This is my response to the ongoing discussion over in Sean's blog about the Superbowl.
My feelings were that for the most part the commercials were boring. It's 3 days later and nothing really sticks out in my mind except the crotch biting dog and the dog would have to be biting my crotch to get me to drink swill like Bud Light. Why is Monster.com wasting their money? They have practically no cultural presence and then they blow 2 million a spot for Superbowl. I don't know of many people watching the Superbowl who think, damn I better get up and send my resume in to them now!
My views of the the half-time show were that regardless of what happened it was a bore. I disagree whole-heartedly that hip-hop, P. Diddy, and Nelly didn't belong there. The fact is Hip-Hop is the de facto music of this generation.
Janet was not a good choice of a headliner for the simple reason that she (like the rest of her family) are always going to put promoting themselves ahead of entertaining an audience. I think even Madonna would have had enough sense to make her performance bright, colorful and geared for the whole audience. Past shows like the Aerosmith and U2 headlined events were great because all the artists worked together and only had one goal, entertain the audience.
It was apparent acts were chosen not on what they could actually do to make the show better, but what demographic they could help pull in.
Jessica Simpson - hometown hottie... wasn't given anything to do and she has a better singing voice than anyone who performed during half-time.
P. Diddy - simply the most successful hip-hop businessman around, had he been given more free reign and not told he would have to team-up with Nelly he probably would have done something entertaining.
Nelly - the leader of the entire Southern Hip-Hop scene and perfect for a Super Bowl with a southern team. I am of the opinion though that most Rappers are not strong enough entertainers to carry a stadium and televised crowd. MC Hammer would have known what to do!
Kid Rock - The biggest act around that was going to appeal to a majority of white people, while still being acceptable to some of the hip-hop crowd. The only reason he did Bawitdaba (or however it's spelled) is because of it's cross-cultural success. However he seems content now to be a run-of-the-mill Southern Rocker. Though he isn't from the South.
Justin Timberlake - regardless of what anyone thinks he is hugely talented, pulls in people from all demographics, and is exactly the kind of act they should have made the headliner (though he isn't really popular enough for that yet). He should have dressed more appropriately for the event. Putting N*SYNC back together for the event would have been a great idea.
Janet Jackson - I wasn't sure since I first heard the announcement why she was chosen and it wasn't until after her performance that I found out she had a new project to promote. The only thing I liked from her performance was the balloons used as projection screens. She's gained weight again which is always entertaining because you get to see the interesting ways she choses to hide her butt. I thought pulling off the ruffled tablecloth back stage and shoving down her backside was novel.
In the end barring some interesting staging MTV were really out of their league. They have no clue how to pull something this big off. All of their events require the artist to bring something special to the table becasue they themselves don't know what to do.
After it was over I really thought nothing of it, except how silly the breast baring was. I agree with most European's, America just has to get over this false modesty and sexual repression. My kids thought nothing of it either. It's just a breast, in the end you explain to them that it's just a part of the body and spend more time educating them on why some people feel it's something to be ashamed of and how most of the entertainment industry have mistaken sex and violence for entertainment.
As a last note, I've never thought of Sean as our resident perv. In fact I think his sexuality is quite typical of a large portion of normal modern men. He is the very extension of what began in the 60's. The only real difference is that Sean has the strength of character to talk about it and defend his actions where most people try to keep it behind closed doors. Of course, my experiences don't make me a good judge of what is normal.
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When I am at the hizzle watching the gamizzle on the televizzle, there is nothing I like better than a break watching my nizzles get down with a fresh groove. And if a sista wants to show of the mams then I say aint a thang. This is just another attempt at the manizzle trying to keep us down. Peace Out
Posted by: Larry on February 5, 2004 12:28 PMjust for the record it was meant as a compliment Sean. I am capable of giving those out :)
Posted by: John on February 5, 2004 09:39 AMI also wondered why the songs performed were older and I was also wondering, during the pregame show, how many times has Aerosmith performed at the Super Bowl and do they always perform "Walk This Way?" I saw a news piece on Vegas odds on the game and there was actually an open bet in Vegas that Steve Tyler would fall and break his hip while singing that song. I think the odds were 30 to 1. I found that amusing.
I also agree with you about the marching bands. I especially liked the drum line that performed Rhythm Nation.
My biggest question about the Super Bowl, aside from the Half Time show, was how did that streaker make it past security onto the field before the second half kickoff? Apparently, he purchased a ticket, put on a ref's uniform and walked right past security. How lame is that!! I mean, come on, in this day and age of heightened terrorist activity, how does something like that happen? Anyways, that's another issue overshadowed by The Boob.
