Madonna on stage at the Superbowl.

All bets are off, get on the blower to Frank Skinner immediately.
I've got contribution for 'Room 101'.

That's her act isn't it? Since when was she known as a great live singer? certainly the last place I'd look for an authentic, raw live vocal.

Popular music is showbiz and artifice, but I really wish Madge would give up now. She tries so hard to remain a star, but totally lives on her past (See Stones, Rolling; Who, The; Clapton, Eric, etc). She fakes being artistic, being concerned, being rock (HAH!), being sexy. Once she was these things - but after the tour that led to "In Bed with Madonna" movie she lost it to me; "Ray of Light" was a great William orbit album with ehr as guest singer. I saw a clip of David Bowie doign "Lust for Life" in the style of Nine Inch nails on a 1996 tour, and it was similarly forced. I am delighted to see that Mr Bowie has retired with some dignity.

... never discount her. Round about "Erotica" everyone thought she'd lost the plot and before you knew it tunes like "Ray Of Light" and "Beautiful Stranger" started to appear. She'll have some good stuff out soon I'm sure.

Next year they're going to have CJ Stoneking playing a tea-chest.

Yeah, Madonna, you're not authentic AND you're old. Fuck off, witch.

(Is this right?)

Did Gene Kelley do singing in the rain live?

and they mime? That's of a bit of a con from an artist. Shocking. Anyhoo, while British viewers were watching a parade of Americans skipping up and down and bumping into each other over on BBC 301 the British women's hockey team played in their first major final. We lost 1-0 to the Argies.

Not a proper sports event, is it? I went to a baseball game once at the camden yards in Baltimore; it was more about snacks, animated graphics and watching the game (and i use the term advisedly) on the screens. The last football match i went to (a second division play-off at Wembley) involved avoidign a 20-foot wide puddle of urine from the gents that had poured out into the main corridor), £3 dogfood pies, and a lot of drunks who couldn't have been more homosocial if they had been in pink trouser suits.

didn't mime at the Aussie equivalent.
He was sh*te,sure, but he was live sh*te.

Not being a football fan, I skipped the game and the only thing I watched was the half-time show. When those Egyptian guys came stomping across the field to the beat of Vogue, I for one was laughing my ass off. The Superbowl+ Madonna = Over the Top. Whether she was lip synching is sort of beside the point.

The weak point, unfortunately, was her new song. I felt a bit sorry for Nicky Minaj and MIA who were just glorified cheerleaders waving their pom pons for Madonna. No wonder MIA flipped off the home audience. She was trying to regain a shred of self-respect. :) But the closer -- Like a Prayer -- was excellent. Great song and I loved the "wicked witch" disappearing at the end.

It all made no sense and was faintly ridiculous but for 20 minutes, I was entertained.

The phrase, 'What's not to love?"

I HATE IT!

I liked the No1 hit, Vogue though. Her finest moment.

You're judging the show by the criteria of rock n roll --
it's a spectacle, more akin to seeing Starlight Express than seeing The Fall at the Lesser Free Trade Hall.

The lights are way more inportant than the music.
This is not a criticism. I thought it was pretty good. Loved the bloke on the slackline. Didn't love LFMAO. Loved Nicky Minaj a lot, as usual.

The thing that struck me was that the halftime show of a beer drinkin' pickup drivin' macho testoterone fest was so informed by the gay aesthetic.

never mind Madge, the trumpeters were miming! scandal!

It was nothing less than Illuminati Satanism in America's living rooms.