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During last night’s halftime show, the mini-concert by U2 managed to strike
the right mood of patriotism, pride and solemnity in this first Super Bowl
since the Sept. 11 tragedy.

As Bono began to sing the group’s second number, a scrim was hoisted from
the stage floor to the top of the stadium. It projected to the entire
stadium audience, and to viewers around the world, the names of the
thousands of victims < passengers, pilots, firefighters, police and other
rescue personnel and civilians.

At the end of the song, the Irish rocker Bono pulled open his coat to reveal
its colorful lining: an American flag.

It was theater, yes < but on a grand scale. Given the occasion, it was grand
indeed.

During the lengthy pregame show on Fox, nonfootball content ranged from
humorous pieces by Bernie Mac and Jimmy Kimmel to presidentially patriotic
segments featuring former First Lady Nancy Reagan and former Presidents Bill
Clinton and George Bush.

Mariah Carey sang the national anthem just before the game, doing more to
rehabilitate her career, and before a larger audience, than any other move
she could have made. And Paul McCartney, running to the stage like a rugby
player with a guitar, sang one song < his newest, "Freedom" < as a giant
hand-painted banner of the Statue of Liberty unfurled behind him.

There was even a re-creation of the signing of the Declaration of
Independence, which didn’t resonate as fully as might have been hoped.

One image that did work, unquestionably: an overhead shot of Ground Zero. No
commentary accompanied it, and none was needed.

In addition to the official midgame show put on by Fox, there was the one
counterprogrammed by NBC, a special “Playboy Playmates” edition of “Fear
Factor.” (Part one, actually: NBC was so greedy it asked viewers to return
after the game for the conclusion.)

With a countdown to the second half, and more gratuitous shots of scantily
clad women posing and posturing than on ABC’s recent “Victoria’s Secret”
special, NBC’s “Fear Factor” episode was a wall-to-wall, coast-to-coast
embarrassment.

Its alleged highlight, the much-promoted, bug-infested-strawberry-eating
sequence, didn’t even occur on the “Fear Factor” halftime show, but was
saved by the network until its postgame concluding ripoff.

This was a bait-and-switch tactic on so many reprehensible levels, it’s
astounding. Not only did it try to lure viewers away from the patriotic
Super Bowl halftime show with the crassest content imaginable, it didn’t
even deliver what it promised until some two hours later.

Good for Fox. Shame on NBC.

By DAVID BIANCULLI
Daily News TV Critic

The precision required for Super Bowl halftime shows often meant the
big stars had to prerecord their singing.

But for Super Bowl XXXVI, getting U2 to perform meant only
constructing the band’s heart-shaped stage in the space of a
commercial break.

The success of the Irish band’s 2001 tour was based on an anything-
can-happen anticipation, and its halftime performance began with
frontman Bono breaking tackles from fans as he made his way to the
stage singing “Beautiful Day.”

With his seasoned band churning behind him, this was a group clearly
used to big events, big crowds and big statements.

Part of the reason U2 was asked to play was the way its songs fit the
mood of mourning, healing and resolve that followed Sept. 11.

In concerts last fall, its approach to the tragedy was overpowering
yet understated: The projections of thousands of victims’ names as U2
played its solemn “One.” For the Super Bowl, the effect took on the
epic proportions of the Louisiana Superdome, with names stretching up
a banner hung from the 10-story ceiling and even then spilling into
the seats.

But Sunday, instead of “One,” U2 chose a bigger hit with more
uplift, “Where The Streets Have No Name.” Its verses of searching, as
well as its triumphant vow of “still building then burning down
love,” challenged an audience imbued with daylong segments on
patriotism to find a source of love.

Only then did Bono reveal, with admirable subtlety, the American flag
lining of his coat, as if to demonstrate beneath his rock star
exterior, he’s with his U.S. fans on this most American of days.

The unbridled patriotism - and a more traditional approach to Super
Bowl performances - was left to the lengthy pregame show which, after
some live glimpses at No Doubt and Barenaked Ladies early on, was
left largely to a “Salute to America.” It began with a curiously
balanced song by Barry Manilow, “Let Freedom Ring,” with Yolanda
Adams, James Ingram, Patti LaBelle and Wynonna adding heft and soul
to the choruses.

