I did wonder about that.

I still loved it, and it's the thought that counts.

From Billboard

Contrary to a report that surfaced after the big game, Whitehouse says there was never a plan to use a hologram to beam the late rock icon into the stadium for the "I Would Die 4 U" virtual duet. "There was no hologram," he says. "It’s impossible to create a hologram in a 360˚ stadium environment. We never contemplated the idea. We were, however, lucky enough that Bruce [Rogers] and Bob [Barnhart] from the halftime team were the creatives who worked with Prince to make the famous silhouette moment happen in Prince’s own [2007] halftime performance."

As the planning started months ago, Timberlake asked for that iconic image as part of the show, and Whitehouse says the process leading up to the big day was firmly focused on honoring and being respectful of one of the greatest halftime performances of all time.

"To make it happen, the halftime team, JT team and Prince estate all worked together to design and facilitate this beautiful tribute," he says. "When it finally came together back in January, we knew that it would be one of the standout moments in the show. The biggest technical challenge was balancing airflow and merging multiple projectors, a silk with projection that large and bright in any stadium is tough, each night at rehearsals it would improve, and finally on game day Bruce and his team nailed it!"

He also pulled back the curtain on one of the most stirring images: what appeared to be most of downtown Minneapolis, bathed in purple lights, with Prince's famous glyph wrapping around the stadium.

"This came from one of those JT genius ideas," he says. "He said to us 'wouldn’t it be amazing if we could light up all of Minneapolis Purple' as we discussed ideas of how to pay a fitting tribute to the city and it evolved from there. As for how we did it, all I'm going to say is it took an amazing amount of effort and co-ordination over many months by Ricky, Hamish, [director] Bruce and Bob in bringing this idea to life and I think they pulled it off in a way far better than we had ever imagined."