Katy Perry Is A Typical Choice For Super Bowl 49 Halftime Show

By Jordan Wevers @JordanWevers on October 10, 2014

Recent news brings an economically driven headline. Roger Goodell knows this. Katy Perry knows this too. The marketing department at NFL headquarters also knows this. Anyone reading this article should be aware of the fact that the Super Bowl halftime show is nothing more than an over-the-top affair consisting of pop culture trends and acclaim pertaining to given period in time.

It used to be much more archaic. Before the days of overly saturated social media outlets, followers, pointless status updates and hashtags, marching bands kicked off the tradition at Super Bowl I in 1967. Then people with true vocal range and musical presence came along. Ella Fitzgerald, for example, got a crack in 1972. In 1976, Up With People — an American organization dedicated to bridging the gap between cultural barriers — performed the halftime show at the Orange Bowl. Was it strange? Somewhat. Was it all about making money? I don’t believe so.

Up With People and various marching bands continued to showcase throughout most of the 70s and 80s. Then in 1991, with Pete Rozelle two years removed from commissioner, the business that is the NFL was left in the hands of Paul Tagliabue. An ex-lawyer, Tagliabue brought in the New Kids on the Block to perform at Super Bowl XXV. This was a clear indication of the shift away from the halftime show being less about music and more about socio-economic status.

Gloria Estefan followed and then Michael Jackson. Don’t get me wrong — there were some extremely talented and enduring individuals like Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and Tony Bennett thrown into the mix along with the aforementioned. But still, it was all about the now and present. Pyrotechnic flair trumped artistic credibility for the most part. Through the years, the Super Bowl halftime show has had its fair share of poor artists, but also historic ones well deserving of playing in front of crowds 60,000-plus.

Some themes and performers in the 2000s were downright terrible but expected. Fitzgerald would have rolled over in her grave knowing a notorious lip-syncer like Britney Spears made an appearance in 2001. The Janet Jackson nipple slip was ridiculous. Then the Black Eyed Peas in 2011 felt like an elaborate practical joke.

Commissioner Goodell knows how to run a business. He sees dollars and cents. The last four halftime shows look like this: As stated previously, the BEP with Usher and Slash in 2011; Madonna, LMFAO, Nicki Minaj, M.I.A. and Cee Lo Green in 2012; Beyonce and Destiny’s Child in 2013. Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2014; Katy Perry and surely a throng of other theatrical antics in 2015.

What does every one of the above acts have in common? Be it aimed at the male or female viewer, the answer is undoubtedly sex appeal and to target the demographics of people who don’t really care about the game being played.

That Perry will headline the event is not at all unexpected. It is typical, as well as exceptionally inevitable, if you ask me. The timing might seem a bit off in that Perry is well known for her philanthropy, while the NFL in 2014 has been notoriously criticized for mishandling multiple domestic abuse proceedings surrounding some of its players.

I would appreciate seeing someone like Neil Young on a barstool, nothing more than a guitar and a microphone on stage with him performing some of his legendary numbers in acoustic grace, pouring his heart out and truly moving people with lyrics that tell a meaningful story from an era when music used to mean something more than garnering views or shares amongst the mindless masses. But Neil Young has 193,000 followers on Twitter. 50 percent of those people are probably over 40 years in age. Katy Perry, or rather her publicist, has 58.1 million followers.

Her performance will probably break some sort of technological record in the cybersphere. Maybe even Twitter will “break” again. One thing is clear though — the Super Bowl halftime show has not been all about musicians for quite some time now. It is about the entertainer, to which Goodell is the meticulous conductor behind the scenes.

Jordan Wevers is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JordanWevers, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.