube but I always think the performance is average at best. It's the sound quality and guitar playing I think sounds poor. In places it even sounds like he's out of tune. I hope this is not the case. Anybody agree with this?

I would agree with you

My problem is that none of the superbowl halftimes shows are beyound belief. Look Prince is the best, but Prince has had many better concerts and moments. I haven't seen one performance that would even make my top 15 best performances of all time

daPrettyman said:

LiLi1992 said:

Being from the UK, I've only ever seen Prince and Madonna's which I thought were equally amazing because it highlighted what they each do best. I love both artists so could never compare. Started to watch MJ's on youtube, but couldn't sit through a 3 minute wait for him to start singing/moving.

It was a terrific performance.

And from what I've seen, it was the best one.

2020 said:

Yup. #1

Yes his was the best. The best of a bad bunch.

i never really like the SB half-time show for some reason.

colorblu said:

2020 said:

Yup. #1

^

I felt like it was 1988 -- like Prince Lovesexy live in concert once again....

A proud moment for all of us 'purple hippies' (though yes, he was slightly out of tune at times).

colorblu said:

2020 said:

Yup. #1

Bruce Springsteen was pretty good, Paul McCartney was also good but I thought the song selection was a bit tiring as someone who's heard those songs 100's of times. Especially as he's got arguably the biggest and most accessable music catalog, (alongside Prince in the 80's)

[Edited 2/1/13 13:19pm]

[Edited 2/1/13 13:19pm]

camile100 said:

Who else could it have been? Prince's Super Bowl halftime show was & will always be a

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I thought Prince was the best one, not just because I'm a Prince fan, but because it was the best. U2 came second for me-I'm not a fan of sappy. I really enjoy MJ and love his voice and would have like to hear him sing and not lip sync-a big frustration of mine. Most half time shows lack focus, lack energy (like the who), and scope of performance. Besides, Madonna's scared moves in high heels, her visuals do fit the scope of performance.

As for guitar playing-the guitar used during Purple Rain was not in tune-but because it was live Prince had to roll with it. Prince has made public statements to that fact. I'm sure that guitar tech aint working for Prince any longer.

I think we need to understand that Prince performed live and didn't lip-sync, that alone should put him above all those who did.