An army of Beyonces. Can you handle it?
The power circuits of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans might not have been able to. Sticking to a few high-kicking dance moves, bringing out a gaggle of dancers dressed exactly like her -- and then former Destiny's Child mates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, dressed the same way -- the Houston-born superstar put on possibly the most rapid-fire, stripped-down Super Bowl halftime performance in history in a darkened Superdome. To borrow a title of one of her hits, it was paced so quickly that no one had a chance to catch their breath, let alone lose it.
"Crazy in Love," which opened a set that lasted maybe 15 minutes, was over so quickly even husband Jay-Z didn't have time to come out. Beyonce was also joined by her famous all-female band, with a guitarist whose axe shot sparks like something out of Lenny Kravitz's biggest fantasies, and a video wall that refracted her image into infinity, perhaps confirming all that Illuminati speculation.
Rowland and Williams materialized almost out of nowhere to sing snippets of "Bootylicious" and "Independent Women Part 1," but the trio must have left any glad-to-see-y'all reunion pleasantries in the dressing room. Beyonce concluded with her most recent big hit, the ballad "Halo" from 2011 album 4, touching hands with fans from the edge of the stage.
And that was it. It felt like an odd place to suspend her performance - "Single Ladies" would have been a much bigger "up" - but Beyonce, obviously singing live, put her voice through enough gymnastics to quiet any potential lip-syncing allegations.
Now she really does have nothing to prove. Watch out.
Frank Ocean approves, tweeting "Destiny's Child Super Bowl swaggin'."
One Jeff Helberg perhaps put it even better: "Destiny's Child is the only comeback this Super Bowl will see."
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