As the first half of Super Bowl XLVII came to a close, viewers attentively gathered around their televisions, as Beyoncé Knowles took the stage for her much-anticipated performance.
After all the introductory flash and flare set the backdrop, Beyoncé's silhouette stood in the middle of the stage, a flashing white light and fog brilliantly illuminating her silhouette as she belted out the first words of her performance, "Baby it's you, you're the one I love!" The crowd cheered as Beyoncé made a powerful transition into her opening song, "Crazy In Love." This was immediately followed by "Til The End Of Time," where her ability to truly utilize an entire stage and make herself at home was put on the brightest of displays.
What followed was a performance of the throwback hit "Baby Boy," which featured Beyoncé standing in the middle of a lit screen that showed several images of "replica" Beyoncés simultaneously performing with her, in an effort that was dubbed "not even fair" by a few gentlemen fans.
"Not even fair" probably summed up Beyoncé's night, as she completely dominated her performance, one of the best and most memorable halftime performances in recent Super Bowl history.
The performance from the self-named "Sasha Fierce" was every bit as fierce as the name of Beyoncé's alter ego suggests. The dancing struck a very captivating balance between dominating and just outright sexy. Her stage presence was just absolutely commanding, as she seemed to exude every bit of her stage presence, and - in my best attempt to avoid sounding like Brent Musburger to Katherine Webb - Beyoncé was simply stunning. My own reactions were validated by the loud, approving roars from a room full of Stedsmen.
Excitement flowed over the top when former (and now reunited) Destiny's Child cohorts Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams emerged from within the stage to join Beyoncé, as they jumped into their 2000 hit, "Independent Women Part I," not missing a beat, even after all this time. Their performance peaked as all three members of Destiny's Child performed Beyoncé's smash hit "Single Ladies."
However, at the end of the day, the star was unquestionably Beyoncé, and even as Destiny's Child left her for her solo finale of "Halo," she certainly filled the stage, leaving no room for doubt that she absolutely dominated her performance.
My lone gripe was that I felt it was a universal expectation for the musical power couple that is Jay-Z and Beyoncé to perform live together, and I know that I was persistently waiting, half-expectantly, for him to emerge at any minute. With the heartwarming reunion of Destiny's Child, I couldn't help but feel like another guest appearance was bound to happen.
Of course, in light of Beyoncé's mild controversy over lip-syncing at the presidential inauguration, many were on the lookout to see if she would be guilty of it again. However, there was no doubt - at least, to me - that this performance was completely energetic and earnest, awe-inspiring and just outright entertaining.
I liked it. I guess, by her logic, I should have put a ring on it.
