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Jackson’s incident lasting memory of last Super Bowl in Houston

By KRISTIE RIEKEN, Associated Press
Published: January 31, 2017, 5:55am

HOUSTON — It’s rare when Tom Brady takes a back seat in a Super Bowl. Janet Jackson managed to make that happen.

Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction is a lasting memory of the last Super Bowl in Houston, overshadowing a thrilling win by the Patriots in 2004 and forever changing how the NFL handles performances.

Jackson baring one of her breasts to a live audience of about 143 million left viewers to sit through several years of halftime shows headlined by mostly aging rockers before the NFL returned to more contemporary acts in 2011.

Lady Gaga will headline this year’s show, giving fans a current superstar expected to wow in a family-friendly performance far removed from international scandal the 2004 show in Houston created.

“After the last Super Bowl in Houston was pretty much when we brought the show back in house, to make sure we have a voice in how the show is produced and what it is all about,” said Mark Quenzel, NFL Media’s senior vice president of production and programming. “Everyone has been focused on what specifically happened, but there’s more to it than that.”

That performance was the last produced by MTV before the NFL began producing the show on its own. Justin Timberlake and Jackson performed their hit “Rock Your Body” as the finale. They wrapped up the provocative performance with Timberlake ripping her costume to reveal her right breast, bare except for a nipple shield.

The incident drew CBS a $550,000 fine from the Federal Communications Commission (which was later overturned), sparked an international debate about decency, and landed Jackson in the Guinness Book of World Records as “Most Searched in Internet History.”

Thirteen years later the incident has become ubiquitous in popular culture, being mentioned or parodied on various television shows and in at least a dozen rock and rap songs. Timberlake’s apology was the genesis of the term “wardrobe malfunction,” which was added to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.

That performance and its fallout is far from what the NFL aims for, and Quenzel shared the league’s vision for the show.

“Our belief is it is the day family and friends get together to watch the game and that is the environment we want to set for the halftime show and the game,” he said. “It’s to entertain people and to have a great game.”

Picking a halftime performer is not a quick or easy decision. Officials at the league are already looking into who might perform next season.

“The conversations are who are we interested in? What city are we in? What’s available, and potential artists we would want. The process takes months,” he said.

Once the talks with artists begin, the NFL is very clear on its expectations for the performance.

“We deliver the message of not just what is appropriate and not, but that we believe most of the people want to … hear songs they recognize,” Quenzel said. “The artists also are interested, justifiably, in showing off their new music.”

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