The blind auditions continued on Monday night’s (February 6) two-hour episode of “The Voice,” with each judge picking up two more contestants to fill out the 12-person teams they’ll take to the battle phase later in the season.

The episode opened with a flashy medley of Prince hits “1999,” “Little Red Corvette” and “Kiss” performed by judges Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, before the crew got right to business with the auditions.

Team ChristinaAguilera picked up two acts, including the evening’s first performers: platonic duo the Line. The pair’s rendition of Tom Petty’s “American Girl” got all four judges’ attention, but despite much protest from Shelton, they picked Aguilera. Shelton later told the camera he thought they were “fooled by flash and boobs.”

She also scored an interesting choice in chanteuse Lindsay Pavao, who got Shelton and Cee Lo to swivel their chairs too. In one of the more unique performances of the night, Pavao transformed a Trey Songz tune into a ballad that Green compared to Fiona Apple. It was that uniqueness that won Christina over, and Pavao chose to join the “Beautiful” singer’s team.

Team AdamAfter being denied by two different singers, the Maroon 5 frontman picked up his first team member of the night in 50-year-old Kim Yarbrough — who revealed during an interview segment that one of her many past odd jobs was working security for the Dave Matthews Band. Her soulful rendition of Rufus and Chaka Khan’s “Tell Me Something Good” had all the judges dancing in their seats, but Adam won her over after asking for her name. When she said “Kim,” he corrected, “No, your name is Chaka Khan, baby.” Which is probably what any aspiring diva wants to hear after an audition.

Levine also added the night’s final contestant, 23-year-old Angel Taylor, to his team. The Los Angeles native grew up in an abusive household and turned to music to get through the tough times. Her performance of Adele’s “Someone Like You” packed an emotional punch.

Team Cee LoThe night’s two most compelling stories came from Jamar Rogers and Angie Johnson, both of whom opted for team Cee Lo. Rogers is a 29-year-old former drug addict from New York who was also featured on “American Idol” during season eight alongside his best friend and eventual finalist Danny Gokey. During his addiction, he contracted HIV. Now that he is clean and sober, Rogers volunteers for food-delivery services for the disabled in the Bronx. He also idolizes Cee Lo, so it’s good that the “Forget You” Grammy winner turned his chair around for Rogers’ performance of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.”

Cee Lo also picked up Staff Sergeant Angie Johnson, who was discovered and pushed to audition for “The Voice” after her fellow soldiers uploaded a video to YouTube of Johnson singing Adele on a military base while deployed in the Middle East. The video eventually tallied over a million views, which gave Johnson the confidence to hit the stage with a gutsy rendition of Pat Benatar’s “Heartbreaker.” “I love a girl with guts and confidence,” Cee Lo told the singer.

Team BlakeBlake’s first choice of the night fit firmly in his country wheelhouse: North Dakota native Gwen Sebastian, a musician who agreed with her drummer husband to hold off on having kids so she could take a go at being a performer. After her performance of “Stay,” Shelton remarked, “You are a great country vocalist … and I’m a country guy. I’m your man.”

A more surprising choice for the country superstar came late in the show, when he promised he’d do everything he could for Jermaine Paul, a backup singer who has toured the world with Alicia Keys. Keys even sent Paul a video message wishing him good luck. He made a surprising song choice in Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated,” which also earned props from Cee Lo, who told Paul he could “hear the swag” in his voice. And even though it looked like Paul was favoring Cee Lo, he opted to move out of his R&B comfort zone and into Shelton’s country/rock genre.

Four singers got the ax during the show when no judges swiveled around to offer a spot on their team. The judges went back and forth over country crooner Neil Middleton and pop singer Dez Durmon and ultimately regretted their decisions to pass on the singers. Durmon in particular had the judges all worked up, and when they turned around to see a handsome Yale football player standing in front of them, they practically slapped themselves across the head. “And it’s a good-looking guy,” Shelton sighed.

Such is the point of “The Voice,” though. Durmon would have been a sure thing if the judges had gotten a look at him beforehand, but it’s all about the pipes — at least for now — on NBC’s reality hit, which kicked off its season to some pretty great post-Super Bowl ratings.

