Tom Petty

Although the outcome of the Superbowl didn’t agree with me (at all), the musical performances were decent enough and luckily for Fox, wardrobe malfunction-free.  Tom Petty is as controversial as a piece of toast so he was a safe and family-friendly choice for the halftime show, performing his biggest hits which 3 generations of football fans could sing along to. A nervous-looking 2007 American Idol winner Jordin Sparks did a great job with the National Anthem, and I was just relieved she wasn’t performing that wretched single of hers, “Tattoo.”  A slightly-out of practice Paula Abdul performed her first new single in over a decade.  There really isn’t much to say about it - it wasn’t brilliant by any means - but it was certainly a thousand times better than Britney’s “comeback” performance at the VMAs last year.  It was sort of like watching an elderly person finish a running race - kind of heartwarming and you’re just proud of them for giving it a go.  Paula’s forever our girl! (Or middle-aged pop icon.)  The ever-talented (if not sometimes a little bit boring) Alicia Keys banged out a solid medley of hits during the pregame show.  And if you didn’t see Ryan Seacrest introduce her on the red carpet and do his own little rendition of “No One” You-Tube it now.

That’s all there is to say about that.  Check out what could have been if Tom Petty had performed with Justin Timberlake.  Bah!  Good stuff.