Beyonce Does The Super Bowl

By Ingrid Ellis

Lord! To be Beyonce tonight! The buzz that began midway through the Super Bowl and hasn’t stopped since, has been all about her.

Football? Puhlease… All thoughts of that were forgotten when she strutted down the runway in those thigh-high boots and a black leather and lace variation on her usual bodysuit to begin her highly publicized half-time show in New Orleans. Ms. Sasha Fierce wore the smug confidence of someone who knew she was about to kill it. She was not wrong.

To start, Beyonce sang and danced her way through an athletic mash-up of her hits, ending on the floor, leg gracefully above her head. Highlights included amazing hologram effects that created multiples of herself. Animated glass shattered with vicious tosses of the head. A female “Jimi Hendrix” soloed, spewing sparks from her guitar. And, then, at the height of the show, Kelly and Michelle appeared. Looking fabulous and sounding as good as we remembered from the days of Destiny’s Child. They harmonized their way through Single Ladies and took us back with Bootylicious. They disappeared as stealthily as they'd emerged. Meanwhile, superb camera work captured the incessant energy.

Of course, with the lip-syncing issue at the top of the news, the question did come to mind: Could Beyonce really be singing while maintaining this mind blowing level of activity? As she breathily leaned down to sing Halo with the audience, it certainly seemed so. Ultimately, when the show is this fabulous, does it really matter?