Who was your favorite singer on the latest “Voice” episode? Let us know in the comments!

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SANGER, Texas — Country singer Randy Travis has apologized after being arrested on a charge of public intoxication outside a North Texas church. Denton County sheriff’s spokesman Tom Reedy said police in the town of Sanger arrested Travis early Monday after spotting a vehicle parked in front of a church and finding an open bottle of wine and Travis smelling of alcohol.

Reedy said Travis, whose hits include “Forever and Ever, Amen,” was brought to the Denton County jail about 1:30 a.m. and released six hours later.

The singer, who lives in the small town of Tioga near Sanger, apologized in a statement to The Associated Press “for what resulted following an evening of celebrating the Super Bowl.”

Travis, who launches a concert tour Friday, said he’s “committed to being responsible and accountable.”

MIA was shown raising her middle finger as she joined Madonna and Nicki Minaj in a performance of ‘Give Me All Your Luvin” during the NFL championship game.

© PA Images / David J. Phillip/AP

The Parents Television Council has now accused the NFL and Super Bowl broadcaster NBC of “enabling” MIA to make the obscene gesture and insisted that it was a mistake to book “performers who have based their careers on shock profanity and titillation” for the Super Bowl.

“It is unfortunate that a spectacular sporting event was overshadowed once again by broadcasting the selfish acts of a desperate performer,” the PTC said in a statement.

The group’s statement continued: “Either the NFL and NBC will take immediate steps to hold those accountable for this offensive material in front of a hundred million Americans, or they will feebly sit back and do nothing.”

The PTC added that it is looking for NBC and the NFL to take more substantial action than say sorry, because an apology would appear “hollow after yet another slap in the face to families”.

NBC has issued a public response to the incident, where it claimed that it did not blur MIA’s obscene gesture because it occurred too quickly for its technical system to catch.

The NFL also offered regrets over the matter, saying: “The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing, and we apologise to our fans.”

Sunday’s Super Bowl broke worldwide Twitter records with more than 10,000 messages per second being posted during the final minutes of the New York Giants victory over the New England Patriots.

Madonna’s half-time medley has drawn mixed reviews from viewers and critics. San Francisco firm Kanjoya has released its analysis of the performance, which found that the words “amazing”, “great”, “good”, “best”, “bad” and “hating” were among the most commonly-posted on social media websites.

> Super Bowl XLVI – The commercials: video> Top 5 Super Bowl movie trailers: The Avengers, Battleship, more

Watch Madonna’s Super Bowl half-time show below:

After losing a Super Bowl bet to “Extra” correspondent AJ Calloway, Maria Menounos showed off her incredible body in a tiny bikini in the middle of chilly NYC.

The good sport went through with her hosting duties alongside AJ and Mario Lopez, surrounded by a crowd of cheering NYC Giants fans.

On Sunday, as the game progressed and it looked like the Patriots were going to lose, Calloway warned Maria, “You better be doing some lunges, because it’s a small bikini.” Menounos replied, “There’s still time!”

On Monday, Maria tweeted a photo of herself in a robe, with the caption, “Ready to face the music.”

“Extra” friends who voted in our poll predicted Calloway would win — with 52-percent voting in his favor for the NY Giants.

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Madonna did it all on Sunday night when she performed during the Super Bowl halftime show in Indianapolis.

She was an Egyptian Queen “Vogue”-ing it up for her biggest devotees. She was a cheerleader, cheering on L-U-V alongside a middle-finger flinging M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj for “Give Me All Your Luvin’.” She got her “Music” on with LMFAO and she sang the gospel of “Like a Prayer” with Cee Lo Green.

In a sea of costume changes (with looks by Givenchy and Adidas Originals Jeremy Scott), dancers, acrobats, A-list collaborators and a killer set list, Madonna seemed to leave very little to chance. Sure, there were a few slip-ups, but, in the end, Madonna ensured that all anyone would be talking about around the water cooler come Monday morning was her, whether or not you completely loved what she did during the show.

