History of Super Bowl Halftime Shows Quiz

Answer: In Living Color

Despite having a genuine musical talent in Gloria Estefan in the show, the CBS network lost millions of viewers when they switched over to Fox to watch "In Living Color". Viewers who switched away from the game had the misfortune of missing out on entertainment such as dancing snowflakes, an R&B inflatable "Frosty the Snowman", and Olympic ice skaters Dorothy Hamill and Brian Boitano.

The counter-programming strategy employed by the other networks worked, and it convinced the NFL to recruit huge stars for future halftime shows. Oh, and the game? The Washington Redskins beat the Buffalo Bills 37-24.

Answer: Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson materialized via special visual effects onstage dressed in a drum major type of outfit, colored black. No, the Pittsburgh Steelers were not playing. The Dallas Cowboys had trounced the Buffalo Bills 52-17. Jackson initially had a stoic demeanor, but then he tossed his aviator sunglasses into the audience, did his spin move and livened up the halftime show from the conservative and conventional marching bands of the past.

The halftime show set a record for television at the time with an audience of over 130 million people,

Answer: Diana Ross

The show was produced by Radio City Music Hall, and Diana Ross had developed a 13 and a half minute show which she was allowed to retain after begging them not to cut it to 12 minutes. It seemed to have everything: a medley of her greatest hits over her career, hundreds of dancers, and a great many costume changes for the legend including a red mini skirt at the start. Appropriately the last song was "Take Me Higher", and as she exclaimed "Oh my, here comes my ride" a helicopter entered the stadium and whisked her away.

There goes America's Sweetheart while America's team, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17.

Answer: U2

Bono led his U2 bandmates through an emotional tribute starting with "Beautiful Day" on a heart-shaped stage. They segued into "MLK" and throughout that song and into the next, "Where the Streets Have No Name", a huge banner behind the band listed those who lost their lives that fateful day in September.

At the end of the show Bono opened up his jacket which had an American flag on the inside. Paul McCartney had played his own memorial song, "Freedom" at the game's pregame show. Yes, it was a proud day for American patriots.

As well as for the New England Patriots who beat the St. Louis Rams 20-17.

Answer: Rock You Body

Although all those songs were played, it was during "Rock You Body", a song from Timberlake's debut solo album, that Janet Jackson's right breast was exposed after Timberlake tore off a piece of her clothing. The Federal Communications Commission ordered an investigation, and the NFL decided to feature safer acts in the following years.

Judging from what investigations reveal it was most definitely NOT a "malfunction" but an outright plan by Jackson's camp and which, when presented to Timberlake, he agreed to go along with. Interviews with Jackson's tailor, Jackson's body piercer, the producer Salli Frattini, the witnesses observing the MTV truck leave no doubt that it was planned. In the other nail-biter the Patriots beat the Carolina Panthers 32-29.

Answer: The Rolling Stones

The stage design included The Rolling Stone's iconic tongue logo. The band opened with "Start Me Up" and followed with "Rough Justice". Because of the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake "wardrobe malfunction" two years before, ABC-TV decided a 5-second delay should be used.

The band agreed to it, and as a result whenever Mick Jagger sang one of the more risque lyrics, his mike was momentarily bleeped off. This led to many media sourced postshow reports using the phrase "synonym for rooster" when referring to the word bleeped by the tactic by the network. Before they ended with their showstopper "Satisfaction", Jagger joked that they were around to play Super Bowl I if asked, but it took them four decades to get the gig.

The Seattle Seahawks couldn't get any satisfaction either as they were beaten by the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-10.

Answer: Prince

Prince lit up the show in what many call the very best of all halftime shows. The "Chicago Tribune" wrote that his show "justified the existence of a mini-concert sandwiched between halves of football" and the "New York Times" called it one of the most thrilling halftime shows ever.

In addition to those covers of other classic rock songs, he performed his own "1999", "Let's Go Crazy" and then the moment we will never forget. In the middle of a driving rain, Prince tore it up, standing there playing ... "Purple Rain". Beat that. Peyton Manning was crowned MVP prince of the game, as his Indianapolis Colts beat the Chicago Bears 29-17.

Answer: Bruce's crotch colliding with a camera

February 1, 2009 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida: Bruce kicked off Super Bowl XLIII with the joke that people "put the chicken wings down" before playing songs like "Glory Days", Born to Run", and "Working on a Dream". But it was during "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" that the Boss had a run-in with a camera lens: he ran across the stage at the camera and slid several feet across the stage, ending up snuggling up to a camera lens.

The crowd seemed to love it. Bruce explained that it was a matter of "Too much adrenalin, a late drop, too much speed, here I come Mike...BOOM! And I'm onto his camera..." The Pittsburgh Steelers survived their collision with the Arizona Cardinals, winning 27-23 in a game they came so close to losing.

Answer: 2010: A Salute to American Rock, Hip Hop and Popular Music: Pearl Jam, Rihanna, Jay-Z, and the Foo Fighters

Pearl Jam, Rihanna, Jay-Z, and the Foo Fighters have never played the Super Bowl halftime show, let alone performed in it together. The 2010 Super Bowl featured the classic rock band The Who, and a victory for the New Orleans Saints over the Indianapolis Colts 31-17.

That Blues Brothers Bash occurred at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans on January 26, 1997, sponsored by Oscar Meyer. The 2001 Kings of Rock and Pop was held in Raymond James Stadium and also featured Tremors, and The Earthquake Horns. It also had a prerecorded sketch with Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and Aerosmith. The 2012 show with Madonna featured that infamous scene when M.I.A. inexplicably flipped off the camera.

Answer: Jennifer Lopez and Shakira

Shakira and JLo's show had an astounding 94.7 like-to-dislike ratio. It was a Latin-spiced performance, featuring very impressive choreography and big theatrics. TicketSource based its statement that it was the "World's most popular" halftime show on its online metrics.

The show even got five Primetime Emmy nominations and won one for "Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety Special." Pyrotechnics for the show included 5,350 elements launched from 32 roof locations and 16 other locations. Shakira had 3 costumes, JLo five. That's eight sexy costume changes. Shakira crowd-surfed during "Hips Don't Lie" and JLo used a stripper pole for a lot of her act. One begins to see how youtube might have had a lot to handle. And then ... the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20.