Superbowl music

My mom used to watch football games for the halftime show.  Every year it tries harder to top the last year.  This year.. meh

Am I the only person on the planet who is not enamored of Beyonce Knowles?   She leaves me cold.  I get a vibe off of her that is very unpleasant and it colors how I react to her.  In her case, I cannot separate the dancer from the dance and I just don't want to watch her make that "I'm better than you" face at the camera anymore.  Coldplay.   Coldplay????  I was never a big fan and became less so during my divorce all those years ago when my then-husband would play "Clocks" over and over again and cry.   Apparently it was "their song"  ugh.  I wasn't big on Coldplay to begin with.   They seemed ok at the Superbowl, but I stopped paying attention and left the room.  I remember watching bands with interest in the past, this year left me cold. I suppose I missed Bruno Mars, whom I like a lot.  He's always entertaining.  Maybe next year I will be more engaged.

I got into an online debate about the National Anthem.  First, let me say that Lady Gaga did a fine job with it.  I hate that every year, they drag out the Whitney Houston version as the standard.  I may get skewered  for this but.. Whit was LIP-SYNCING to a studio version.  She probably was singing along to her own recording but her mic was off.  Of COURSE it sounded great. She had all those studio takes to choose from and "perform" in front of the crowd.  I am not saying it wasn't a stirring version - and since it was a post-9/11 event patriotism was running higher than ever- but it was still a RECORDING.  I don't know, but it looked like Gaga was doing it live.  I have to fact check it.  The person that I was discussing this with takes exception to anyone doing the version not note-for-note the traditional one.  My argument is that as an artist, you should be able to present your version, as long as you do it with respect and passion.  Remember the Jose Feliciano kerfuffle when he did it  with his own spin?  As long as you are not scratching and spitting while you do it, I say Bravo.  It's not an easy song to sing.  How it became our national anthem is beyond me,but there it is.  I do hate when they sing "the brave" twice at the end.  It's supposed to be some kind of 9/11 tribute, isn't it?  Bugs me just the same.  It's a hard song to sing and I look forward to hearing good singers perform it and although I do have a voice that would sterilize toads at 300 paces I also love to sing along