Al Messerschmidt, Getty Images
It's not like they should book Hank Williams Jr., but for much of the past decade the halftime show has been performed by classic rockers like Prince, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and the Who. They may not have all played well -- though The Boss earned his title and Prince got God to throw down some precipitation during 'Purple Rain' -- but at least they all made sense in a Super Bowl context.
Thing is, sense is apparently a rare trait amongst Super Bowl bookers, and Madonna is but the latest in a long line of totally WTF? halftime shows, misguidedly chosen to appeal to the game's broader audience of women and children no matter how much they anger your average football fan.
So we've done some digging to put Sunday's Madonna bill in context -- here are the most random Super Bowl halftime shows of all time ever.
- 'Tribute to Mardi Gras' With Carol Channing (Super Bowl IV, 1970)
- 'Salute to the '60s and Motown' With Up With People (Super Bowl XVI, 1982)
- 'World of Children's Dreams' With the Air Force (Super Bowl XX, 1985)
- 'Be Bop Bamboozled in 3-D' With Elvis Presto (Super Bowl XXIII, 1989)
- 'It's a Small World Tribute to 25 Years of the Super Bowl' With New Kids on the Block (Super Bowl XXV, 1991)
- 'Tapestry of Nations' With Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton and More (Super Bowl XXXIV, 2000)
- 'Winter Magic' With Gloria Estefan and Skaters Brian Boitano and Dorothy Hamill (Super Bowl XXVI, 1992)
- Shania Twain, No Doubt and Sting (Superbowl XXXVII, 2003)
- 'Rock the Vote' With Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, P Diddy and More (Super Bowl XXXVIII, 2004)
- 'Tron Legacy' With Black Eyed Peas, Usher and Slash (Super Bowl XLVI, 2011)
- 'Kidz Bop 21'
- 'Party Rock Anthem'
- 'Moves Like Jagger'
- 'The Edge of Glory'
- 'You Make Me Feel...'
- 'Good Life'
- 'Stereo Hearts'
- 'Without You'
- 'Fly'
- 'Hello'
- 'We Found Love'
- 'It Will Rain'
- 'The One That Got Away'
- 'Good Feeling'
- 'Mr. Saxobeat'
- 'It Girl'
- 'Someone Like You'
- 'This City'
- 'Pretty Girls'
- 'I Like It Like That'
- Musicians at Sundance Film Festival
- Cobra Starship
- Common
- Drake
- Lil Jon and LMFAO's Redfoo
- Lil Jon and LMFAO's Redfoo
- Victoria Justice
- Recent Celebrity Splits
- Simon Cowell and Mezhgan Hussainy
- Katy Perry and Russell Brand
- Heidi Klum and Seal
- Ashley Tisdale and Scott Spears
- Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis
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