SUPER BOWL

Pink battled the flu, J.T. summoned Prince and the Eagles soared.

If history had repeated itself on Feb. 4 at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Super Bowl 52 would have ended with a sixth Lombardi Trophy for defending champs the New England Patriots (led by age-defying 40-year-old quarterback Tom Brady), accompanied by a half-time moment featuring Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson to make up for 2004’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction.” Instead, a new narrative saw the underdog Philadelphia Eagles grit out a 41-33 victory for the city’s first Super Bowl title and a solo Timberlake perform a medley of his hits, run into the stands (making a meme out of a kid who took a selfie with the singer) and pay tribute to Minneapolis native Prince, who died in April 2016. As Ellen Degeneres tweeted afterwards with a mic-drop GIF, “My friend @jtimberlake just killed it.”

Among the celebrities on hand were long-suffering Eagles boosters Kevin Hart, Miles Teller and superfan Bradley Cooper, who integrated his love for the

team into his character for his Oscar-nominated role in 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook.

Cooper, 43, who attended with girlfriend Irina Shayk and their nearly 1-year-old daughter, Lea, had his every scream, hand gesture and fist pump captured on camera. More than 103.4 million viewers in the US alone were treated to commercials featuring Australian stars such as Rebel Wilson, who gamely stepped in as an Alexa voice substitute for an Amazon ad, and Chris Hemsworth playing tour guide in a faux Crocodile

Dundee movie trailer for Tourism Australia (see p. 89). Tweeted Crowe of the A-list cameos in the spot, “We did it for love, in the spirit of the original Paul Hogan ad.”

Before the fun of the game even began, Pink delivered an earnest rendition of “The StarSpangled Banner” while saddled with the flu. Posted husband Carey Hart, “Oh and [she] sang live by the way. She is the hardest working in showbusiness and I couldn’t be more proud of her.”