Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Super Bowl: Jennifer Hudson Nails It, Alicia Keys Is Just Fine

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Super Bowl 2013: Jennifer Hudson has the pipes. She sang “America the Beautiful”  with the Sandy Hook Elementary School choir and nailed it, of course. JHud is the voice of her generation, and she can belt it out in any weather, live, without augmentation. Give her an A plus.

Alicia Keys performed the Star Spangled Banner with her piano, slow and steady and deliberate. Alicia doesn’t always sing on key, but she was flat just once toward the end. Otherwise, she looked beautiful and caused ho harm. Going slow suited her delivery. The fact that the Super Bowl entertainment is Alicia, JHud, and Beyonce, with Jay Z, is very cool, so let’s appreciate it.

Of the movie commercials, “Oz: The Great and Powerful” looked excellent. And “World War Z” has shaped up as the must see End of the World blockbuster. But “The Lone Ranger” is worrying, especially Johnny Depp doing his pirate-as-Indian. I just don’t get it. Maybe more footage will explain. And whoever attempted to sing “Hold on I’m Coming” in that commercial with the Rock–yikes! The worst!

 

 

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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