No, she didn't apologize. But if a spectacle like the one you witnessed last night isn't enough for you, well, maybe you just don't deserve great pop stars.
Beyonce Knowles' onstage ease, her charisma, her effulgence — fans of pop know these things well. On Superbowl Sunday, they were all right there for the rest of the world to see. There was the star, a beacon of femininity in the middle of a football stadium, enlivening what had been, up to that point, a pretty damned lackluster evening of entertainment.
Nothing on the field hit nearly as hard as Beyonce's halftime show did, so for your sake, I hope that trip to the fridge took place while the 49ers were fumbling through the first half.
Beyonce performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on February 3, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Beyonce, who has spent much of the last two weeks embroiled in a controversy of her own making, reasserted her dominance with a halftime show that underscored her generosity and her versatility. The star strutted through "End of Time," walked the line between outrage and desire in "Single Ladies," lead crowd participation during "Halo," harmonized with a reunited Destiny's Child on an abbreviated "Bootylicious" and danced, nonstop, in heels, with self-possession unsurpassed by the many other pop singers who would love to wear her crown. The rumored collaboration with her husband didn't materialize: Jay-Z did not show, and he wasn't missed.
As is usually the case during halftime shows, the performers jumped from song to song so quickly that the music barely had time to breathe. But there is no performer better equipped to handle that pace than Beyonce Knowles, a woman born sprinting.
Was she lip-synching? Armchair audio engineers will fight it out about that, but if anybody tells you he knows for sure, he's fibbing. Beyonce opened with a combination aimed squarely at her critics: a chorus of the rapidly modulating "Love On Top," followed by the frenetic "Crazy in Love." These are both vocal workouts, and she blew through them with the same precision and dynamism she demonstrates in concert. If that wasn't her, she sure made the tape operator sweat.
The stage set incorporated several elements that followers will recognize from her concerts: an all-female backing band; a projection screen that shattered like glass; red laser lights; stark, mesmerizing black-and-white animations; sharp, combative choreography that wore its hip-hop influence proudly. These augmented the show. But Beyonce was the spectacle.
Beyonce came into the Super Bowl with plenty to prove. After two decades in the limelight and more than 30 hit singles, that had to gall her, but she only had herself to blame. The lip-synched inauguration performance of the national anthem undermined the world's confidence in her talent — confidence she's spent years building.
Beyonce was slow to admit she'd sung to a pre-recorded track, infuriating the many amateur moralists who'd appointed themselves the guardians of showbiz authenticity. Suddenly, people who'd never attended a Beyonce concert or played a Beyonce album felt entitled to dismiss the singer as a lesser light.
The millions who have followed Beyonce Knowles know better, and will never be surprised by demonstrations of her skill, artistry and attention to detail.
While her decision to chicken out at the inauguration might suggest that she's risk-averse, her recordings have been daring: She's worked with many of the best producers in contemporary pop music, including Jeff Bhasker, Terius "The Dream" Nash, and Tricky Stewart. "Single Ladies" might have connected with a mass audience, but its furious beat and ringing slot-machine arrangement were hardly safe choices. "4," her most recent set, was brave, too — instead of chasing chart success, Beyonce sought common ground between classic soul and Afropop. She led with her sexuality, as always, but her lyrics celebrated fidelity, enduring passion and incipient motherhood.
Beyonce's fifth album is scheduled for release in April.
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