Crass, not class, at halftime

It was easy to think, for a minute or so, that this particular Super Bowl halftime show was going to have some class.

It started, after all, with what looked like a high-octane public service announcement: the megastar likes of Jennifer Lopez, Tom Cruise, and Julia Roberts, telling the youth of America about its noble choices: "Choose to take a stand," "Choose to vote," and "Choose to get involved."

Then cut to Jessica Simpson in a majorette hat, screaming into a microphone, "Hooooouston! Choose to partyyyyyy!"

Class? It must have been the chili nachos talking.

Instead, the AOL Top Speed Halftime Extravaganza, produced by MTV, carried on the tradition of the modern halftime show, which apparently has to be bigger and louder than all previous productions. This year's installment carried one clear message: Turn away if you feel squeamish And one overarching question: What's the purpose of this little midfield spectacle?

The pregame show was a little easier to figure out, as it seemed to aim for that old-fashioned, uplifting theme. A chorus of wholesome multiethnic teenagers backed up singer Josh Groban for a Space Shuttle Columbia tribute, as a man in an astronaut suit wandered over a fake moonscape. Beyonce Knowles, looking unusually demure, did her part with an arrhythmic national anthem, managing to wring at least 12 syllables out of the word "air." The astronaut stood at attention.

By contrast, halftime appeared to be about . . . Stripping? Flirting? Saying "no" to things?

One thing it wasn't about was music, since this was a barely discernible medley, lost amid the pelvic thrusts, backup dancers, and constant costume changes. In part, it was about accessorizing: Janet Jackson with a tail of feathers on her rump; P. Diddy with what appeared to be a bearskin rug around his neck; Kid Rock wearing Old Glory like a poncho.

It was about entrances: Janet descending on a hydraulic lift, Nelly in a convertible as a group of cheerleaders chanted, "Oh, Nelly, you're so fine." It was about the belly buttons, exposed on nearly every dancer, male and female.

Anything else? Well, something briefly seemed to be on fire, and dancers hung, for a spell, in deathlike poses from ladderlike structures. Then Janet was back, sans feathers, singing "Rhythm Nation" and playing the role of teacher. Teacher of morals.

"Ignorance!" she yelled, and some people around her yelled "No!" as the word lit up in lights behind her. "Bigotry!" Nope. "Illiteracy!" Apparently, we don't like that, either.

And then, the word "no" disappeared, replaced with the word . . . "Justin." And, for the finale, Justin Timberlake was prancing onstage in khakis, shimmying as close as he could to Janet's defeathered backside.

Near the finish, he got a little too close, as he tore off part of Jackson's top, exposing her breast. The moment briefly was aired by CBS, leading spokeswoman LeslieAnne Wade to say the network "deeply regrets the incident."

Timberlake said he did not intend to expose Jackson's breast.

"I am sorry that anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance of the Super Bowl," Timberlake said in a statement. "It was not intentional and is regrettable."

"We were extremely disappointed by elements of the MTV-produced halftime show," NFL executive vice president Joe Browne said. "They were totally inconsistent with assurances our office was given about the content of the show.

"It's unlikely that MTV will produce another Super Bowl halftime."

Jackson, for her part, had the look of a tired baby-sitter who wanted the kid to go to bed. She must have been as relieved as the rest of us when it was over.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.