Monday, February 08, 2010

Fun facts about the Super Bowl Halftime Show



(This photo has nothing to do with football. That's why I chose it.)


According to that mightiest of mighty sources, Wikipedia:

The theme for the Super Bowl VI Halftime Show (1972) was "Salute to Louis Armstrong." Ella Fitzgerald, Al Hirt, and, uh, Carol Channing performed.

The theme for the Super Bowl IX Halftime Show (1975) was "Salute to Duke Ellington." Mercer Ellington performed.

Arturo Sandoval and Tony Bennett performed at the Super Bowl XXIX Halftime Show (1995). The theme? "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye."

Other jazz or jazz-inflected Super Bowl Halftime Show acts have included Woody Herman, Pete Fountain, and Helen O'Connell.

Two Super Bowl Halftime Shows have taken Mardi Gras as a theme (IV, XV), and one took New Orleans as a theme (XXIV).

The theme for Super Bowl XIV Half Time Show (1980)? "A Salute to the Big Band Era." The performers? Up With People.

(Ahem.)

Also, this:

The NFL does not pay the halftime show performers an appearance fee, though it covers all expenses for the performers and their entourage of stagehands, family, and friends.


[photo credit: freizeitforum-aachen.de]

2 comments:

d0nnatr0y said...

Love it! I'm surprised Wynton didn't weasel his way into this year's show, though I understand (but didn't see it) that he narrated a pre-game vignette on New Orleans.

Andrew Durkin said...

Interesting. I didn't see the pre-game Wynton bit either...