More than 110 million people sat glued to their televisions, watching the same thing, at the same time: Super Bowl XLVI.

For non-sports fans, the Super Bowl is a multifaceted event. People watch for the famous commercials and for the music. It’s an honor to be a featured artist singing at the Super Bowl, whether it is the national anthem or the halftime show.

This year, XLVI was host to a number of big stars: Kelly Clarkson, LMFAO, Nicki Minaj, Cee Lo Green, M.I.A. and even Madonna.

The music started with country music couple Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert’s duet to “America the Beautiful”. Shortly after, original American Idol Kelly Clarkson sang the National Anthem. Her performance was flawless and lyrically correct, a relief after the debacle last year with Christina Aguilera.

For the past five Super Bowls, the national anthem singers, other than Aguilera, have all been featured on American Idol. Super Bowl XLIV boasted names Carrie Underwood Jennifer Hudson and Jordin Sparks. It’s been an even longer while since a male has taken the field for the anthem. The last male anthem performer was Billy Joel in 2007.

When Clarkson sang, 45 members of the Indianapolis Children’s Choir accompanied her. The choir is no stranger to singing the anthem at sporting events; they previously sung at the Indy 500 and NCAA Final Four Games.

After the anthem the game commenced and those uninterested had to wait in anticipation for the Halftime Show for Madonna’s pondered performance.

The icon kicked off the show singing “Vogue” with an army of gladiators by her side. She wore a black minidress, diamond-studded gold crown, and tall black boots, completing a Grecian feel. Next, Madonna continued with “Music” and was soon joined by LMFAO. The three together sang samples of LMFAO hits “Party Rock Anthem” and “Sexy and I Know It.”

Madonna, Nicki Minaj, and M.I.A. got their cheer on, performing Madonna’s new single “Give Me All Your Luvin”. M.I.A. flashed her middle finger, which alerted the NBC censors. After Janet Jackson’s accident in 2004, purposeful profanity is not tolerated.

The finale was what most would deem “classic Madonna.” Cee Lo Green, clad in a glittering black robe, joined Madonna to conclude with “Like a Prayer”, belting out bits of “Open your Heart” and “Express Yourself”. A gospel choir backed the two, and the performance ended with the stage bursting into smoke with the message “World Peace” illuminating the entire field.

Madonna and her counterparts had quite the performance, captivating audiences at home. It was a pleasing performance especially compared to the Black Eyed Peas’ halftime show at last year’s Super Bowl. Regarding last year, Yahoo Sports said, “we’d all like to just forget that happened.”

In fact, other than the Black Eyed Peas’ Fergie,, Madonna has been the first female asked to star in the halftime show since Janet Jackson in 2004. That said, the halftime show got mixed reviews. An LA Times article said, “according to an analysis by Kanjoya, a San Francisco company that uses a computer algorithm to detect emotion in social media posts, differing opinions dominated Twitter.” The article then stated that the most commonly used words in posts about Madonna were “amazing”, “great”, “good”, “best”, “bad” and “hating.” Despite divergent viewpoints in the Twitter-verse, writers were “fascinated with Madonna’s age”. Madonna, at age 53, is old enough to be the mother of the oldest player in the Super Bowl. Yahoo Sports notes that the Patriots running back, Kevin Faulk is 35, Madonna being 18 years older than Faulk. Nonetheless, Madonna’s age makes her halftime show even more incredible (plus the fact that she did the show for free).

So, Patriots? Giants? Yes, that’s what the Super Bowl is about, technically, but the stars of the music industry shined just as bright as any player.