Every year during the Super Bowl, we’re treated with a glamorous half time show that usually involves a major music act. Unfortunately for the Super Bowl event organizers, these half time shows don’t always go as planned. Here are the five most embarrassing half time musical performances in Super Bowl history.
5) Kid Rock's US Poncho
The self-proclaimed American Badass sure lived up to the “ass” part during Super Bowl XXXVIII. In an effort to showcase how patriotic he was, Kid Rock slit up an American flag, wore it as a poncho and later threw it into the crowd. The Veterans of Foreign Wars hastily filed a lawsuit against CBS for the flag defacement.
Blunder: Defacement of the US flag at the Super Bowl.
4) Paula Abdul Straight Up Sucked
You'd think as a former American Idol host, Paula Abdul would at least try to put some effort into her Super Bowl performance. Calling the act a catastrophe would be an understatement. If you’re going to lip sync through the Super Bowl, at least make it look like you’re trying.
Blunder: American Idol judge lip syncs her way through the Super Bowl.
3) In Living Color Steals Gloria’s Thunder
When you think of “Super Bowl halftime show”, you imagine some extravagant show with lots of prestigious talent. In 1992, that talent came in the form of Gloria Estefan and some figure skaters. I’m not sure who thought this was a good idea but it didn’t fare well with the audience. In fact, over 20 million viewers switched channels to watch a then unpopular Jim Carrey do what he does best on In Living Color. The two Olympic skating champions didn’t even perform the Iron Lotus, what a jip.
Blunder: Figure skaters at a Super Bowl?
2) Prince’s Cover Up
Prince’s performance at Super Bowl XLI was actually really good. That isn’t to say that his gig wasn’t without controversy. Two main conspiracies surrounded Prince at the big game. Firstly his guitar, which sported the Prince symbol, looked like a hung penis when viewed behind the curtain (think “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged me”). The second comes from one of the songs he performed. In 2003, the Foo Fighters recorded a cover of Prince’s Darling Nikki and put it on the B-Side of the single “Have It All”. The song got some decent air time on the radio. Prince went on a tantrum against the Foo Fighters for doing the cover and he claimed that it was a sign of lack of originality. Prince then performed a cover of Foo Fighters' Best Of You.
Blunder: Is that a guitar in your pocket or are you happy to see us?
1) Janet Jackson’s Nipple Fiasco
This one goes without saying but what fun would that be? In the concluding moment of their Rock Your Body duet, Justin Timberlake ripped off a part of Janet Jackson’s top exposing Janet’s right breast which was covered with a star shaped ring. Oh how furious the soccer moms got when they saw this one. A hefty lawsuit was filed. Following the incident, Janet Jackson’s career fumbled while Timberlake's continued being a massive success.
Blunder: Coining the term “wardrobe malfunction” is Janet's career highlight.