“It’s Madonna Louise Ciccone’s world, we’re just living in it,” Billboard.com wrote about her 12-minute-plus performance. “The pop icon took to the world’s biggest stage to rock three-and-a-half older tracks and a playful new song during the Super Bowl halftime show.”

While the Super Bowl audience is usually dominated by people who most likely aren’t Madge fans, the singer, according to one review, seemed indifferent to that fact. “Madonna was defiantly unconcerned with the more conservative red state wing of the football fanbase who’d never be caught dead singing along to one of her songs,” the Los Angeles Times noted about her performance. “And her halftime show was pure spectacle by the Cleopatra of the game.”

The show, according to the Chicago Tribune, wasn’t just about her, but also about reminding fans that she’s about to drop her next album, MDNA, in March. “This was Madonna’s party, and besides breaking off bits of her greatest hits to remind people of a time when she was the biggest pop vixen on the planet, she had important career-advancing work to do,” the review noted. “Madonna, after all, never does anything unless she’s got something to sell, and with a new studio album due out in March and a tour to follow, she had plenty on her to-do list.”

Leave your review of Madonna’s halftime performance in the comments below!

09:46, Monday, 6 February 2012

After weeks of speculation, Madonna took to the stage at the Super Bowl yesterday (5th February), where she was joined by a variety of special guests.

The Queen of Pop was wheeled out to face her crowd by dancers dressed as Roman soldiers, as she wore a black and gold costume, complete with a crown – breaking out into an Aztec-style dance routine before singing her hit single, Vogue.

She was then joined by LMFAO for a rendition of Music, where Madge suffered a stumble in her towering heels, but carried on to perform a mash-up of her track, along with RedFoo and Sky Blu’s hits Party Rock Anthem and Sexy And I Know It.

Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. then came out to join Madonna to perform their new single Give Me All Your Luvin’.

Dressed as cheerleaders, the duo powered through the track – with M.I.A. causing controversy after flicking her middle finger to the camera at the end of her rap.

Cee Lo Green was the final special guest to join Madge, as the F**k You singer wore a marching band uniform to sing parts of Open You Heart and Express Yourself, before ending their set with Like A Prayer, as a large choir were also welcomed on to the stage for the grand finale.

The 53-year old went on to dedicate her Super Bowl stint to her father, stating: “I’m a hard-working girl that never stops [and] that’s because of him. I’m sure of all the things I’ve ever done in my life this will be the thing he’s most excited about.”

A cloud of smoke then engulfed the stage, as Madonna made her exit, leaving the message ‘World Peace’ behind her in lights.

The NFL have since apologised for M.I.A.’s onstage antics, stating: “There was a failure in NBC’s delay system. The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing and we apologise to our fans.”

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The veteran pop star puts on a spectacular display at the Super Bowl

Madonna on stage with Cee Lo Green at the Super Bowl. Source: AP

Madonna on stage with Nicki Minaj at the Super Bowl. Source: AP

Madonna opened the show with her mega hit Vogue. Source: Getty Images

POP icon Madonna proved she’s still got it, performing a spectacular and energetic medley of hits at the Super Bowl half-time show today.

The 53-year-old singer opened the 15-minute set on an elaborate stage with her 1990 mega hit Vogue.

The theme was Ancient Roman-Egyptian, with the star wearing a gold headpiece and Roman centurion skirt for the opening number.

Next up was the upbeat 2000 single Music, where Madonna got in on the action with four acrobatic male dancers who lifted her into aided aerial cartwheels in footage bound to be replayed for years to come.

A bouncing tight-rope artist from Cirque Du Soleil took the stage before Madonna was joined by LMFAO for a mini-duet of their hit song Sexy and I Know It.

There was plenty of characteristic pelvic-thrusting throughout the set, not least of all with Nicki Minaj and M.I.A for their performance of Give Me All Your Luvin’. Joined by a team of cheerleaders, Madonna joyously jumped around on stage waving her gold pom poms and bumping hips with the two rap artists.

Finally, R&B star Cee Lo Green joined the queen of pop for a rendition of Open Your Heart before closing the show with a spectacular duet of Like A Prayer, both dressed in flowing black-sequined choir gowns and supported by a large chorus.

