Timberlake also ran into the crowd to dance and pose for photos, in an unfailingly energetic appearance.<\/p>\n
And he tacitly acknowledged his last Super Bowl performance in 2004, which ended with Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction”.<\/p>\n On that occasion, he ripped a panel off Jackson’s bodice, revealing her right breast as he sang the lyric “gonna have you naked by the end of this song”.<\/p>\n When he reached that line on Sunday night, Timberlake stopped the music and cut to another song.<\/p>\n The gesture is unlikely to have impressed Jackson’s fans – who still resent the fact that her career was derailed by the incident, while Timberlake emerged relatively unscathed.<\/p>\n Ahead of the show, the hashtag “Justice for Janet” trended on Twitter, in the hope Timberlake would invite her back – but Jackson shut down that speculation earlier on Sunday.<\/p>\n Instead, Timberlake’s show (broadcast on a five-second delay that was instigated after the 2004 Super Bowl) was largely controversy-free.<\/p>\n His most divisive move was probably the decision to wear a shirt featuring a photograph of two caribou, which looked less like a stage outfit than your computer’s desktop wallpaper.<\/p>\n Still, Timberlake’s whip-crack choreography was so impressive it took a couple of minutes for the true horror of his outfit to really sink in.<\/p>\n He started the show backstage, performing his current single, Filthy, before dancing down an elevated walkway to the centre of the stadium.<\/p>\n Zipping through 12 songs in as many minutes, the 37-year-old showed off his enviable back catalogue – from the pop-funk of SexyBack to the robo-ballad Cry Me A River, into which he dropped elements of Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir.<\/p>\n Suit and Tie was performed with a marching band, while Timberlake sat at a piano to play his Prince tribute.<\/p>\n “Minneapolis, Minnesota, this one’s for you,” he declared, singing a new arrangement of I Would Die 4 U over an archive recording of Prince’s vocals, as images of the late superstar were projected behind him.<\/p>\n As the song reached its climax, the area around the stadium was bathed in purple lights, forming the “love symbol” Prince adopted as his name in the 1990s.<\/p>\n However, rumours that Timberlake would introduce a hologram of the pop icon turned out to be false.<\/p>\n Prince’s estate confirmed on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0that there were “never any plans” for such a stunt – although, in a neat touch, Timberlake’s band included guitarist Mike Scott, a long-time player in Prince’s band.<\/p>\n Timberlake made full use of the US Bank Stadium throughout his high-octane show, darting from one end of the pitch to another with barely a pause for breath.<\/p>\n He ended the show in the bleachers, singing Can’t Stop The Feeling with a bewildered teenage fan.<\/p>\n “That would have been my worst nightmare,” noted BBC Super Bowl presenter Mark Chapman afterwards.<\/p>\n “There’s at least 100 million people watching this in America alone and you’re meant to dance with Justin Timberlake on television!”<\/p>\n But it ended well – with Timberlake posing for a selfie with the youngster, instantly making him a star.<\/p>\n It was one of the few human moments in an expertly polished performance.<\/p>\n But the show lacked any of the spectacle we’ve come to expect from the Super Bowl – whether it’s Lady Gaga jumping off the ceiling of Houston’s NRG stadium or Katy Perry’s infamous “left shark” three years ago.<\/p>\n Timberlake has done better himself – his\u00a0ebullient, career-spanning medley at the 2013 MTV Awards<\/a>\u00a0was a masterclass in stagecraft and charisma.<\/p>\n Maybe inviting Jackson back to make amends would have added some much-needed frisson, after all?<\/p>\n Earlier on Sunday, pop singer Pink – who’s a diehard fan of\u00a0Super Bowl winners<\/a>the Philadelphia Eagles – got the Super Bowl party started with a heartfelt rendition of the US National Anthem.<\/p>\n Despite battling flu, the singer’s voice was clear and powerful, with only a slight crack towards the end of her performance.<\/p>\n Cameras captured her removing a throat lozenge (which many first thought was gum) from her mouth, seconds before singing the opening line. The moment quickly became shared on social media.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/720x405\/p05x46jc.jpg\")
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