The Small Fries

During Super Bowl 50s Halftime this past Sunday, Coldplay, Bruno Mars and Beyoncé celebrated the many great musical acts that have graced the Super Bowl stadium over the past fifty years. In the spirit of that theme, I’m highlighting my Top Five Super Bowl Halftime Performances.

5) Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake

Okay, hear me out. I’m putting this on here for a couple of reasons. First of all, the performance was actually amazing. Janet is an incredible performer and it shows all over this 10-minute concert. However, the main reason this is going on the list is because of how it put the Halftime show on the map. Granted, it sparked a ton of controversy, and it unjustly ruined Janet Jackson’s career, but it was ALL anybody talked about for perhaps that entire year. If that doesn’t strike you as being Top 5 material, I don’t know what does.

4) Aerosmith, NSYNC and Britney Spears

This Superbowl performance was the only one I truly remember from my childhood, and for good reason. It had the ingredients to catch the eye of every kid in the early 2000s: a funny opening skit, the dreamy and talented guys of NSYNC, and of course Britney Spears. Aerosmith put on an amazing show, and the collaboration between all of the artists involved looked like a ton of fun.

3) Beyoncé

Beyonce is undoubtedly the best performer of our generation, and it SHOWS here. Her vocal prowess and choreography are unmatched and her showmanship is unrivaled. She even put together a little Destiny’s Child reunion as a treat!

2) Michael Jackson

Of course, the King of Pop himself has to be on this list. This performance has all the hallmarks and scale of a Michael Jackson concert. Everything is big and epic from his entrance to the audience participation at the end.

1) Prince

Man, this was ICONIC. This was the one area in which Prince one-upped Michael Jackson: he simply had a better Super Bowl performance. He performed all of his hits, had solid dancers, and his guitar freestyling was out of this world.

BONUS: Indiana Jones?!

That’s right, in 1995 Disney was opening a new Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. Patti Labelle teamed up with Disney and put on this bizarre Indiana Jones-themes halftime performance. Check out the weirdness here:

--Julie