And then, just like that, Madonna disappeared in a puff of white smoke through an opening in the floor, the words “World Peace” displayed across TV screens for the millions of viewers watching worldwide.

It was the consummate artist’s first half-time show for the Super Bowl in a career spanning three decades.

Kelly Clarkson and her spirited national anthem back-up singers. (Chris O’Meara – AP)

After recent national anthem flubs by Steven Tyler, Cyndi Lauper and, most notably, Christina Aguilera during last year’s Super Bowl, Kelly Clarkson had a clear task ahead of her during Super Bowl XLVI: sing ”The Star Spangled Banner” without screwing it up.

Fortunately, the pop star and former “American Idol” winner is a pro. And she proved it during Sunday’s game, hitting all the high notes spot-on and, even better, getting all the lyrics right. That Kelly Clarkson: She knows her ramparts.

What did you think of her performance? Watch it below, then post a comment or rate it via the poll that follows.

By Jen Chaney  |  06:39 PM ET, 02/05/2012

Categories:  Music | Tags:  Super Bowl Pop Culture

The Super Bowl is an advertiser’s biggest stage (more than 111 million fans are expected to tune in this year). It’s also an advertiser’s biggest gamble (a 30-second spot costs $3.5 million). Marketers are willing to take the risk, though: A successful ad can generate buzz well after the game for the companies, products and people who star in them.

“If you do it well, it has the opportunity to set your company straight or change the direction of your company,” says Allen Adamson, a managing director at brand consulting firm Landor Associates. “You’ll never get all those people in one room again until next year.”

Here are three of the most talked-about ads from last year’s Super Bowl and what happened to the companies that created them:

May the force be with you

Volkswagen’s ad last year had everything to grab your attention: a cute, little boy, a retro theme, a funny plot.

The German automaker charmed millions of viewers with a “Star Wars” themed ad for its redesigned 2012 Passat sedan. The commercial shows a young boy in a Darth Vader costume trying unsuccessfully to use “The Force” on a doll, washer machine and even his pet dog. Finally, he thinks he’s done so when his dad uses a remote to start the Passat. The boy is shocked.

Volkswagen took a gamble by releasing the spot before the game — something most advertisers didn’t do last year. But the move paid off: the ad quickly became a viral hit on video-sharing website YouTube, with 49.4 million views since. And it came in No. 3 on USA Today’s Ad Meter, which ranks Super Bowl commercials. (The top two ads, tied for first, was a Bud Light ad showing dogs catering a party and a Doritos spot featuring a pug that knocks down a man who taunts him with the chips.)

The ad also helped tout the new sedan. The Passat went on sale in the summer and has been a popular seller for Volkswagen in the U.S. In December, for example, volume sales of the sedan more than doubled to nearly 23,000 for the year.

For its part, Volkswagen is revisiting its Star Wars motif during Sunday’s game, only this time with an ad for its Volkswagen Beetle. The carmaker has released a “teaser spot” for its commercial that shows dogs dressed as Star Wars characters barking “The Imperial March.” It has already gotten 10 million views on YouTube.

Then, on Wednesday, the company released online a 75-second version of the 60-second Super Bowl ad that shows a dog losing weight so he can chase after a Beetle. Then it cuts away to show aliens in the Cantina from “Star Wars” discussing the ads.

Volkswagen’s thinking: Why depart from a proven formula?

Imported from Detroit

While many Super Bowl ads use humor, kids or animals to tug at the heartstrings, Chrysler took an altogether different approach with its cinematic “Imported from Detroit” spot to roll out its 200 sedan.

Set to a pulsating beat from Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” song, the ad shows gritty footage of the hip-hop star driving the 200 through the streets of Detroit, past city landmarks, historic homes and of course, people. The ad ended with Eminem on stage in front of a humming choir with the message: “This is the Motor City, and this is what we do.”

The ad, which paid homage to Detroit’s automotive history, resonated with people immediately. It tied for the third most popular Super Bowl in a ranking by Michigan State University. (The Volkswagen ads, the one starring the mini-Darth Vader and another with an animated Beetle got the top spots.) Since then, the Chrysler ad has been viewed 14 million times on YouTube.