Paul McCartney was introduced with a clip of his work with the
Beatles and Wings. He ran to the midfield stage accompanied by scores
of cheerleaders to sing his “Freedom,” as a Keith Haring-like banner
of the Statue of Liberty unfurled behind him.

The work of the Boston Pops was mostly heard and not seen, replaced
by a filmed tribute to Lincoln involving a series of ex-presidents.

The Pops also played behind Marc Anthony and Mary J. Blige as they
sang “America the Beautiful,” an easy task for him, but something she
rose to accomplish.

Likewise, the national anthem was a breeze for Mariah Carey, who
fairly glowed with the know- ledge she could do no wrong, since her
vocals were prerecorded.

-Roger Catlin

Copyright 2002, Hartford Courant

(1/7/02, 6 p.m. ET) — With “Beautiful Day” a Grammy favorite last year, three different songs up for Grammy honors this year, and two nominations for the album All That You Can’t Leave Behind, the members of U2 said they’re pleased they were recognized for the quality of their songs. The band’s eight nominations top all nominees for the 44th Annual Grammy Awards, which will be held in Los Angeles on February 27.

“It was great when ‘Beautiful Day’ did so well last year, and we’re thrilled that the album received eight nominations,” said U2 in a statement. “Especially the three other songs highlighted, because we’ve always felt that this album was not about any one song. Thank you.”

The band’s “Walk On” was nominated for record of the year and best rock song. “Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” is up for song of the year and best pop performance by duo or group with vocal. “Elevation” is nominated for best rock song and best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal. The band’s album, All That You Can’t Leave Behind, is up for album of the year and best rock album.

U2 have begun work on the follow-up to All That You Can’t Leave Behind.

New tracks being worked on include one called Electrical Storm, according to
reports.

Frontman Bono says the band have “hit form” following their Elevation World
Tour of 2001.

Canadian website www.canoe.com/jam reports Bono told Irish music magazine
Hot Press: “The band is so tight, coming straight off the tour. We’ve hit
form.”

U2 are also thought to be working on the soundtrack for the upcoming Martin
Scorsese film Gangs Of New York, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz
and Daniel Day-Lewis.

It tells the story of Irish and Italian immigrants in New York at the turn
of the century.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Irish rock band U2, which enjoyed a triumphant 2001
playing to sold-out crowds in support of its acclaimed new album, led the
list of nominees on Friday for the Grammy Awards, the music industry’s top
prizes.

U2 picked up eight nominations, including the key album, song and record of
the year categories, organizers announced at a news conference in Beverly
Hills.

The group’s four members were “thrilled and really excited, and not at all
blase,” U2 manager Paul McGuinness told Reuters from the band’s Dublin base
after he tracked them down across Europe to break the good news. “There’s a
lot of very distinguished records on this list.”

In a field largely devoid of the controversy that dogged the 2001 Grammys
when badboy rapper Eminem grabbed all the attention, soulful newcomers India
Arie, 26, and Alicia Keys, 20, received seven and six nods each,
respectively.

Classical conductor and composer Pierre Boulez, who already has 23 Grammys,
also picked up six nominations. Among the acts with five nominations were
bluegrass musician Alison Krauss, R&B singer Brian McKnight and R&B duo
Outkast.

Five artists received four nominations each: producer T-Bone Burnett,
Canadian pop singer Nelly Furtado, rock band Train, Aerosmith singer Steven
Tyler and country-rocker Lucinda Williams.

Tireless troubadour Bob Dylan was among the many acts to score three
nominations, including album of the year for his acclaimed “Love and
Theft,” the 43rd release of his career.

Arie and Keys will compete against each other in six races, including best
new artist, a closely watched category that also includes pop singers David
Gray and Furtado and rock band Linkin Park. Grammy winners will be announced
during ceremonies on Feb. 27 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

SONGWRITING BACK IN STYLE

The awards, which honor artists in 101 categories, ranging from pop, rock
and soul to classical, spoken word and polka, appeared to favor acclaimed
singer/songwriters over disposable acts whose songs are written for them by
producers. All the contenders for the song of the year category, which
honors the songwriter, performed their own tunes.

