Beyoncé at the Super Bowl

It’s official! Beyoncé will perform at halftime during the Super Bowl next year. Rumors began to swirl when as unidentified source claimed that B would perform on the NFL’s big night, but Beyoncé confirmed it on October 16^th. She updated her Tumblr and blog with a close-up photo of her face, in which she’s wearing black football face paint under her eyes with “Feb. 3” and “2013” written on them in white. February 3^rd, 2013, is the date of Super Bowl XLVII, to be held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

The NFL seems to have made a return to featuring pop acts during the much-anticipated shows. Last year, Madonna performed and received higher viewership than the rest of the game. The Black-Eyed Peas headlined the year before. These acts followed a few years of legendary rock groups like the Rolling Stones, The Who, U2, and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. It seems that after the wardrobe malfunction during Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake’s performance (a.k.a. Nipplegate), the NFL and networks wanted to avoid any surprises, so they chose older rockers who probably wouldn’t flash anyone. They must be ready to trust again, so they’re booking pop acts, even though MIA’s middle finger made a surprise appearance during Madonna’s performance last year.

Madonna’s performance last year was full of surprise guests, including Nicki Minaj, MIA, Cee Lo Green, and LMFAO.  Beyoncé has revealed surprises during performances in the past, like when she opened her jacket at the end of her number at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards to announce that she was expecting. She also recently surprised fans at her husband Jay-Z’s last concert in Brooklyn, New York, when she joined him onstage and performed a song on her own. Can we expect the Hov to join her on the halftime stage? MTV brought up a few possible surprise guests, including Frank Ocean. Ocean worked with Beyoncé on her latest album, plus he is from New Orleans (the host city of Super Bowl XLVII). Another possibility (that I’m crossing my fingers for) is that Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams could join B on stage for a Destiny’s Child reunion. After the Spice Girls reunited at the closing ceremony of the London Olympics, another girl group reunion at a sporting event could be quite fitting.

Until February 3^rd, I’ll be sitting here with my fingers crossed, hoping for a Destiny’s Child reunion, a Jay-Z cameo, or something even bigger. She’s got the “Countdown to Touchdown” on her site, so she has lots of time to plan something big.