Janet Jackson And The Black Eyed Peas Prove Super Bowl Halftime Show Can Destroy Careers
Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, and Madonna proved that the Super Bowl Halftime Show can be an effective promotional machine and even turn around careers. However, the Halftime Show has also proven to be dangerous, especially if things go wrong.
Just ask Janet Jackson, who was considered an icon before her performance at the Halftime Show in 2004 literally killed her career. Janet’s decision to have Justin Timberlake violently rip off a piece of clothing that (possibly accidently) exposed her breast instantly (and possibly unfairly) turned Janet from an international superstar to an international joke. Yahoo Music recently described Janet’s fall from grace.
“But her eighth studio album, Damita Jo, was released one month following the halftime show and was not as successful as her past releases. Her prior five records debuted at No. 1…None of the album’s four singles, ‘Just A Little While,’ “I Want You,’ All Nite (Don’t Stop)’ or ‘R&B Junkie,’ reached the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.”
Janet Jackson attempted a comeback in 2015, but failed. Even though Unbreakable received great reviews, Jackson was highly criticized for trying to keep album sales afloat using desperate measures such as giving away free copies of the album with every sale of a souvenir and even trying to sneak sales in with Uber rides.
Even though the Black Eyed Peas 2011 Super Bowl Halftime performance didn’t garner as much backlash as Janet Jackson’s show did in 2004, it still hurt their careers. Up to that point, the Black Eyed Peas were the hottest group in the industry. However, their performance received horrible reviews from fans and critics. The Associated Press summarized what a lot of people thought about the Halftime Show performance.
“The Super Bowl performance was arguably the biggest stage yet for the quirky quartet, whose fusion of pop, dance and hip-hop have made them global superstars. But in the massive Cowboys Arena, the group appeared to be as stiff as frontman will.i.am’s plastic hair hat.”
The review adds that Fergie’s mic didn’t kick in until she was midway through the first verse. This technical error is one of the reasons most of the shows are now lip-synced.
Till this day, the 2011 Halftime Show is still bashed on Twitter.
Does anyone want to discuss the time the various members of the Black Eyed Peas descended on the Super Bowl halftime and performed karaoke?
— Rick Freeman (@RWFreeman) February 5, 2016
In 2015, Katy Perry was chosen to play the Halftime Show and received mixed reviews. USA Today said that Perry blew away the Super Bowl audience, while Rich Juzwiak from Gawker ripped the show to shreds.
“Not that much could be expected of Perry. She is the most underwhelming person to occupy the space of Massively Popular, No-Brainer Hitmaking Pop Diva since Paula Abdul, and at least Paula Abdul could dance.”
Let’s hope that Coldplay and Beyoncé can thrill audiences this year. If they don’t, let’s hope Twitter and the rest of social media aren’t too cruel. Who do you think gave the worst Super Bowl Halftime Show performance of all time? Let us know in the comments section.
[Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images]
