Huckleberries Online

Madonna Mad At M.I.A. ‘Finger’

Posted by DFO

Feb. 10, 2012 2:03 p.m. • 9 comments

Madonna, center, performs with Nicki Minaj, left, and M.I.A. during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl XLVI football game between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants in Indianapolis. Madonna says she's not happy that M.I.A. made an obscene gesture during the Super Bowl halftime show. Madonna said on Ryan Seacrest's radio show today that the gesture was pointless and “seemed out of place.” The British hip-hop artist, invited by Madonna to participate in Sunday's halftime show in front of 114 million people, extended her middle finger to the camera. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, file)

Question: I saw Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction in real time. But I missed the M.I.A. bird. Anyone see it in real time. Which do you remember more — Madonna's performance of M.I.A.'s finger?

Nine comments on this post so far. Add yours!

JamesBond on February 10 at 2:28 p.m.
You do NOT upstage your boss. Especially a diva boss.
Sisyphus on February 10 at 2:30 p.m.
Heh. To paraphrase the best tweet I saw on this topic, if you are upset about seeing a middle finger on your TV, you’re going to mess your pants when you see what else is going on in the world.
Wes on February 10 at 2:54 p.m.
I didn’t notice it, but I expect rude and
crude from from Hip Hop artists anyway.
Norther on February 10 at 2:57 p.m.
Is it bad that I had absolutely no idea who M.I.A. was? The finger thing was stupid. I didnt watch the superbowl. I watched the halftime show the next morning on youtube and then the commercials on hulu. But I remember Madonna’s entrance the best.
DFO on February 10 at 3:05 p.m.
I understand why Madonna is miffed. It’s not about the bird. Madonna’s done far worse on stage.l It’s about distraction. Madonna wants viewers focused on her performance not on some attention hogger who she’d invited to share the spotlight before 114 million people. Can anyone remember whether or not Janet Jackson gave a good performance during her infamous wardrobe-malfunction show?
OrangeTV on February 10 at 3:11 p.m.
I’m actually a huge fan of M.I.A., but this was not her finest moment. If you follow her at all, you know that she likes to be edgy and irreverent, but this was a rather bad call. She has gone on record saying it was a mix of nerves and adrenalin that caused her to momentarily lose her mind, and that’s fairly understandable. Hey, the publicity is great for her - people who had no clue who she was and now she’s a household name, for better or worse. She might sell a few more records over the whole incident.
Kage_Mann on February 10 at 3:16 p.m.
“extended her middle finger to the camera”

Until, this happened, I didn’t know who MIA was. In show business any publicity, is good publicity.
nic on February 10 at 3:28 p.m.
I remember the awful lip-syncing more than the bird.
fortboise on February 10 at 8:13 p.m.
Until today, I didn’t know MIA was a woman, I thought the perp was the dude in the fur coat. Whoever that was. Maybe I need a bigger TV or something.

Did not see the bird, but the juju this culture attaches to a finger gesture is pretty amazing.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.