In “Just the Way You Are,” Bruno Mars sings the lyric, “The whole world stops and stares for a while.”
Mars is obviously singing about a girl. In February, though, the whole world will stop and stare at him performing at the Super Bowl halftime show.
On the first football Sunday of the season, the NFL announced that Mars would headline the halftime show.
In Super Bowl XXXVIII, more people remember the halftime show than the actual game.
Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” was more memorable than the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers, who played a nail-biting game.
Since Super Bowl XXXVIII, the Super Bowl has played it fairly safe with its acts.
In the six years following the fiasco, safer acts have been prominent.
These acts include The Who, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
In 2011, the Super Bowl broke into the new generation of music with a performance by the Black Eyed Peas.
Not surprisingly, this was a horrible performance with obvious lip-syncing and too many lights.
Last year, Beyonce performed admirably but seemed more concerned with shaking her body than vocalizing.
This year, Mars will take the stage. While I respect the fact that he can actually sing, which is rare nowadays, I still think he is the wrong choice for the Super Bowl halftime show.
Mars is a very talented vocalist, but his songs are not exactly pump-up songs.
Football is a gritty, tough sport and should feature some gritty, tough music.
The only benefit of having Mars perform is that it brings a new audience.
Football fans like myself are going to watch the game anyways.
Now, many people will tune in only for the halftime show and commercials, and this music choice caters more to them than to the people who watch football every Sunday.
The main problem with Mars is his lyrical content. He’s not flashy enough to distract viewers from his songs.
I just don’t see how songs about catching a grenade for a girl can possibly fit into the biggest American sporting event.
There are many better alternatives for the halftime show.
Jay-Z and Kanye West each recently released new albums. While it might be impossible to get the Federal Communications Commission to clear those acts, they would put on insane shows.
There are also a couple rock acts that would be great choices.
Foo Fighters would be an absolutely perfect act, with highly recognizable songs and instrumental talent to boot.
When Tupac’s hologram performed at Coachella a few years ago, a whole new world of musical acts opened up. Hologram versions of Queen or Led Zeppelin would light up the Super Bowl halftime show.
On Feb. 2, the country will stop and stare for a while at Mars. Hopefully, his performance is out of this world, and he destroys it.
In six months, the world will know if Mars was the right choice.
Alex Campos is a senior journalism major and a contributing writer at the Daily 49er.
