JUSTIN Timberlake ended his Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday with no unintentionally exposed body parts.
Timberlake seemed intent upon involving everyone in the stadium.
A lucky teenager even got to sing and dance with him and even take a #SuperBowlSelfie with JT.
He opened the performance in the bowels of the stadium in what was made to seem like a small club.
Timberlake then climbed steps out into the stadium, down a runway to a stage while singing “Rock Your Body,” the same song he sang with Janet Jackson in 2004 where the infamous wardrobe malfunction happened.
He was constantly surrounded by dancers, enthusiastic musicians and jumping audience members, so much so that it made the star of the show seem small.
Sitting at the piano, he performed a “duet” with the Twin Cities’ late star, Prince, whose image was projected on a giant scrim beside Timberlake. It was a touching tribute, particularly when cameras outside the stadium caught Prince’s insignia in lights.
But it was revealed that Timberlake initially wanted to perform with a hologram of the late Prince, his idol. But performer Sheila E. said: “Prince had told me ...don’t let anybody do a hologram of him for religious reasons, so I just posted that if this happened it’s kind of messed up and not cool.”
Timberlake listened to Sheila E.
Timberlake was at his best in his breezy hits “Sexyback” and “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” which emphasized his appeal as an adept song-and-dance man. It was why the NFL brought him back despite the history with Jackson. In fact, a backlash had grown recently among people who wondered why Jackson seems to be forever punished for the “wardrobe malfunction” while Timberlake skated by.
Perhaps that left him feeling that he had to try too hard to get back into the public’s graces.
Celebrities like Bette Midler, Jussie Smollett and Laverne Cox and thousands of fans honored Jackson on social media in what was dubbed the Janet Jackson Appreciation Day.
Fans were hoping Timberlake would reunite with Jackson and the four other members of NSYNC on the Super Bowl stage. But Timberlake only invited the group he founded, The Tennessee Kids.
They weren’t the only performer at the Super Bowl. Leslie Odom Jr. performed “America the Beautiful” before the game and Pink sang “The Star Spangled Banner,” perhaps the most anticipated version of the national anthem in Super Bowl history.
After a season where a political controversy was caused by some NFL players who protested against police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem, cameras watched to see if the Super Bowl would be used as a protest venue. But none of the players took part in any demonstration.
Pink took a throat lozenge out from her mouth before singing. She seemed to sing to a pre-recorded track, since the performance had an orchestra accompaniment and there wasn’t one on the field. (AP with JGA)