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Spongebob Squarepants looks set to make a surprise appearance during the Super Bowl half-time show , it has been revealed.
A petition signed by 1.2 million people, started following the death of SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenberg
The band has seemingly given into demands, as images of Spongebob were glimpsed during preparations for the show.
The Mercedes Benz Stadium had previously hinted that the character may make an appearance, posting a GIF of Spongebob on social media late last year. Maroon 5 also briefly used an image of Spongebob in a promotional video.
Pictures of Spongebob’s half-time appearance have been unveiled on Twitter, which you can see below.
The move comes after Maroon 5 cancelled their scheduled press conference to promote the show.
Numerous acts, including Cardi B and Rihanna, have spoken about pulling out of the half-time show in protest against the NFL for their treatment of Colin Kaepernick. Other artists, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, have called on Maroon 5 to cancel their show altogether.
Show all 10 1 /10The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – 2008 No frills, just good old-fashioned rock and roll. Tom Petty’s performance is often omitted from rankings of the best Super Bowl halftime shows, but we’re including it here because he absolutely crushed it. Kicking things off with “American Girl”, he followed it up with “Won’t Back Down”, “Full Moon Fever” and the emotional “Free Fallin’”, rounding off with a stirring rendition of “Runnin’ Down a Dream”.
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The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked U2 – 2002 U2 had the unenviable task of trying to raise everyone’s spirits just six months after the 9/11 attacks, but they did an admirable job, with performances of uplifting tracks like “Beautiful Day”.
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The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked Paul McCartney – 2005 McCartney preceded the pop stars trying to outdo one another with extravagant stage designs and lavish costumes. Instead, he offered four beautifully played songs, of which the final one, “Hey Jude”, prompted an epic singalong with the crowd at Jacksonville’s EverBank Field Stadium.
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The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked Madonna – 2012 One of the few to outdo Katy Perry’s 2015 entrance was Madonna, three years earlier, who appeared on a giant golden chariot led by about a hundred buff men dressed as Roman soldiers. She brought out Nicki Minaj and MIA for “Give Me All Your Luvin’” and also performed hits “Like a Prayer”, “Music” and “Express Yourself”.
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The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked Katy Perry – 2015 There are few entrances as grand as standing on top of a giant golden lion with glowing eyes. Katy Perry went all out for her halftime show in 2015 with performances of “Roar”, “Dark Horse”, “California Gurls”, “Firework” and “Teenage Dream”. And who can forget the notorious Left Shark and his poor coordination?
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The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked Bruce Springsteen – 2009 “Put the chicken fingers down and turn your television all the way up,” the Boss ordered. Springsteen’s 12-minute set started out with “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and also included “Born to Run”, “Glory Days” and “Working on a Dream”.
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The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake – 2004 Janet Jackson delivered a blistering, brilliantly choreographed show that ended with “Rock Your Body”. But the moment Justin Timberlake ripped away her costume, and exposed her breast for approximately half a second, overshadowed all of that. The incident, dubbed “nipplegate”, even inspired the creation of YouTube. Jackson was turned into a scapegoat for the ensuing controversy, while Timberlake didn’t receive anywhere near as much scrutiny.
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The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked Lady Gaga – 2017 One of the most outlandish halftime shows in recent memory, Lady Gaga began her performance by hurtling herself from the top of the stadium (attached to a harness, of course) – sparking a thousand memes. Once safely on the ground, she thrilled audiences with her biggest hits: “Poker Face”, “Born This Way”, “Telephone”, “Just Dance”, “Million Reasons” and “Bad Romance”.
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The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked Beyonce – 2013 Beyonce basically ties with Prince for the greatest all-time Super Bowl performance. It was bold, it was fierce, it was virtually flawless. Bursting onto the stage with “Crazy in Love” after an a capella “Love on Top”, she threw down some of her best dance moves, before moving on to other hits including “End of Time” and “Baby Boy”. Lastly, there was a hysteria-inducing Destiny’s Child reunion with Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland – a performance so powerful, the lights at the stadium cut out when it ended.
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The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked Prince – 2007 The greatest. Of course, the Purple One wasn’t responsible for the rain that began to pour during his hair-raising 12-minute performance, which included covers of “We Will Rock You” and “All Along the Watchtower”. But the timing was so perfect, you wanted to believe he was. Following renditions of “1999/Baby I’m a Star”, Prince closed on “Purple Rain” in what has to be ranked among one of his greatest live performances of that song.
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The Super Bowl takes place tonight (3 February) in the US.
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