The Super Bowl is practically an American holiday. After all, it brings together both football and non-football fans to watch two teams battle it out for the ultimate NFL title. Even anti-sport fanatics can appreciate a day dedicated to finger food, beer, notoriously great commercials and of course, the half time show.
In celebration of the 2012 Super Bowl, TheCelebrityCafe has compiled the top 10 best Super Bowl Halftime shows. Fans can both take a trip down memory lane, and show Madonna just what she has to live up to.
10. Sports Illustrated attributes one man for setting the stage for “bigger acts to come: Chubby Checker. When he joined the Rockettes in Super Bowl 1998 bringing back “The Twist,” and all together putting on a better half time show than year prior boring shows before him.
9. Dianna Ross is noted by both IB Times and Spinner.com for her uplifting (literally) performance in 1996 where she was lifted by helicopter during her song “Take Me Higher.”
8. The popular noted performance between Aerosmith, ‘N’Sync, Britney Spears, Nelly and Mary J Blige in the 2001 Super Bowl which was performed to show fans how genres can be brought together.
7. Super Bowl XLIII was all about the Boss. Bruce Springsteen took fans by storm when he performed “Born to Run,” “Working on a Days Dream,” “Glory Days” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze- Out” where fans got an up-close and personal view of the Boss as his slid right into the camera!
6. Prince’s performance in 2007 came after the infamous Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake wardrobe performance. Networks were looking for a go-to tame performance which would ensure a non-controversial half time show. Little did they know that even Prince can draw attention as fans realized a phallic resemblance in the artists’ guitar.
5. Despite being called “nipple-worthy,” the performance between Justin Timberlake and
Janet Jackson’s 2004 is still being called, “fun,” and “energetic.” The duo paired up with Nelly and OutKast to rock the halftime show leaving "Better have you naked by the end of this song..." will go down in history.
4. A tribute to Motown in 1998, celebrating 40 years of music, brought together Smokey Robinson, Martha Reeves, The Temptations, Queen Latifah and even Boyz II Men.
3. The Rolling Stones rocked in 2006 as the joked that they were there to perform in Super Bowl I!
2. In 1993 the King of Pop wowed audiences as he performed many of his hits. Among the list included “Billy Jean” and “Black and White.” The crowd was even a part of the performance as they held up cards which appeared as hands for his song, “Heal the World.”
1. U2 undeniably put on the best half time show after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The band moved audiences when they performed “Where the Streets Have No Name” with a giant board behind them listing the names of all who were lost on that tragic day.