THE Super Bowl halftime show had Shania for the men, Sting for the ladies, and Gwen Stefani for, well, just about everybody.
It wasn’t that long ago that halftime entertainment at the Super Bowl was something of a joke.
But last night – shortly before the Bucs’ 48-21 victory – the all-too-brief halftime concert was a heart-pumping smash.
As lead-off performer, Shania Twain got to do two songs, which she sang in a costume that Batwoman would have worn if she was performing at Scores.
“Man! I Feel Like a Woman” was Shania’s first song – and she looked like one, too, in a silvery brassiere that clearly provided inadequate support.
When she was finished with her second song, “Up!” Shania was suddenly and seamlessly replaced on stage by California’s own Gwen Stefani of No Doubt (she’s from Orange County) who launched immediately into “Just a Girl.” She’s more than just a girl, of course – she’s a whirling, twirling, midriff-baring bundle of talent and energy.
And when she was done, it was Sting’s turn to materialize out of nowhere to sing “Message in a Bottle,” for which he was later joined by Gwen in a performance that was so memorable it should have had Shania wondering backstage why she didn’t agree to be a part of it.
How Sting kept his mind on his singing while Gwen wriggled her butt at him, I’ll never know. That Sting’s a pro alright!
The producers of the Super Bowl telecasts seem to have figured out how to put on a world-class halftime show.
Maybe now they should turn their attention to the performances of our patriotic songs, which came out sounding more sad than proud before the game’s opening kickoff.
Someone should have informed Celine Dion, who sang “America the Beautiful,” and the Dixie Chicks, who harmonized on “The Star-Spangled Banner,” that America is not sad on Super Bowl Sunday.
Rather, on that day, America is as proud as Shania Twain in a silver lamé bra.