What sorts of surprises will Madonna bring to the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show? Surely not anything controversial that'll get her in the news on Monday morning!
Speculation has been building about what the performer has in store for the performance. Shutdown Corner combed through the reports and rumors to come up with a definitive list of what the Queen of Pop will, won't and may be doing next Sunday night from Indianapolis.
• The show will be produced in conjunction with Cirque du Soleil, thus ensuring that the odds of Madonna entering on a trapeze from the sky are equal to that of her kissing at least one androgynous dancer on the mouth.
• Insiders say Madonna will perform four songs during the show. In addition to her new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin," she'll also perform "classics" like "Ray of Light," "Vogue" and "Music." Classics was in quotes because of the presence of "Music" on that list. (Some SAT analogy fun: "Music" : Madonna classic :: "The Rainmaker" : Francis Ford Coppola classic.) "Ray of Light" is an easy choice and I suppose "Vogue" is too. Nobody wants to hear Madonna's new single, but if that's what it takes to get her to hold on to whatever shred of relevancy she has left, so be it. But "Music"? Over "Like A Prayer," "Holiday," "Borderline," "Cherish" and "True Blue"? How could she pass up the chance to sing "True Blue" while wearing a catsuit made out of a Jason Pierre-Paul jersey!
• The Queen of Pop will be joined onstage by Cee-Lo, Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. "I am not saying 'Yes,' and I am not saying 'No,'" she replied to MTV when asked whether the female rappers would be part of the show. She then cryptically added, "Pom Poms," as if that were the password to an "Eyes Wide Shut" party.
• If Madonna had her way, 100 drummers would have been dangling from the roof of Lucas Oil Field. The 12-minute time constraint and lack of permanent set hindered that vision. "That's the challenge," she told ABC News. "How do you do that? I actually wanted to have 100 drummers come from the ceiling, a drum line from the ceiling."
• Whatever happens, Madonna won't care about the game. She told ABC News she hasn't watched a full football game in decades. This makes sense, given that Madonna's British accent would indicate she grew up in Leeds and not Detroit.