Beyonce at the Superbowl.

On Sunday (3/2/13) the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Franciso 49er's 34-31 in the 47th Superbowl. However let's be honest the bit most people were interested in was Beyonce's performance during the half-time show. This was essentially a three act play;

The opening act was a direct reference to the 2012 para-Olympic closing ceremony with Beyonce performing on a stage surrounded by lots of fire and an optical illusion picture of either a vase of two faces kissing. This could arguably be confused for one of those ink blot tests used by psychiatrists that these great spectacles often turn into. During a Superbowl that was very much aimed at the South American market this was the US reaching out to Brazil over the 2016 Olympics.

The big issue in preparation for those games is Haiti. At the end of 2012 the massive relief operation following the 2010 earthquake finally drew to a close with very little of the money pledged actually turning up and nothing having really changed. This particularly annoys Brazil because they've still got to keep peacekeepers in the country when they'd much rather be preparing for the 2014 World Cup. The other major issue for the Brazil games is going to be child prostitution and sex tourism. So while there were little references to the Coldpay featuring Rihanna video "Princess of China" alongside references to the Professor Green featuring Lilly Allen video "Just be Good to Green" the performance of "Run This World" surrounded by dancing girls was designed to promote discussion about the role of women as sex objects in underdeveloped societies (such as the music industry) while having a little  dig at Nicole Scherzinger/the Pussycat Dolls.

The second act was basically just an advert for the upcoming Destiny Child's reunion album and tour with Beyonce being joined on stage by Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams to perform a medley of hits including "Independent Women" which was used in the film "Charlies Angels." This of course raises the theme of consumerism which has specific resonance in Israel where Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud is discussing forming a coalition government with the distinctly consumerist Yesh Atid party. This pressure was compounded by the use of fire in the opening act. Anytime you see a pretty woman singing and dancing on stage surrounded by fire you're reminded of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest which was held in Azerbaijan which dubs itself "The Land of Fire." Neighbouring Iran Azerbaijan has recently become a hot bed of spies and a byword for any possible military action against Iran.

In an effort to move things back to more domestic matters Destiny's Child then performed the Beyonce hit "Single Ladies" which was a reference to an episode of "Glee" in which a very gay character learns to play American Football by dancing to the song. This of course raises the theme of attitudes towards homosexuality and masculinity. The use of "Independent Women" was primarily an effort to plant the word "Charlie"  in my mind so I would go off and do some cocaine so we could all reenact US Election Night 2012 and discuss the issues of sex tourism through the medium of the US Secret Service's multitude of recent Colombian prostitution scandals.

The final act was all about Obama's Presidency. Beyonce belted out "Halo" which is rumoured to be about Obama while the stage lights made it look like winds were blowing and waves were crashing inside the New Orleans Superdome that played such a large role in 2005's Hurricane Katrina. President W Bush's perceived racism in his failure to help the mostly black victims of Katrina is considered a significant driving force behind Obama's premature elevation to the Presidency in 2008. Beyonce seems to be trying to claim that was her reason for supporting Obama.

 In order to really thwack the point home just as the football resumed the power failed plunging the stadium into darkness much like it did in the aftermath of Katrina. Of course also this increased the pressure on me to go of and do some cocaine while promoting discussion about the floodlight failure in the English Premier League on Saturday (2/2/13) and my stature. I think I answered that last point with play resuming exactly 4 minutes after my requested 02:06 (GMT) restart.


13:30 on 4/2/13.