The Super Bowl XXIII halftime show took place on January 22, 1989 at the Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida. It was entitled "BeBop Bamboozled in 3-D". It featured a

1950s The 1950s (pronounced nineteen-fifties; commonly abbreviated as the "Fifties" or the " '50s") (among other variants) was a decade that began on January 1, 1950, and ended on December 31, 1959. Throughout the decade, the world continued its re ...

theme, an Elvis impersonator, 3D effects (for the broadcast audience), and a magic trick.

Selection of MagiCom Entertainment as producer

The NFL was looking to find new producers and ideas for its halftime shows in the years 1988, 1989, and 1990. NFL officials met with several individuals, among them was Dan Witkowski, a veteran

stage illusion Stage illusions are large-scale magic tricks. As the name implies, stage illusions are distinct from all other types of magic in that they are performed a considerable distance away from the audience, usually on a stage, in order to maintain the ill ...

ist and owner of the small company MagicCom, He did not give them specifics for a show at the meeting, but rather asked for the opportunity to give a formal presentation to them, which was granted. To pique the interest of the league officials, Witkowski put a padlock on the leather-bound pitch books he sent to the member of the league's halftime show selection committee ahead of his presentation. After his presentation, Witkowski and his company were given the opportunity to co-produce the 1988 Super Bowl pre-game show (as a dry-run of sorts) in addition to the 1989 halftime show.

Production

The halftime show created was titled "BeBop Bamboozled". It was decided that the show would have a

theme. The show featured an Elvis impersonator dubbed "Elvis Presto", played by then-'' Solid Gold'' dancer Alex Cole. Despite this, not one actual Elvis Presley song was performed, and the show instead featured songs from

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

among other tunes. Cole had not originally been the individual cast to impersonate Elvis. Rather, he was the

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

for an individual cast, who had previously played Elvis on Broadway. When that individual backed out, Cole was cast in his place. The vocals of "Elvis Presto" were pre-recorded, performed by Jody LoMedico. The show featured roughly 2,000

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-area dancers and performers. Among the choreographers was June Taylor. Donald Pippin was in charge of the music. A number of magic tricks had been considered by Witkowski. It was decided that their big trip would be a large-scale card trick. The show also featured the use of 102 custom-made Harley Davidson motorcycles, as well as pink

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

s and fireworks. Several scenes included computer generated 3D images. Prior to the game, Coca-Cola distributed

3-D glasses Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...

at retailers for viewers to use. At the start of the halftime show, primary sponsor Diet Coke aired the first commercial in 3D. Coca-Cola had originally planned to use the 3D Diet Coke commercial as part of the '' Moonlighting'' season finale, which was also aired in 3D, but withdrew plans due to the

1988 Writers Guild of America Strike The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike was a strike action taken by members of both the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) against major United States television and film studios represented by the ...

. This made the show the first 3D television event to be broadcast. Coca-Cola manufactured 26 million pairs of 3D glasses, despite the Super Bowl having a much greater audience.

Synopsis

The show began with a pre-taped introduction by Bob Costas, followed by the 3D Diet Coke commercial. The show then began with "Elvis Presto" (an Elvis Presley impersonator), the performance's emcee, appearing from inside a jukebox. Various songs were performed. Ironically, none of them were Elvis Presley songs. Among the stunts in the show was the appearance of dancers defying gravity by leaning horizontally against parking meters. 3D visual graphics were incorporated into the broadcast. A card trick was performed. Presto urged the stadium audience to pick one of four cards, and an

applause meter A clap-o-meter, clapometer or applause meter is a measurement instrument that purports to measure and display the volume of clapping or applause made by an audience. It can be used to indicate the popularity of contestants and decide the result of ...

indicated which card the audience had chosen.

Setlist

Critical reception

Writing for the Sun Sentinel, Jack Zink compared the show to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He also opined that the "pregame entertainment was more enjoyable". Many outlets have retrospectively ranked the show as among the worst halftime performances.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Super Bowl 023 halftime show 1989 in American television 1989 in Florida

023 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

January 1989 events in the United States