 | ||||
| Part of | Super Bowl XLI | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | February 4, 2007 | |||
| Location | Miami Gardens,Florida | |||
| Venue | Dolphin Stadium | |||
| Headliner | Prince | |||
| Special guests | Florida A&M University Marching 100 Band | |||
| Sponsor | Pepsi | |||
| Producer | Don Mischer Productions and White Cherry Entertainment | |||
| Super Bowl halftime show chronology | ||||
| ||||
TheSuper Bowl XLI halftime show took place on February 4, 2007, atDolphin Stadium inMiami Gardens, Florida, as part ofSuper Bowl XLI. It was headlined byPrince.
The performance is widely considered the greatestSuper Bowl halftime show of all time.[a]
The executive producer of the show wasDon Mischer.[1][2] Mischer's company, Mischer Productions, was the executive producer and director. White Cherry Entertainment, run byRicky Kirshner andGlenn Weiss, were also executive producers.[3] The production designer was Bruce Rogers.[4] Mischner Productions and White Cherry Entertainment had earlier signed an agreement to produce marquee events, like the entertainment surrounding theNFL Kickoff Game, throughout the2006 NFL season.[3]
For the first time,Pepsi was the sponsor of the halftime show.[3]
After having been uninterested in performing in a Super Bowl halftime show, in 2006, Prince expressed interest.[5] Executives that were in charge of booking an act for the halftime show visited Prince inLos Angeles,[5] and Prince and three members of his backing bandNew Power Generation performed for the executives.[1][5] He was announced as the performer on December 10.[3]
In late 2006, representatives for Prince reached out to Julian White, the director of theFlorida A&M University Marching 100 Band, and managed to get the band to agree to performing in the show.[5] The involvement of the marching band was largely kept a secret, with New Power GenerationkeyboardistMorris Hayes sharing later that he did not know of their inclusion until the firstrehearsal that included them.[5] Members of the marching band were not told themselves until roughly a month before the show that they would be performing in the halftime show.[5]
One of the ideas Mischer contributed was to have the marching band adorned with illuminated tape, so that would be more visible.[5]
One of the centerpiece visual effects utilized involved projecting Prince'ssilhouette onto a large screen that he stood behind. Air was utilized to make the screen stand erect.[4] This effect was one that Don Mischer had first utilized for the1996 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.[5][1]
Much of Prince's rehearsals were inLas Vegas, where Prince hada residency show.[1] They used tape to outline the shape of the stage, as they did not have the actual stage available to them for their Las Vegas rehearsals.[1] In the days before the show, Prince and his band rehearsed in a tent adjacent to the stadium.[1] Prince and his supporting performers only had a single rehearsal on the stadium's field.[1]
During his pre-performance joint press conference withnational anthem performerBilly Joel, which halftime and national anthem performers conventionally hold, rather than taking questions, Prince gave the press a mini-concert.[1]
Hundreds of volunteers helped to assemble and disassemble the stage.[1] During the stage setup, volunteers accidentally ran over a cable with a rolling part of the stage. A member of the lighting crew responded to the issue by holding the severed ends of the cable in place with his hands for the entire duration of the show.[1][6]
The weather during the game had been rainy, and this inclement weather continued into Prince's performance,[1][2] with a downpour starting during “Purple Rain.” This was the first time it rained during a Super Bowl halftime show.[2] There was potential hazard due to the slippery stage, and Prince and his dancers were wearing high-heeled shoes.[1][2][4] Further hazard was thatelectric guitars were used.[1][2][4]
Prince is said to have reveled in the weather, with some involved in the show later reporting that Prince asked if the show-runners could "make it rain harder".[1][2][4]
The show took 12 minutes.[1][7] Prince wore a turquoise suit and had a scarf over his hair.[1][8] He performed on a large stage shaped like his signature "love symbol".[8] The edges of the stage hadneon lighting.[4] During the show, he was accompanied by his backing band New Power Generation.[5] He was also accompanied by the duo "The Twinz", which consisted ofidentical twins Maya and Nandy McClean, who had previously toured with Prince.[9][10] Additionally, for some songs, he was accompanied by the Florida A&M University Marching 100 Band.[5] The marching band had their uniforms adorned with illuminated tape.[5]
The performance began with an intro based on the Queen song "We Will Rock You".[5][11][12] Fireworks were launched during this intro, and lighting effects simulating lightning were also utilized.[5] Prince then came on stage, rising via a stage elevator, and performed his hit song "Let's Go Crazy".[5][8] During this song, Prince included anad-libbedcall and response from the crowd.[13]
Now joined by the Florida A&M University Marching 100 Band, he performed a medley of his songs "Baby I'm a Star" and "1999" and theCreedence Clearwater Revival song "Proud Mary".[5][7]
He then performed a medley ofBob Dylan's song "All Along the Watchtower" and theFoo Fighters' song "Best of You". For these songs, the marching band's instruments were not utilized.[5]
As the final song of the performance, he performed his own hit "Purple Rain". The marching band again accompanied him for the song.[5] During the song's guitar solo, Prince played his guitar positioned behind a screen that had risen from under the stage, having his silhouette projected onto the screen.[5]
The performance was widely acclaimed. Kelefa Sanneh ofThe New York Times wrote that the performance would "surely go down as one of the most thrilling halftime shows ever; certainly the most unpredictable, and perhaps the best."[13] Mark Caro, of theChicago Tribune, wrote that Prince's performance, "for once, justified the existence of a mini-concert sandwiched between halves of football."[12] Many have opined that the rainy weather actually added to the performance, especially during Prince's rendition of "Purple Rain".[2][12][14]
Numerous outlets have retrospectively ranked the performance as the greatest Super Bowl halftime show of all time.[a]
Prince's physical album sales increased to 31,000 in the week after his performance, as compared to 14,000 the week before.[15] According toSoundScan, his digital sales increased to 102,000 in the week after his performance, as compared to the 59,000 the week prior.[15] Additionally, his sales onAmazon increased 700%.[6]
There was some controversy that, during a portion of the show where Prince was silhouetted onto a screen, the placement of hisguitar wasphallic.[1][5][7]The Smoking Gun reported that in excess of 150 people had complained to theFCC about the Super Bowl broadcast, with the majority of complaints being about either this or aSnickers commercial which featured two men kissing.[16]