Tom Petty

Performers Tom Petty (C), Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench take part in a news conference at NFL headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, January 31, 2008. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will perform the half-time show at the NFL's Super Bowl XLII football championship on February 3.

PHOENIX - JANUARY 31: Singer Tom Petty speaks to the media at a news conference prior to Super Bowl XLII at the Phoenix Convention Center on January 31, 2008 in Phoenix, Arizona.

PHOENIX - JANUARY 31: Singer Tom Petty and his band speak to the media at a news conference prior to Super Bowl XLII at the Phoenix Convention Center on January 31, 2008 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Sparks, Keys, Petty headline Super show By BEN WALKER, AP National Writer

PHOENIX - She's just a rookie, and already Jordin Sparks is going further in the NFL than her father. Only 2 1/2 months after the youngest "American Idol" winner released her debut album, the teen is set to perform the national anthem Sunday at the Super Bowl. In nine years as a pro cornerback, pop Phillippi Sparks never reached the big game.

"I said, 'Dad, I'm singing at the Super Bowl,'" she said Thursday. "He said, 'At least one of us made it.'"

No surprise about which team she'll root for when the New York Giants play the New England Patriots. Her dad spent all but one season with the Giants.

"There definitely is a tie with them," the 18-year-old Sparks said. "I got to go for the underdogs."

Sparks considers herself a "huge, humongous football fan." Nine-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys, who will provide the pregame entertainment, is less so — most of the time, anyway.

"Even I, who might think the Mighty Ducks and Penguins are playing, love the Super Bowl," Keys said. For the record, she's pulling for her hometown Giants.

Tom Petty, headlining the halftime show with his Heartbreakers, stayed neutral.

"I'm for everybody," he said.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, however, has a fan in Bill Belichick. In a light moment for him, the Patriots coach admitted he was sorry to miss Petty's performance and said he might play the band's CDs while preparing for the game.

"Well, it's never kept anyone from winning," Petty said.

Like previous halftime performers Prince, the Rolling Stones and U2, Petty's greatest challenge will come in whittling down his band's work into a tight set. They have a total of 12 minutes to perform, and that includes moving 56 carts on and off the field.

"There's this football game that has to go on," Petty said.

Petty grew up in Gainesville, Fla., and does root for the Gators. He also wasn't picking any political candidates, even though his "American Girl" was blasting during Hillary Clinton's recent campaign rallies in New Hampshire.

"We weren't aware of it, but we've heard about it," he said. "We're not endorsing any candidates. You wouldn't want to take a guitar player's advice."

Sparks lives in nearby Glendale — convenient, because the Super Bowl will be played there, at the University of Phoenix Stadium. She sang the national anthem before the Arizona Cardinals played their first regular-season game at the stadium in 2006, but the Super Bowl is in another league.

"For me, since my career has been a couple of months, it's way up there," she said.

Sitting next to Sparks, Keys looked forward to a European tour that begins Feb. 25. Coming off her album "As I Am," she also announced the dates and locations of her U.S. tour, starting April 19 in Hampton, Va., and ending June 18 at Madison Square Garden.

Before that, there's Sunday's performance.

"I'm going to take you by the neck and demand that you watch me," Keys said.

"What she said," Sparks echoed.

Tom Petty, left, and Benmont Tench are seen at a news conference Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008, in Phoenix.Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will perform at halftime of the Super Bowl XLII football game on Feb. 3.

Tom Petty meets the masses
PHOENIX -- Musicians Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will play a 12-minute set at halftime of Super Bowl XLII on Sunday. The singer, who's been nominated for 18 Grammys while selling 50 million records, and his band mates met with a large media contingent Thursday afternoon. A sampling of the press conference:

Asked if he knew that Hillary Clinton had addressed a political rally to refrains from Petty's former hit American Girl after winning the New Hampshire democratic primary, Petty said he'd only been informed in the days afterward. He also declined to publicly back a presidential candidate, saying, "You wouldn't want to take a guitar player's advice."

If he likes Petty-themed cover bands: "As long as they're not better than us."

If, like many entertainers, he ever aspired to be an athlete: "I was a very poor athlete."

If he favors either the Giants or Patriots: "We don't really have a favorite team, but in the college division, we favor the Gators." (Petty is from Gainesville, Fla., home of the University of Florida)

On his experience with the Traveling Wilburys: "A lot of great friends there. We miss the guys who are gone."

On being informed that Patriots coach Bill Belichick planned to listen to some of Petty's CDs this week: "Well it's never kept anybody from winning."

2Sweet Little Queen XIII
так я и говорил о дилановском концерте на японском лазере.

Tom Petty Special on The Super Bowl XLII Pregame Show on Fox

<-- Tom Petty was a fine choice for the Super Bowl halftime show, albeit a safe one.

NFL needs a livelier halftime act than Petty
Band was fine, but a bit safe; Chris Rock, Hannah Montana could do better

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers hold an honored place in American music, but so do the Rolling Stones, the Eagles, Elvis Presley, Bill Haley and his Comets, and Chuck Berry, to name but a few. In other words, that honored place is a little dusty.

As recently as last year, Petty had an album that debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard charts, so he’s still relevant. Yet there’s something about having him as the halftime act for Super Bowl XLII that reeked of corporate compromise.

It felt like a band of league lawyers gathered in a Park Avenue boardroom to scour the music landscape and find a band that fits all the criteria for FCC compliance.

Petty and his cohorts did a perfectly commendable job Sunday at intermission. Much like the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Prince before them, they treated fans to a set featuring some of their biggest hits – “American Girl,” “I Won’t Back Down,” “Free Fallin’” and “Runnin’ Down a Dream.”

But throughout the performance, the shadow of Janet Jackson’s nipple hovered over the stage. It was a tiny nipple, but a huge shadow. And it served to remind what an absurd overreaction followed the misguided stunt involving Jackson and Justin Timberlake during the now infamous Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show.

There would be no nipple incidents Sunday unless Petty somehow went haywire, or if one of the young ladies among the orchestrated throng near the stage decided she wanted to become famous. But there was also little excitement. It was simply comfortable, risk-free background music for viewers as they headed to the fridge, used the toilet or phoned for more pizza.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22985086/

GLENDALE, AZ - FEBRUARY 03: Musician Tom Petty (L) and guitarist Mike Campbell perform at the Bridgestone halftime show during Super Bowl XLII between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots on February 3, 2008 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Singer and songwriter Tom Petty performs during the half time show of the NFL's Super Bowl XLII football game between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants in Glendale, Arizona February 3, 2008.

Singer Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers perform during the half time show of the NFL's Super Bowl XLII football game between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants in Glendale, Arizona, February 3, 2008.

GLENDALE, AZ - FEBRUARY 03: Musician Tom Petty performs at the Bridgestone halftime show during Super Bowl XLII between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots on February 3, 2008 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Keyboardist Benmont Tench, singer/songwriter Tom Petty and guitarist Mike Campbell smile after perforiming at the Bridgestone halftime show during Super Bowl XLII between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots on February 3, 2008 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Keyboardist Benmont Tench, singer/songwriter Tom Petty, guitarist Mike Campbell and guitarist Scott Thurston smile after perforiming at the Bridgestone halftime show during Super Bowl XLII between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots on February 3, 2008 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers wave to the crowed after performing at the Bridgestone halftime show during Super Bowl XLII between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots on February 3, 2008 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.