USA TODAY International Edition
Move that upstaged Madonna
Attention can benefit rapper M. I. A.,
At Sunday’s Super Bowl, it wasn’t a “wardrobe malfunction” that got tongues wagging but an appendage malfunction.
Madonna’s halftime show — which featured Nicki Minaj and M. I. A. singing along to the pop star’s new single, Give Me All Your Luvin’— was upstaged when M. I. A. extended her middle finger. A record 111.3 million viewers saw the British rapper’s brief obscene gesture during the telecast, the most- watched TV program in U. S. history, according to Nielsen figures.
The rapper, one of Google’s most-searched subjects Monday, isn’t commenting, but such moments can be a boon in the hip- hop world.
“She’s supposed to be controversial,” says Rolling Stone contributing editor Anthony Decurtis. “M. I. A. is not on the scale of Madonna or Nicki Minaj, and it might help ( her career) now that people know who she is.” ( The first single from M. I. A.’ s upcoming album was released Friday. The title? Bad Girls.)
“Who would have guessed that Madonna would be an afterthought in what people are talking about after the show?” says Chris Willman of Yahoo Music. “Madonna might be more mad than any conservative groups.”
Popdust. com editor in chief Craig Marks suspects the gesture was premeditated, because M. I. A. looked at the camera when she did it.
“The only mystery is whether Madonna knew. Maybe she put her up to it, who knows?” he says. “My instinct is that ( M. I. A.) . . . felt a little silly being up there in a cheerleader costume cheering for Madonna, and she just wanted to make her mark somehow.”