Strike a pose... but not that one

Madonna has built a nearly 30-year career on her ability to shock and surprise, especially during awards shows and live TV appearances. And though her glittery, high-energy halftime extravaganza at Sunday's (Monday in several countries) Super Bowl drew praise from the likes of Ashton Kutcher, Christina Aguilera, and Perez Hilton, it was a slip of the finger, and the tongue, by one of her guests that grabbed headlines. During a performance of Madonna's new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin'," singer M.I.A. topped her guest rap with a defiant flip of the middle finger and a not-safe-for-primetime s-bomb lyric.
 NBC's censors were not fast enough to obscure the gesture, or completely blot out the expletive, and following the game the network issued an apology for the incident. "We apologise for the inappropriate gesture that aired during halftime," a spokesperson said. "It was a spontaneous gesture that our delay system caught late." But that explanation doesn't excuse the censors' inaction. However, fault shouldn't be solely on the network. They may have a responsibility to censor inappropriate portions of television broadcasts, but the performers are the ones attempting to stir up trouble, and even if the censors acted in a timely manner, the people in the stadium would still see M.I.A's middle finger. The censors don't have any real control over the performers. But at least there weren't any "wardrobe malfunctions" during this halftime show.