Chattanooga Times Free Press - ChattanoogaNow
SUPER BOWL SUNDAY
Super Bowl LI — that’s 51 for the Roman numeral impaired — will pit the Atlanta Falcons against the New England Patriots on Sunday, Feb. 5. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. at NRG Stadium in Houston. Fox (Comcast channel 11, EPBFI Channel 7 in Chattanooga) will televise the game.
Last year’s game between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers averaged 111.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings, making it the third most-watched broadcast in U.S. history.
Quarterbacks Matt Ryan for the Falcons and Tom Brady for the Patriots will have plenty of time on camera, but there are a few other faces who’ll be in the spotlight, too. Here’s how the musical entertainment is shaping up.
Halftime performer: Pop diva Lady Gaga, who confirmed this week that she will perform while suspended from the roof of the stadium. As for any surprise guests, she was remaining mum on who they might be.
Pregame singers: Renee Elise Goldsberry, Jasmine Cephas Jones and Phillipa Soo, who starred as the Schuyler Sisters in the original cast of the Tony Award-winning Broadway hit “Hamilton: An American Musical.” They’ll sing “America the Beautiful.” Beginning with Vicki Carr in 1977, “America the Beautiful” has been sung eight other times before the Super Bowl, most recently in 2013 when Jennifer Hudson and 26 children from Newtown, Conn., sang the song in advance of Super Bowl XLVII. National anthem: Country crooner Luke Bryan. His “Star-Spangled Banner” predecessors include some of the biggest names in music: Idina Menzel, Renée Fleming, Alicia Keys, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Neil Diamond, Whitney Houston, Harry Connick Jr., Garth Brooks, Natalie Cole, Vanessa Williams, Luther Vandross, Cher, Faith Hill, Mariah Carey, Dixie Chicks, Beyoncé and Christina Aguilera. Lady Gaga belted it out last year and got the headliner gig for 2017.