As "Vogue" began the flags were removed, revealing Madonna in a long, gold-colored cape and an ancient-Egyptian helmet seated on a large throne.

As "Vogue" segued into "Music", two large boom boxes appeared on the ground screens and the stadium handrails were lit with moving lights.

Madonna pretended to shoot Lewis and moved to the other end of the stage, where LMFAO sang "Party Rock Anthem" in a segue from "Music".

"Like a Prayer" opened to a darkened stadium, with small specks of light visible, and a large choir dressed in black joined Madonna onstage.

Artists who had previously performed in the show included the Black Eyed Peas, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, U2, Paul McCartney and Prince.

"Our work has been done mostly to help magnify and create an environment for the artists", said Moment Factory executive producer Eric Fournier, citing shows in which the studio had used lighting and video projections for special effects.

Rappers Nicki Minaj and M.I.A., who had collaborated on Madonna's single "Give Me All Your Luvin'", said that the rehearsals were "the most grueling thing [they had] ever done and wouldn't expect anything else, calling it an 'epic learning experience'".

Although Cook learned during the game that the New England Patriots were scheduled to exit on the route used by volunteers carrying the stage equipment, he resolved the issue by talking with the team.

Rodgers, director Hamish Hamilton and executive producer Ricky Kirshner met several times with Madonna's team, represented by choreographer Jamie King (who presented the show's initial concept).

Rodgers developed a large, cross-shaped stage with a central platform accessible by five hidden lifts, bleachers with an escape system at the rear, four positions for the band to play, an area for slacklining at one edge and ramps at the two ends of the cross.

Moment Factory partner and executive producer Eric Fournier said that since the studio had been associated with technology-dependent shows, preparing for and accommodating the requirements of the Super Bowl were easy.

"[27] The show's major concepts included the shifting magazine covers, the Egyptian-inspired procession, "intergalactic" boomboxes during "Music" and an effect which made the "stage appear to suck up the grass and chalk from the football field".

[27][28] When the visuals were decided, the Moment Factory and Cirque du Soleil staff watched the performances closely to adapt the backdrops to the choreography.

According to DWP founder Danny Whetstone, using Barco helped with seamless projection and brightness adjustment: "It was essential that we hang the projectors straight down, 151 feet in the air, lens to field, in order to fill the enormous visual area with the converged image".

We ended with an amalgamation of our original concepts to deliver her vision, and I knew I would do something different, depending on which songs were sung, and that was decided rather late in the scheme of things.

[34] According to LMG video technologist Ken Gay, lighting, sound and television teams met at the Orange County Convention Center to test the setup.

Along with reminding the audience of her older hits, Madonna had "important career-advancing work to do ... [The singer], after all, never does anything unless she's got something to sell, and with a new studio album due out in March and a tour to follow, she had plenty on her to-do list".

[43] Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph called the show a "tribute to Madonna" and a "shameless" promotion of the singer's return to the music scene after directing W.E.

[44] Troy Patterson of Slate wrote that Madonna retained her "greatest marketing agent" title with the show and praised its costumes, sets and the singer's repeated self-referencing.

[52] Cara Kelly of The Washington Post gave the show a mixed review; although it was "revolutionary" after Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction, it was a "pathetic attempt at a comeback".

[54] USA Today's Elyssa Gardner wrote, "Madonna herself, stylish but hardly provocative in tailored tops and skirts that showed off her yoga-toned gams, delivered [the songs] and other flourishes with a winking sense of humor".

Greenburg wrote that with 30-second commercial spots commanding over $3 million apiece, the 12 minutes of free television exposure had a total value of $84 million for Madonna's enterprises and the singer did not have to pay for accommodations, travel, backup dancers, stage setup, advertising and publicity: "Given all these benefits, playing the Super Bowl halftime show for free is more than worth the trouble.

[60] Madonna set a record as the most-tweeted subject on Twitter (10,245 posts in one second, with an average of 8,000 tweets per second for five minutes) and was the most-searched term on Google during the show.

Keith Caulfield of Billboard wrote that about 50,000 pre-orders for Madonna's 12th studio album, MDNA, were placed within three days of its availability on the iTunes Store.

That week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, "Give Me All Your Luvin'" had 115,000 digital downloads and the singer's catalog of older albums had a 410 percent increase in sales (from 5,000 to 26,000 copies).

[67] The show affected slacklining; The New York Times reported, "[Andy Lewis] and his sport had never appeared before an audience like the one commanded by Madonna at halftime of the Super Bowl".

extended her middle finger to the camera near the end of her verse in "Give Me All Your Luvin'" instead of singing the word "shit",[69][70] and the media compared the incident to Janet Jackson's 2004 wardrobe malfunction.

Madonna was supposed to be the center of attention during the Super Bowl halftime show Sunday, but the Queen of Pop was upstaged by her collaborator M.I.A., who flipped off the camera at one point during the performance, prompting swift apologies from the NFL and NBC.

Her lawyer, Howard King, filed a counterclaim calling the NFL's action "hilarious in light of the weekly felonies committed by its stars".

said on Twitter that the NFL wanted a portion of her income, which lacked "any basis in law, fact, or logic", and blamed NBC for its "dereliction" in not blurring out the gesture during the live telecast.