Super Bowl 2015: Known Commercials, Performers and Entertainment Info

The NFL may be America’s most popular sports league, but Super Bowl Sunday is about far more than just the football.

After all, which other game of pigskin features international superstar Katy Perry performing at halftime, Idina Menzel singing the national anthem and countless highly anticipated commercials that are sure to make viewers laugh or pull at their heartstrings?

Here is some of the essential information about that entertainment surrounding the actual game between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.

National Anthem

Mike Lawrie/Getty Images

Menzel, who is perhaps best known as the singer of the song “Let It Go” from Disney’s Frozen, will perform the national anthem. She recently discussed what that meant, according to The Associated Press, via Newsday: "It's the pinnacle. It's the milestone in my career."

That is certainly noteworthy, considering how famous and successful she has become in recent years. In addition to her Frozen fame, Menzel has appeared in films and on Broadway, performed at the Academy Awards and sang the national anthem at the MLB All-Star Game among other achievements.

Menzel’s vast experience under the spotlight should catch the eye of bettors who are looking to gamble on some of the national anthem prop bets. Odds Shark lists the odds (as of Friday at 8 p.m. ET) of Menzel forgetting or omitting a word of the national anthem at 4-1 for yes and 1-6 for no. 

You would be hard pressed to find someone more comfortable on the stage, so nerves should not get the best of Menzel. Look for a clean, mistake-free rendition of the national anthem before the Super Bowl kicks off.

Halftime

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Craig Morgan of Fox Sports Arizona set the scene for Perry’s halftime performance:

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Given the gathered crowd and the size of room designated for Perry's press conference on Thursday at the Phoenix Convention Center, you could make a strong argument that the Super Bowl is the sideshow this weekend while Perry is the headline act.

One of the world's biggest music stars has a record 64.1 million followers on Twitter, a Grammy Award, anthemic hits like 'Roar' and 'Firework' that she will perform on Sunday, and a reported net worth of $130 million. She also promised that 'nothing in my performance will be deflated.'

"

With that setup, the only real question is whether the second half of the game between the Seahawks and Patriots will be able to follow Perry’s act. Russell Wilson and Tom Brady may have their work cut out for them.

Perry hit the mainstream in 2008 when her album One of the Boys was released with singles such as “I Kissed A Girl”, “Hot N Cold” and “Waking Up In Vegas,” but she became a global superstar when her 2010 album Teenage Dream made her the only female artist to score five No. 1 singles from one album.

Her most recent album, Prism, kept her atop the charts with songs such as “Roar” and “Dark Horse”.

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

It has been long known that Lenny Kravitz will also join Perry on stage at some point during her halftime show, but The Associated Press reported that Grammy winner Missy Elliott will make a surprise appearance (so much for the surprise part) during the performance as well. 

Elliott appears on a remix of Perry’s “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” so bettors can at least be comfortable working under the assumption that the song will be part of the show. Whether it is the first song or not remains to be seen, but Perry is sure to thrill the hundreds of millions of people tuning in on Sunday.

Commercials

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There is less suspense than there used to be regarding Super Bowl commercials because so many companies offer teasers or even release their ads outright leading up to the big game. Susanna Kim of ABC News compiled a large list of many of the companies that took that strategy, and some of them can be seen below.

The rest can be found here.

It has cost companies $4.5 million for 30 seconds of commercial time for this year’s Super Bowl, largely because last year’s big game set a viewership record of more than 112 million people. Among those companies that bought ad space are 15 first-time Super Bowl brands, which is the most since 2000.

While that is an astronomical amount of money to spend for a 30-second advertisement, companies can be assured their ads will be seen by millions of people. What’s more, no event in the calendar year inspires as much discussion surrounding commercials as the Super Bowl, so viewers will likely bring up the advertisements throughout the week after the game.

That means ads will be seen countless more times on YouTube, while articles rating “the best commercials” will guarantee longer air time than the original 30 seconds. 

At least the companies know their expensive messages will catch the attention of the American public on Sunday.

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