“If we can get back to the great singer/songwriters, music will just
improve overnight,” said Stevie Nicks, a Grammy nominee in the female rock
vocal category.

U2’s mournful “Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of,” a tribute to
Australian rocker Michael Hutchence who killed himself in 1997, will compete
for song of the year against Arie’s “Video,” Keys’ “Fallin’,” Furtado’s
“I’m Like A Bird” and Train’s “Drops of Jupiter.”

U2 — singer Bono, guitarist the Edge, bass player Adam Clayton and drummer
Larry Mullen Jr. — already has 10 Grammys, including album of the year for
its 1987 opus “The Joshua Tree,” which has sold about 17 million copies
worldwide.

Its contender for the 2002 race, “All That You Can’t Leave Behind,” has
sold just over 10 million copies worldwide since its October 2000 release,
McGuinness said, and is on track to surpass “The Joshua Tree.”

Other album of the year nominees this year, besides U2 and Dylan, were
Arie’s “Acoustic Soul,” Outkast’s “Stankonia” and the soundtrack to the
movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”

U2 won the record and song of the year races last year for ”Beautiful
Day,” a track released before the Grammys’ Sept. 30 cutoff date.

Its record of the year candidate this year is “Walk On,” which is
dedicated to Burmese political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi. Also competing
were Arie’s “Video,” Keys’ “Fallin’,” OutKast’s “Ms. Jackson” and
Train’s “Drops of Jupiter.”

U2 WILL PERFORM AT GRAMMYS

U2 will perform at the Grammys, McGuinness confirmed, and is considering
touring Europe in the summer. The group played 115 shows across North
America and Europe in 2001.

U2 was also nominated for rock album, and the pop (”Stuck in a Moment You
Can’t Get Out Of”) and rock (”Elevation”) vocal performance categories.
“Elevation” and “Walk On” are competing against each other for rock
song.

Arie and Keys will also compete against each other for female R&B vocal
performance, R&B song and R&B album. The only category where they are not
head to head is album of the year, where Keys’ “Songs In A Minor” was a
surprise omission. The acclaimed work was the best selling debut album of
2001 in the United States, selling 4.1 million units since June.

Arie brushed off talk of a battle of the divas.

“I’m just gonna pray that I will get whatever I deserve,” she said.
“Anything’s possible (on the night). Nothing’s ever going to stop me from
making music, so it’s not that serious. As long as I’m always inspired,
that’s the most important thing.”

The Dylan album was important but a “a little inaccessible” to some Grammy
voters, said Michael Greene, president of the National Academy of Recording
Arts & Sciences, which may have accounted for its relative paucity of nods.

Dylan’s groundbreaking albums of the 1960s and 1970s were famously
overlooked by Grammy voters, fueling complaints that the awards are
hopelessly out of touch. Overdue recognition finally came in 1998 when his
previous release “Time Out of Mind” won three Grammys, including album of
the year.

? Reuters, 2002.

Bono reveals dad’s dying words
The Sun, December 07, 2001

Dominic Mohan

THE sound of cheering from the audience was still ringing in U2 legend Bono?s ears. Many of the crowd were fighting the traffic trying to get home from their latest gig.

But the singer was at his dying dad?s hospital bedside in Dublin having jetted there by private plane.

It was a pilgrimage he made night after night as the band played in Europe.

And he will never forget the moment he saw 75-year-old Bob Hewson slip away and the angry last words his father whispered as his son held him and life ebbed away.

It is a rare exclusive interview and probably his most revealing as Bono, 41, speaking openly for the first time about his heartache as the band finish their mammoth nine-month Elevation tour, talks of his agony.

He told me: ?Those songs we sang on tour really helped me through the death of my dad.

?The problem with grief is bottling it up and that?s when it can really floor you. You have to express it and face it and I was doing that every night.?

He is talking for the first time about the death of his dad three months ago. Bono was at his dad?s bedside as he died and, amazingly, on stage hours later.

He admits: ?It was a very odd time ? I used to leave stage, immediately get on a plane home and get in to Dublin. I would have one glass of Bushmills to steady my nerves, then go in.

