Super Bowl 2012 Halftime Show: Kelly Clarkson's Anthem Outshines Madonna's Act

Kelly Clarkson belted out a beautiful National Anthem that was still ringing and casting a pall over Madonna and friends as they tanked the halftime show. 

It was a stark contrast of musical talent. Both are huge stars in the industry, and for vastly different reasons. And by the end of halftime there was little doubt about which one was better prepared to move an audience. 

The Anthem

Anthems don't get much better than this. She sang it with palpable emotion and a booming and beautiful voice. She doesn't get carried away in vocal acrobatics just to show off, and lets the song speak for itself.

The addition of the choir and drummers is a wonderful touch and it helps set the tone. Now, lets compare this to Madonna.  

Halftime Spectacle 

It is amazing what everyone involved with this show could pull of in 12 minutes, but it all comes off completely fabricated, and it is hard to come to any conclusion other than Madonna is doing little more than lip-syncing. 

The Final Verdict

It is worth mentioning that I am not a Kelly Clarkson fan. I don't have anything against her, she has just done nothing to make me gravitate towards her music. 

In fact, as a young and, um, impressionable boy I spent far more time listening to Madonna than I ever have to Clarkson.

So it is without a prejudged bias that I say Clarkson's beautiful simplicity demolishes the production that was Madonna's show. 

The show went for a grand spectacle, and lost in all of that was the beauty of the music itself. 

There is no doubt that the halftime shows require an element of flash, but that doesn't mean the music has to take a backseat to that, and that is exactly what happened at this halftime show.