Tuesday, October 16, 2012

HOPING FOR A GAME TIGHTER THAN HER DEREON JEANS:  Beyonce Knowles will headline the 2013 Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans.

Totally acceptable choice, even if I'm mystified by the continued absence of a country performer. Shania Twain (2003) was the last to even co-lead, and before that you have go back to 1994's Rockin' Country Sunday with Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, and The Judds.

14 comments:

  1. I think the logic in part is that country fans tend to be football fans to begin with, so will watch anyway. Doing a pop person arguably gives you a different audience. (And while there are a lot of successful country stars, very very few can sell out stadia regularly, which is the approximate level of fame wanted.)

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  2. Watts8:00 PM

    I shudder to acknowledge 1. that this is a true fact and 2. that I know it:
    Kenny Chesney drew 60,000 to Neyland Stadium. Granted, Knoxville's his hometown...
    http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1472446/chesney-packs-knoxvilles-neyland-stadium.jhtml

    Just noticed that was in 2003 - time flies - but I don't doubt Chesney could draw a big crowd still.

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  3. Watts8:00 PM

    Last year required explanation of "What's a Cee-Lo?"

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  4. Adam B.8:00 PM

    McGraw/Chesney played 22 stadiums this summer. I think Roger Waters and Bruce Springsteen were the only other touring artists to play U.S. stadiums this year.

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  5. McGraw/Chesney was a double headliner act, though (and not a fake double headliner like on Nashville). Not sure that either would tour stadia as a solo act. I'm actually a bit surprised that they didn't at least try for Taylor Swift, who I'm betting will do stadiums for the new album, but she may be viewed as too safe/girly for the Big Game.

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  6. Kenny Chesney's annual performance at Heinz Field is basically a holiday in Pittsburgh, with or without Tim McGraw. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/02/rooneys-give-chesney-plaque-for-six-heinz-field-sellouts/

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  7. Watts8:01 PM

    WHOA. That's a rare picture of Chesney hatless. I thought the thing was screwed into his head. Always assumed that's what scared Renee off - she saw what was Under the Hat.

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  8. isaac_spaceman8:01 PM

    My first thought was "didn't she just headline the Superbowl?" And then I realized, no, that was Destiny's Child, and it was fiction -- the utterly perfect Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. Which you should all read, unless you are illiterate, in which case you should have it read to you.

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  9. isaac_spaceman8:01 PM

    Madonna's not girly? Other than Ozzie Guillen and Alex Rodriguez, name one athlete from a major pro sport who will cop to Madonna fandom.

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  10. She's girly, but (safely) edgy enough to attract the right audience. (See also Katy Perry.)

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  11. Joseph Finn8:03 PM

    Eh. Automatically better than last year.

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  12. First they take away zydeco as a category at the grammys, and now this.

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  13. ChinMusic11:19 PM

    Chesney tours stadiums every summer. His 2011 tour was the #3 grossing tour in America behind only U2 and Taylor Swift and sold out Lincoln Financial Field, Gillette Stadium and the Meadowlands, among other places. He was the #6 grossing tour in 2009, and in 2008 his tour was the only tour in the US to top 1 million tickets sold. Selling out a stadium is not the problem. The real issue is likely that country music does not have much international appeal, which makes it an unappealing act for the showcase event of a sport that has effectively saturated the US market and really needs to grow in Europe if it is to grow at all.

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  14. bristlesage9:52 AM

    Ha, I had this exact train of thought!

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