?I slept beside my father with the sound of the audience ringing in my ears during his dying days.

?The U2 crowd are the noisiest crowd in the world and I?d still hear it. There were probably still people driving home and I would be lying there beside his silence and he?d just stare at me, or mutter something. I did get to spend a lot of time with him at the end.

?We didn?t have the greatest relationship when I was growing up but towards the end of his life we made our peace and I felt very lucky to be beside him.

?I was there when he said his last words. He woke up and looked at me and I looked at him and he said: ?Are you all f*in’ mad?? and I said ?What?? because he?d been whispering and he said: ?Are you all f*in’ mad? This place is a prison and I want to go home.? And I guess he did.

?I later realised that he might not just have been talking about the hospital ? it was his sickness he was fed up with.

?The way I look at it now is that he?s got a new body. I?m not afraid of death and I know I?ll see him again.?

In March, I was in Miami for the spectacular opening of U2?s Elevation tour ? without doubt one of the greatest rock ?n roll tours of all time.

Nine months later Bono is back as it comes to end in the same city ? but much has changed.

Bono?s dad is dead, so is George Harrison. The Twin Towers have gone and the world is at war. It weighs heavy on Bono?s heart.

Luckily he, along with bandmates Larry Mullen Jnr, The Edge and Adam Clayton, love touring.

Bono is reflecting on the amazing jaunt. But he admits the flip-side is that he has become a cyberdad, only knowing his four children, Jordan, 12, Eve, ten, Elijah, two, and one-year-old John Abraham via email. That is why, in some ways, he sounds pleased the tour is over.

He explains, his voice croaking: ?I?m just a natural travel rat. I love being on the road except for one thing. I?ve now got kids and I have a family that I really miss when I?m not with them.

?Even though they can come out and we spend time together, I?m just ready for me and them now ? being a dad again.

?Being a cyberdad doesn?t suit me. I get pictures of the kids over the internet and I?m looking at them on my computer, thinking how sad is this.

?I?m looking at pictures and I want to see them now and cuddle them ? and I can?t.

?Of course it can be hard on a relationship but my wife Ali is great. When I go off on tour, she throws a party … she?s a very independent spirit, no insecurities as a woman.

?I think the key to a great relationship is that sometimes there?s some mystery in it. She defends my privacy as much as I do.

?My kids are amazing ? I don?t like the fact that Elijah thinks I work on an aeroplane and every time one goes over, he says, ?Oh, there?s Dad.??

The tour has only just finished but already the band are thinking about playing again next year and are even in the studio working on tracks for a follow-up to the global hit album All That You Can?t Leave Behind.

Bono says: ?There?s a side of me that likes to run amok and I?ll have a wild and messy Christmas with my family and friends. But we have work to do.

?This band is on fire right now and we want to capture the power of this tour in some songs.

?I love life but I?ve got a family and things I take very seriously.

?I get bored with partying and maybe that?s my saving grace ? some people don?t. I love the idea of carnival but it comes before Lent. You have to have both.

?If I?m drinking too much then I know when to stop ? perhaps if I hadn?t found somebody as special as Ali, or if I didn?t have the friends or the faith I have, then maybe I?d be there with Michael Hutchence.

?You can never judge people who get into trouble because there but for the grace of God …?

As the tour began, Bono claimed the group were hoping to regain the ?best band in the world? tag.

If you didn?t catch it, watch U2 Elevation ? Live From Boston on DVD or video and you will know they have done it … but does he feel the band succeeded?

Bono is defiant and if anyone else said it, you would hate them for it. But he pulls it off as he tells me: ?I said we wanted our title back as the greatest rock ?n roll band in the world.

?It?s about doing it live ? you?ve got to stand in that room and when that floor is shaking and your heart is bursting, you?re really taken somewhere. Then you know you?re seeing the best band in the world.

?There?s some extraordinary bands out there ? Radiohead, Oasis, Coldplay, Travis, Stereophonics.

?But what it?s about is that you have to prove it on any given night. But I have to say, I had that feeling on any given night, more than ever.?

That?s a yes then. And he is right, you know.