Posted by: cindi on February 4, 2004 05:24 PMWell, I guess my feeling is that they should have worked harder to make the half-time show, if not more football related, at least entertaining on something of a slightly more wholesome note. It seems that each year, they come up with something even more lame and stupid than the year before and MTV had the chance to change all of that. While sexy costumes will probably always be the norm to expect, there is a difference between that and what was exhibited on Sunday. Cindi hit the nail on the head: It was lame and sleazy. MTV blew it. I also found it interesting that Bono had approached the powers-that-be saying he wished to perform a song about AIDS awareness, but was rebuffed as being too much into making statements, political or otherwise. Somehow I think his performance would have been considerably better than what was finally chosen to be shown. And here is a question: If these were indeed the creme-de-la-creme of the entertainment industry at the moment, why did all of them - yes ALL - perform older songs? Nelly's is at least two years old. I recall hearing it back in 2001/2002. Poop Daddy didnt - and doesnt - really do anything original except expand on Nelly's, I don't believe ANY of Janet's songs were from her upcoming release, and I KNOW Kid Rock's songs are about 4 years old. While I am not certain about Nelly and poop Daddy, both Kid Rock and Janet have either upcoming or currently newly available releases out. It just annoyed me. And while we are still on it, I forgot to mention my favorite parts of the damn thing: The marching bands. They rocked. It was cool to see them and hear them and I felt they were perfect for the moment. And I have to agree with John that the use of the balloons in Janet's performance was pretty interesting.
Relevance for the time is fine. I can understand that. But given the performnaces, I dont see which one represented that relevance. I think THAT is what annoyed me. So, boobs aside, whoever is tapped to produce next year's fiasco had better start planning now and take to heart the fact that if there is one thing everyone can agree upon regarding this year's Super Bowl, it's that the half-time show sucked long and hard.
Cheers!
Posted by: Sean on February 4, 2004 04:49 PMI also wanted to mention that while I don't profess to know hardly anthing about your guy's sexual activities, past or otherwise, I've never thought of either one of you as "perverts". You're just guys who like sex and like to talk about it. Big deal. Maybe if more people were as open as you two we as a public wouldn't be so all consumed with one little booby.
Posted by: cindi on February 4, 2004 03:25 PMok...I composed a response to John's blog (probably while Sean was writing his), hit post and lost it. Maybe it's the snow storm we're having right now...in any event it's gone and I'm not going to rewrite it. I will comment to Sean's comment however.
I don't understand why you feel the Half Time show at the Superbowl has to be directly related to the game or football in general. Granted, most performances do have a football element...cheerleader outfits, artists wearing jersey's, etc...but they don't have to. Monday morning Good Morning America was showing clips from past Half Time shows. In the early 70's it was Carol Channing singing Broadway Tunes (God knows why)! The U2 performance in 2002 (which in my unbiased opinion was the best ever) concentrated on the 9/11 tradgey and promoted universal love and peace. Why? Because it was relevant at the time. The Super Bowl has become much more than the ultimate championship game of football, its a living embodiement of American culture and goes way beyond the actual game. The Half Time show has become as much an institution as the game itself and what better way to justify a $2.3 million price tag per commercial to sponsors than to guarantee viewers will not change the channel at any time during the broadcast. It only makes sense for producers to bring in the hottest acts of the moment. And I think they failed this year. I still agree with you the sexual overtones of the event were inappropriate. And I think way too much is being made of the boob incident. I personally didn't think much about it at the time other than "That was tacky." And we saw almost as much of Shania Twain's boobs a couple of years ago. Now that I think about it most Half Time shows have been exceedingly lame. The only difference with this year's is that it added the element of sleaze. Lame and sleazy...pretty much sums up MTV. Sorry...didn't mean to go off on a rant...we're closing the books up here and I'm a little stressed out by all these damn numbers.
oh...what I meant to say in my first post...good comments John. You expressed what I was thinking in a much more orderly and cohesive fashion.
Posted by: cindi on February 4, 2004 03:06 PMGreat comments all.
I still have a real issue with hip hop being touted as the "music of this generation". I admit that I actually do like some I have been exposed to. I honestly do not feel my opinion is being defined by some deep-seated fear of it. I guess I would just like to see a little more moderation in what is played. I like a mix of genres. And I feel that MTV had a great opportunity to do just that and blew it. I completely agree that MTV was out of their league. And yes, Jessica Simpson has a much better voice than pretty much anyone else that was on that stage. She should have been given a slot, not just as the introducing MC. But it is my opinion that, very soon, the entire hip hop genre is going to implode on itself unless it evolves yet again. The market is simply too saturated.
I don't know......it all seemed out of place with the event. The performers could have done more together, as you have noted those in the past have done, and it may have turned out alright. The nipple thing was just dumb. With all of the sexually charged attention her brother is getting, you would have thought she could have come up with something else. Actually, up to that ill-advised moment, I didnt mind her performance that much. I was a little surprised she did older songs when she has a new release pending, but whatever. I think a bit more thought could have gone into each performance, understanding that the American public as a creature is very repressed and easily shocked and the Super Bowl is recognized as one of the highlights of basic American viewing. Just because hip hop is the number one genre in the land means nothing. That is not a reason. Nobody would have missed it or commented about its lack of pressence if it had not been incorporated. Bottom line for me is that the nature of the performances did not mix well or have anything to do with the Super Bowl, per se. As you said, it had more to do with promoting the individual artists performing. I'm actually not concerned about what "harm" may have been done to "the kids", because kids are much more cavalier about that kind of crap than adults generally are.
And thanks for the last comment. I took it as sort of a compliment.......
Posted by: Sean on February 4, 2004 02:05 PM