Madonna’s Glittering Super Bowl Spectacle
Madonna packed some serious spectacle into her twelve-minute halftime show for Super Bowl XLVI. Ushered in on a golden chariot pulled by a phalanx of centurions, Madonna opened the set with her 1990 hit “Vogue,” flanked by dancers dressed to match the set’s Roman-fantasia theme.
As “Vogue” segued into 2000’s “Music,” break dancers dressed in white track suits took their place beside Madonna, along with a tightrope aerialist. After a brief interlude with LMFAO and a few bars of “Party Rock Anthem” and “Sexy and I Know It,” the stage gave way to a troupe of cheerleader-dancers for Madonna’s brand-new single. “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” from the forthcoming album MDNA, brought with it Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.
The high school sports theme continued as a drum corps marched onto the stage along with Cee Lo Green. The set veered briefly through “Open Your Heart” (reaching all the way back into 1986’s True Blue) and “Express Yourself” before settling into the opening chords of “Like A Prayer.” A church choir dressed in black and white robes now took the stage to back Madonna and Cee Lo for the gospel-tinged 1989 anthem. In the final moment of the show, gold beams projected up into the sky as Madonna disappeared from the stage in a massive plume of smoke. The words “World Peace” appeared across the field in gold lights.
You can watch the show in its entirety below.