Motown and the Superbowl.....

[marybrewster]

http://www.kdwb.com/photos/main/best-and-worst-super-bowl-halftime-342323/22078606/#/0/22078606

Interesting take on the "best" and "worst" Superbowl halftime shows of the past 20 years.

As it relates to Motown:

Worst:

LMFAO [[Gordy kin) - 2012
Stevie Wonder - 1999


Best:

Martha Reeves, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations - 1998
Diana Ross - 1996
MJ - 1993

[Roberta75]

http://www.kdwb.com/photos/main/best-and-worst-super-bowl-halftime-342323/22078606/#/0/22078606

Interesting take on the "best" and "worst" Superbowl halftime shows of the past 20 years.

As it relates to Motown:

Worst:

LMFAO [[Gordy kin) - 2012
Stevie Wonder - 1999


Best:

Martha Reeves, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations - 1998
Diana Ross - 1996
MJ - 1993

Yes the First Lady of Motown Reciords Dr Martha reeves was the absolute best imo and I mean shes the best of any superbowl halftime show ever.

Yours, with every good wish.

Roberta

[thomas96]

I don't really watch the halftime shows [[I'm usually in the bathroom during halftime...) but I have seen some of these and I don't know how they can say the Blues Brothers, James Brown, and ZZ Top was worst.... That was a great one for a halftime show. Obviously having John Belushi would've been much better but Jim was fine in his place. Best in my opinion was Michael Jackson's. Stevie's, Martha Smokey and the Temps', and Diane's were all good too. No halftime show in the past 10 years though has been any good in my opinion. The Janet Jackson one was hilarious! ACCIDENT!! Yeah right.

[jobeterob]

LOL. I have to agree about the accident!

Prince's show usually shows up in the Top 5 all the time.

Sadly the Motown show rarely does and I remember being really excited to see it, but it is also marked as the time when it was clear for the first time that Martha Reeves voice was in significant decline. [[Sorry Roberta ~ I know we don't really agree on that point). Martha is still a great trooper though.

[thomas96]

Prince is the exception in the last 10 years.

[marv2]

Beyonce's was probably the best yet.

[jobeterob]

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/super-bowl-halftime-shows-ranked-from-worst-to-best-20140128/1-u2-2002-0479328

Considering that list comes from Rolling Stone, Motown didn't do too bad.

[jobeterob]

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20781268,00.html

[David J]

Best & worst halftime shows [[https://www.google.com/url?q=http://hamptonroads.com/2014/02/super-bowl-best-worst-halftime-shows&ct=ga&cd=MzAzMDkwODYwMTQ3MDY3NDUyNQ&cad=CAEYAA&usg=AFQjCNF4cYwbgcII2gVkXB5nT1exk5WioA)

http://hamptonroads.com/files/imagecache/story_photo_main/files/images/1375571.jpg By Rashod Ollison [[http://soulfuldetroit.com/rollison)

Will Bruno Mars become the stuff of legend - like Diana Ross and Michael Jackson - or end up on Rashod's worst Super Bowl performance list?



The Virginian-Pilot
© February 1, 2014 The Super Bowl halftime show wasn't always such a glitz fest ablaze with pyrotechnics.
Back in the day, college marching bands and feel-good productions by Up With People were the main attractions. But in the early '90s, in an effort to boost ratings, commercial sponsors such as Disney and Radio City started producing the big game's halftime show, turning it into an arena rock extravaganza featuring the biggest names in pop.
Over the years, some performances have become the stuff of legend, while others were colossal spectacles and not much else. Let's take a look at the best and the worst:

THE BEST

Michael Jackson [[1993)
His pop throne was tattered and he was a decade past his commercial peak, but Michael Jackson was still the consummate showman; even his mediocre moments were dazzling. For nearly two minutes, he stood stock-still in the middle of the arena, screams and applause erupting all around him, before launching into truncated versions of some of his biggest hits, including "Billie Jean." But things got almost insufferably maudlin during "Heal the World," with Jackson nearly lost in a gargantuan children's choir. Still, the performance was the first big ratings hit for the Super Bowl halftime show.
Diana Ross [[1996)
Looking supremely ageless, the then-51-year-old Motown legend breezed through a medley of her greatest hits all while singing live and changing into several glamorous costumes, as a village of dancers and singers whirled around her. The crowning moment was during the closing number, Ross' update of Gloria Gaynor's camp classic "I Will Survive," as a helicopter landed in the middle of the arena and lifted the diva up and away.
U2 [[2002)
Whereas other shows seemed too much about staging and super big production elements, U2's performance felt intimate - well, as intimate as an arena show can feel, as Bono made his way through the crowd to the stage to join his band mates. The names of 9/11 victims scrolled up a towering screen as the band performed an emotionally charged version of "Where the Streets Have No Name."
Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake [[2004)
Like her older brother a decade before, Janet rocked the arena before the infamous "wardrobe malfunction," the most controversial moment in the history of the Super Bowl halftime show. She and her troupe of dancers performed the pop superstar's signature militaristic moves before Timberlake appeared to lip-sync his hit, "Rock Your Body," at the end of which the former Mouseketeer ripped off a piece of Janet's dominatrix-inspired costume, revealing her breast. The media firestorm that followed was unrelenting and unfairly affected Jackson's career. But beyond the flash of nipple, it was still one of the more audacious Super Bowl halftime shows.
Prince [[2007)
The Purple One showed off his freewheeling rock side with a dynamic performance that included spirited versions of "Let's Go Crazy" and "All Along the Watchtower." He capped it with "Purple Rain," the stage in the shape of his unpronounceable signature, illuminated in purple.

THE WORST

The Blues Brothers [[1997)
Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman and Jim Belushi were unabashed dorks romping through '60s soul classics before the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, shuffled in wearing a shiny flame-red suit and a glossy, lacquered perm. The halftime shows at this point were leaning heavily toward the baby boomer set, becoming more about the spectacle and less about the performance.
Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Aerosmith, 'N Sync, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, Nelly [[2001)
This dizzying mix of acts didn't belong on the same stage. It was clear that MTV, the show's producer that year, was trying to do a cross-generational thing with the aging rock kings of Aerosmith and the dolled-up pop puppets of 'N Sync. But it all felt forced - and lame.
Shania Twain, No Doubt, Sting [[2003)

All three acts, with little in common musically, shared the stage with no smooth segues, and the production looked like an afterthought compared to the grand ones that preceded it.
The Black Eyed Peas [[2011)
The style-over-substance group sang live and sounded shockingly amateurish, proving that its processed, neon hits work better in the clubs and on the radio. Even in glowing, expensive-looking robot outfits, surrounded by an army of folks in similar drag, the group induced yawns.
Madonna [[2012)
One has come to expect excessiveness from the Material Girl. But the shifting stage motifs - from an Egyptian/Trojan mash-up to a futuristic disco - didn't coalesce. In a seemingly desperate bid for relevance, Madonna trotted out newer pop tarts Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.; the latter cursed and flipped the bird. It was lots of flash, all anti-climactic.

[jobeterob]

Diana & Michael always finish well amongst the best of the shows.

[jobeterob]

http://backseatpolitikz.com/tag/diana-ross/

[edafan]

Last Year's

Beyoncé was the best in a long time.

This year's was average at best
I tried to be objective,
but I couldn't understand any of the words the fellow was singing in the first song.

edafan