Black Eyed Peas: Grey Cup Halftime Gig Fallout

Sept. 16 Sportsbybrooks.com confirmed that the Black Eyed Peas would play this season's Super Bowl halftime show.

The reaction of the public and media to the BEP booking has been mixed at best but criticism of Super Bowl halftime talent booked by the NFL is forever an inevitability. When you combine a colossal audience and hyper-politically correct culture, you can't expect the NFL to get anywhere in the vicinity of cutting edge.

Though in the case of the Black Eyed Peas, a good many Canadians may be wondering why the NFL booked the act for the Super Bowl after the group was widely-panned in Canada's media following what many regarded as an offensive performance at halftime of the 2005 Grey Cup in Vancouver.

The CANADIAN PRESS reported of the performance:

Black Eyed Peas were on the Grey Cup menu Sunday as the Grammy-winning recording artists put on an energetic - and raunchy - hip-hop halftime show before a sellout crowd at B.C. Place.

Led by demonstrative lead rapper Will.I.Am and sultry female vocalist Fergie, the Los Angeles quartet got the crowd of 59,157 out of its seats with Pump It and Don't Phunk With My Heart. Things took a turn for the sleazy when Fergie - adorned in short shorts and a black tank top - suggestively shook her derriere during My Humps.

Their performance was a far cry from the usual conservative Grey Cup halftime shows. Last year, Canadian icons The Tragically Hip entertained the crowd in Ottawa.

That's about as kind a review as you'll find of the show, which was also widely panned by fans for lack artistic merit: