Madonna Super Bowl Halftime Show

WHAT HAPPENED AT SUPER BOWL 2012?

Three cities entered the bidding process to host Super Bowl XLVI, Houston, who planned to hold the game at Reliant Stadium for the second time since the venue opened. The Indianapolis bid was led by the owner of the Colts and the city’s mayor. Just one month after hosting Super Bowl XLII at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale Arizona, the host committee announced its intention to bid for the game again. At a May 20th 2008 meeting in Atlanta, NFL franchise owners voted to select Indianapolis for the big game.

During the summer of 2011, a labor dispute between NFL players and owners threatened to postpone or even cancel the Super Bowl. Contingency plans were made in case the dispute caused the regular season to over run into the second week of January. However, the dispute was settled before the start of the season, and the game went ahead as originally scheduled on February 5th.

This was the first Super Bowl ever to be played at Indianapolis and actually only the fourth time the season showpiece was to be held in a cold weather city. Downtown Indianapolis featured an Outdoor Super Bowl Village, and other events were held at the Indianapolis Convention Centre.

The 2012 Super Bowl featured NFC champion New York Giants against the AFC champions the New England Patriots, a re-match of the 2007 Super Bowl, which saw the Giants pull-off one of the biggest upsets in the history of sports and ended the Patriots perfect season. The Patriots once again entered the game as favorites, having posted a 13-3 regular season to the Giants 9-7 record. However, it was the Giants who raced to an early 9-0 lead in the first quarter.

The momentum switched to the Patriots, who reeled out 17 unanswered points as they converted a field goal attempt for their first score of the game and then completed a 14 play, 96-yard drive (tying the record for the longest Super Bowl drive) with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Brady to running back Danny Woodhead. The Patriots also came out strong at the start of the second half, scoring another touchdown to take the score to 17-9. The Giants managed to stay in touch with two field goals, taking the score to 17-15 as the fourth quarter began.

Super Bowl 2012 remained deadlocked until the Giants took possession on their own 12-yard line with only 3.46 remaining on the clock and quarterback Eli Manning delivered a long pass for a 38 yard gain on the first play, placing the Giants in the middle of the field with a realistic chance of scoring. The Giants took the drive to a 2nd down on the six-yard line with 1.03 remaining. With the Patriots down to their last time out and the possibility of New York running down the clock before kicking a close range field goal and leaving virtually no time for New England to attempt a score, the Patriots decided to let New York take the touchdown.

In a bizarre turn of events, as the Patriots defensive line opened up, running back Ahmad Bradshaw realized what the Patriots were attempting and tried to stop on the 1-yard line; however, his momentum resulted in him falling over into the end zone for the touchdown. This left the Patriots 57 seconds to score a winning touchdown and, after advancing the ball to the Patriots’ 49-yard line, the games final play saw a Hail Mary pass from Brady deflected away from tight end Aaron Hernandez, ending the game and giving the Giants their fourth Super Bowl victory.

Final Score: New York Giants 21 versus New England Patriots 17
Date: February 5, 2012
Stadium: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana
MVP: Eli Manning, Quarterback
Favorite: Patriots by 2.5 points
Referee: John Parry
Attendance: 68,658

Super Bowl XLV Ceremonies/Entertainment Line Up

National anthem: Kelly Clarkson

Coin toss: John Parry

Halftime show: Madonna featuring LMFAO, M.I.A., Nicki Minaj and Cee Lo Green

Halftime setlist:

“Vogue” (Madonna)
“Music” / “Party Rock Anthem” / “Sexy and I Know It” (Madonna with LMFAO)
“Give Me All Your Luvin'” (Madonna with Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.)
“Open Your Heart” / “Express Yourself” (Madonna with Cee Lo Green)
“Like a Prayer” (Madonna with Cee Lo Green)

The off-field rivalry between the party hosts continued to escalate in 2012. Maxim hosted its 12th annual Super Bowl party at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The superhero theme was a great success, and a performance by special guest Ludacriss was warmly received. The epicenter of the party scene was the Bud Light hotel. A different party was hosted at this event every night, including the Playboy event and the EA Madden Bowl, and it easily saw the best parties in town. The Leather and Laces event also didn’t disappoint. In attendance were Playboy centerfolds Carmen Electra and Jenny McCarthy, and JWOWW.

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