And thus the east coast can say good-bye to a most undesirable Super Bowl celebration. The game may have been lackluster, and yet the entertainment seems to have usurped the actual sport.
What is the world coming to?
The shining star on the Super Bowl stage was none other than the lovely soprano Renée Fleming. While Dana Elaine Owens--more popularly known as Queen Latifah--performed beautifully with her tribute to "America the Beautiful," Fleming lived up fully to expectation.
Football performances are normally reserved for ubiquitous pop stars. We were--as Anne Midgette at the Washington Post put it--lucky to see an opera heavyweight, the people's diva, bring modern opera to the next level of celebrity.
And Fleming won't stop there. To contend for Classicalite's "Busiest Opera Singer of the Year" award, she will hold a two-hour master class at her alma mater, the Juilliard School, on February 13.
Class starts at 4 p.m. and will be streamed via Julliard Live.
Until then, here's Fleming performing our national anthem at, yes, the Super Bowl.