The “Imported from Detroit” slogan caught on, too. The term has become popular among Detroiters. It has been plastered on T-shirts and hats, helping Chrysler’s online store sales to more than double. And about a dozen people have started Facebook groups using the tagline.

Larry Callahan’s Selected of God choir, the Detroit group that co-stars in the ad, also gained popularity. The choir has since created a music video for the song, and it’s been viewed nearly 390,000 times since the end of July. It’s also available on iTunes. And a new full length CD is due out in March.

But it seems the ad did more for the city of Detroit than Chrysler. After the ad hit in February, the number of 200s sold jumped four-fold from the previous month to more than 3,000. But overall, only about 87,000 were sold last year. By comparison, the top-selling car in America, the Toyota Camry, sold more than 300,000.

This year, Chrysler has one 60-second Super Bowl spot. It hasn’t released any details about the ad, but it’s not expected to be as big of a hit.

Not so funny after all

Generating buzz during the Super Bowl isn’t always a good thing. Groupon learned that the hard way.

For its first Super Bowl ad, daily deals site Groupon hired a Miami ad firm known for its funny and quirky ads. The agency, Crispin Porter & Bogusky, created fake public service announcements that showed celebrities who seemingly were discussing social issues, but instead are really talking about Groupon deals.

In one ad, for example, actress Elizabeth Hurley lamented deforestation, but then discussed a deal on a Brazilian wax. In another, actor Timothy Hutton appears to be talking about the crisis in Tibet, but instead raves about a Groupon deal on Tibetan food.

“The people of Tibet are in trouble,” Hutton said in the ad. “But they still whip up an amazing fish curry.”

All ads pointed viewers to www.savethemoney.org, which encouraged visitors to donate to each of the charities related to the causes in the ads. But that wasn’t clear to everyone who say the commercials.

A Tibet human rights organization called Free Tibet called the ad about Tibet exploitative. And Alterian, a firm that measures online activity, said it was among the five most-discussed ads online on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, but the buzz was negative. Meanwhile, it didn’t score high on any ad popularity polls.

Groupon later said it had trusted its advertising agency too much. It would up pulling the ads a week after the Super Bowl, and ending its relationship with CP+B.

Since the ad flap, the Chicago-based firm became a public company in November. The company’s stock has been volatile since then. Its shares, originally priced at $20, have traded in a range of $14.85 to $31.14.

This year, Groupon is sitting out the Super Bowl

Image Credit: Dana Edelson/NBC

Things are going to be looking a little bit different around Saturday Night Live tonight. Not only will the ubiquitous Channing Tatum be on hand to host the show for his first time (musical guest Bon Iver will make his Studio 8H debut as well), but the SNL cast will be short one member tonight. And the rest of the season, for that matter, as we reported on Tuesday that featured player Paul Brittain has exited the cast for good to “to pursue other projects.”

Yes, that unfortunately means no more  Goran “Funky Boy” Bogdan, no more “Sex” Ed Vincent, and no more Lord Cecil Wyndemere. Unless, of course, Tatum wanted to take on the task of playing Wyndemere. (Which would be a helluva sight, wouldn’t it?) While it’s doubtful the hunky star will actually play the little Lord for a sketch, it’s a safe bet that the actor will address his reign over Hollywood in 2012. Or, at the very least, we could hope for a Magic Mike-inspired sketch. (Then again when it comes to SNL male stripper sketches, nothing could ever come close or compare to this classic.)

You can post your thoughts on tonight’s episode here while it’s happening and then be sure to check back in tomorrow morning for a full recap. So, will you be tuning in for tonight’s Saturday Night Live, PopWatchers? Be honest: For Channing Tatum or Bon Iver? Do you already sort of miss Paul Brittain? Share in the comments section below!

Read more:Channing Tatum practices saying his name in ‘Saturday Night Live’ promo — VIDEOWatch Channing Tatum get his ass kicked in the first five minutes of ‘Haywire’ — VIDEOChanning Tatum, Matt Bomer in exclusive ‘Magic Mike’ photos