The half-time alternative

Super Bowl half-time shows often burn more vivid images into the American consciousness than the football game of the year, and can claim millions more viewers.

They can also ignite controversy, as Janet Jackson did with her halftime ‘wardrobe malfunction’ in 2004. And last year, performing with Madonna, British-born hip-hop star MIA gave the finger to 114 million people.

Outraged by the raunchy behaviour, or simply to capture some of the Super Bowl’s super-sized audience, some religious programmers are now producing half-time shows of their own.

In response to the Jackson breast-baring, Sky Angel, a national Christian television network, offered a half-time alternative to Paul McCartney singing Hey Jude the next year, with a special including testimony from Christian athletes.

More recently, Catholic TV and the Eternal Word Television Network have aired the Faith Bowl at half-time. This has featured Catholics in sports preaching about how faith can inspire an athlete.

Last year, Yeshiva University, the Orthodox Jewish university in New York City, introduced its Torah Super Bowl Halftime Show online.

On Sunday, Rabbi Kenneth Brander, head of the Center for the Jewish Future at YU, will go up against 16-time Grammy winner Beyonce at half-time, to compare football heroes to biblical heroes. He said the show was a chance to impart some Torah wisdom.

Watch www.yu.edu.