I watched the half time show during the Grey Cup on Sunday. For those who didn't, it was the Black Eyed Peas performing a variety of their hits and causing a little controversy.
From what I can tell, there are three reasons for this controversy. I'll list the three reasons and comment on each.
They Aren't Canadian
Nothing is more Canadian than the Grey Cup. I don't understand why we had to import talent for the half-time show. Last year, The Hip performed and it seemed so appropriate. This year a poppy hip-hop band from Los Angeles was flown in to entertain the nation.
If the CFL so badly wanted to appeal to today's youth, couldn't they have hired Avril Lavigne? What about Sum41? Wouldn't Nickelback have been a perfect fit? I'm certain acceptable Canadian artists were available and that's my strong preference. The Grey Cup is ours!
Their Performance Wasn't Suitable For Families
An entry about "My Humps" is long overdue. This is the song that asks "Whatcha gonna do with all that junk? All that junk inside your trunk?" The catchy refrain revolves around the line "My hump my hump my hump my hump my lovely lady lumps".
WTF? These are the dumbest lyrics in the history of pop music, and there have been some awfully dumb lyrics. My hump? My lovely lady lumps? There's no way Fergie singing this song wearing those short shorts is rated G for General Audiences. I watched it alone, and I was blushing. Having acknowledged that this is a rather immature song about T&A, I didn't have a big issue with the content. It didn't cross the line.
They Suck
This is my biggest complaint about the performance. I can't stand this band. They suck. I remember moments after we launched SmellsLikeSour.com back in September 2003 somebody nominated "Where Is Da Luv?" for SLS10. I immediately posted my first SLS comment: "Boring, middle of the road, sanitized hip-hop."
I feel the same way about them today. They're weak, they're dull and they're unworthy of being the Grey Cup half-time show. The fact they're American irks me, the fact they were rather lewd is something I can live with but the fact they suck trumps everything and shapes my opinion of the show.
At the end of the day, it's all about the music.
