British rapper M.I.A. has been criticised by a parental advocacy group after she made a gesture with her middle finger during a live broadcast of the Superbowl last Sunday.

M.I.A., the stage name of Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, was in the middle of performing alongside Nicki Minaj and Madonna during the globally-televised sports event’s half-time show when the incident occurred. During the track ‘Give Me All Your Luvin”, M.I.A. raised her middle finger, however, her finger was not blurred out by broadcaster NBC due to the fact that it “occurred too quickly for its technical system to catch“.

Still, the Parents Television Council (PTC) has publicly criticised both NBC and M.I.A. for this event taking place in the first place. The organisation’s President, Tim Winter, had the following to say:

NBC fumbled and the NFL lied because a performer known as M.I.A. felt it necessary to flip off millions of families. It is unfortunate that a spectacular sporting event was overshadowed once again by broadcasting the selfish acts of a desperate performer … They chose a lineup full of performers who have based their careers on shock, profanity and titillation. Instead of preventing indecent material, they enabled it. M.I.A. used a middle finger shamelessly to bring controversial attention to herself, while effectively telling an audience filled with children, ‘F– you.’”

The PTC made further accusations toward the organisers’ culpability in this event, noting that as recently as last week the PTC had been informed that making the Super Bowl’s half-time show ‘appropriate’ would be a priority. The PTC concluded their statement on the matter by insisting:

The mechanism NBC had in place to catch this type of material completely failed, and the network cannot say it was caught off guard…

Their closing comment alludes to a well-publicised incident at the 2004 Super Bowl half-time show in which singer Janet Jackson’s breast was briefly exposed during an onstage performance with Justin Timberlake. CBS, the broadcaster of the Super Bowl that year, received a $550,000 fine from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and resulted in a significant increase in the number of complaints and fines received and issued, respectively, by the FCC.

The 2004 Super Bowl had an estimated 87.79 million viewers in the United States alone, while this year’s event was broadcast is said to have garnered 111.3 million viewers – making it the most-watched television show in U.S. history. As a result, M.I.A.’s gesture has the potential to incite an even greater public outcry, especially in light of the revelation that during the Super Bowl, a record-breaking 12,333 tweets per second were sent out about the event.

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It has just been announced that Madonna might be gearing up to take the stage at the Super Bowl on February 5th in Indianapolis. It would be the first time the Material Girl-turned-moviemaker performs at the iconic event and while conservative audiences will cringe at the rumors, music fans are already fantasizing about costumes, set-lists and a much-expected dose of controversy.

What other event draws such massive viewership and so many multi-million commercial deals? At last year’s edition, a whopping number of 111 million people tuned in to watch the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburg Steelers duke it out on the field. Singing the anthem or delivering a jaw-dropping halftime show are two of the most wanted gigs in the performance industry.

Every move and note are analyzed bare by a diverse audience, delivering post-event rants crammed with sassy critics that will tear anyone apart with a sleazy touch. At the Super Bowl you’re never good enough. Next year all eyes could be on the 52-year-old songstress and her creative crew. Could this be Madonna’s reconciliation with America’s mainstream public?

Madonna is a clear example of the American dream, a poor girl from the Midwest arrives in NYC with a few bucks in her pocket and two years later she’s the biggest star on the planet. But that didn’t stop her from reflecting on the traditional American values in her 2003 album ‘American Life’, her lowest-selling record to date and a turning point in her career.

Ever since she mocked former president George W. Bush in a war-themed video, an obvious anti-Bush statement that was later withdrawn by Madonna herself on her team’s advice, her album sales in the US have shrunk to minimal numbers. None of her albums released after ‘American Life’ have shifted more than 1.7 million copies. On the contrary, tickets for her latest tour sold out in minutes, making her the highest earning female performer.

In 2004, Janet Jackson’s infamous wardrobe malfunction marked a new era in live TV. Producers and organizers, dreading a scandalous follow-up, started booking rock&roll acts such as Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Prince, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen and The Who.

But last year the record-breaking show welcomed The Black Eyed Peas, a more contemporary act that was joined onstage by Usher and Slash. Grammy winning pop diva Christina Aguilera also took the center stage to belt out the Star Spangled Banner. Clad in black tones and sporting her signatures peep-toes, the singer flubbed the lyrics and embarrassed herself in front of her country.

She later apologized stating she got stuck in the moment, a high-profile mess-up that might introduce a teleprompter policy from next year on. With that much pressure on her plate, will Madonna channel her ‘Holiday’ era and portray a dancehall Goddess or will she vogue the night away with tons of French-kissing, cone-bras and naughty words?

And though Madonna is both of those performances, the latter will probably not be allowed onstage as there will certainly be a highly prearranged contract that will keep whoever is going to entertain the viewers on their toes.
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