Our kids have come to know that big time musicians and the Super Bowl go hand-in-hand. And, while our little ones may not really know the stars set to perform at the world’s biggest game, they can recognize that singing the National Anthem or a halftime performance is a big deal.
So instead of accepting this as just “cool” to them, how about we take a minute to ways the star-studded musical acts of the modern Super Bowl have evolved? Maybe in so doing, we’ll introduce our children to some great musicians of the past and present.
The National Anthem
No one can tell me that any Super Bowl National Anthem outshines Whitney Houston’s 1991 rendition – her voice, her windbreaker, all of it was ridiculously great. Other notable pre-game performance of the Star Spangled Banner range from country music stars Chris Stapleton, Carrie Underwood, and Garth Brooks to icons of other popular music genres like Diana Ross, Billy Joel, and Barry Manilow (my mom’s favorite musician of all time:). The singing of the National Anthem will forever remain a “for A-list singers only” pre-game moment.
Some of the modern day interest in the singing of the National Anthem is attributable to sports gambling and the ever-popular “over/under on its elapsed time” prop bet. If you’re looking to make some money, here are the facts for how long the Anthem has lasted in the past.
The quickest rendition of the Super Bowl’s National Anthem was Neil Diamond’s 62 second cameo in 1987. The longest version was performed by Alicia Keys in 2013, totaling 156 seconds from beginning to end. Last year, Chris Stapleton’s pre-game solo lasted just over two minutes. The average is about 104 seconds. The prop bet for this year’s performance by Reba McIntyre is set at 90 (or so) seconds.
I’m telling you, there may be no better way to tell your kids about musical greats (and the nuts and bolts of sports betting:) than doing so in the context of an “over/under” prop on the length of this year’s National Anthem!
The Halftime Show
In 1993, I remember Michael Jackson catapulting onto the Super Bowl halftime stage, then standing still for, what seemed like, forever before launching into song. That performance had me toe-tapping in my Doc Marten thick soles and, more importantly, is credited with changing the format of the Super Bowl halftime shows forever.
The halftime show was not always “can’t miss” show that drives social media crazy. Audiences, in fact, used to have alternatives to watching because the shows were more blah. Show would air on a different channel during halftime, drawing Super Bowl viewers away until the second half would kickoff. I can vividly remember the “Bud Bowl” or a funny “In Living Color” episode that drew eyes from the Super Bowl.
Now, though, my kids and I will be locked in – no chance I’m not watching Usher slide across the stage in Vegas. While doing so, we’ll be chatting about all sorts of different topics – who is deserving of playing in the future, discussing why these iconic artist would perform for no paycheck (they get paid NOTHING), and the collaborations that seem to accompany all modern day Super Bowl halftime shows. If history holds, the aftermath of the Super Bowl will have our kids streaming Usher songs between 400% and 1000% more over the months that will follow – I’m cool with that.
One fun topic to bring up during halftime with the kids:
Do you think Usher is lip syncing?
The real answer is that Usher will be doing both. Did you know that all artists record a track of the same set list they can choose to sing over at any point during their performance.
There are many examples of blatant performance deep fakes – including Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers “playing” electric guitar without it being plugged in at all. I’ll tell my kids about that when they swear up and down that the artist is “faking” the words. Ah, the naivety of children.
Sure, the prop bets are fun, but the real parenting magic of the Super Bowl’s music comes down to talking to our kids about its history, relevance, and edge it adds to the game itself.
Maybe my kids will learn an impressive odd fact about a past show from me (ie: the wardrobe malfunction).
Maybe I’ll get to tell them who Whitney Houston is.
I’ll tell them about Michael Jackson forever changing the show’s social stature.
And, maybe they’ll grow tired of me bringing up random musical artifacts enough to insist upon watching the game is uninterrupted semi-silence. That would be a win-win.
Coming Soon:
Super Bowl Storylines for Kids: Past Super Bowl Greats
