CBS 5 - KPHO Madonna rocks - and not in a rocking chair

(RNN) – Among the anticipated highlights of Sunday night's Super Bowl contest was not the match-up between the Giants and the Patriots. It wasn't even the commercials creating all that buzz. It was Madonna, and the will-she or won't-she anticipation of skin she might show.

Admit it, you wondered quietly in your little head whether Madonna would top "Ms. Jackson if you're nasty" and bare more than the censors could tolerate.

She didn't. And by refraining, Madonna shocked us again.

The opening seconds of Madonna's show were a an answer to Lady Gaga's brand of idol worship in which she famously arrived at the 2011 Grammy Awards in an egg carried on the shoulders of plastic-wrapped throne-bearers.

Madonna's servants were barrel-chested men - and there were dozens of them. She emerged draped in gold, trumpeted in her arrival and all eyes remained on her despite the theatrics.

All props to Gaga and her showmanship, but she was right on when she arrived in an egg: She is a prenatal version of a fully realized, 30-year career: a Madonna 2.0.

Madonna, crown on her head, arrived onstage to be surrounded by Caligula-inspired dancers, with their Baphomet head gear and choreography timed to accent the sound of a drawn spear. Madonna was covered shoulder-to-fingers, nape of the neck to thigh-high boots.

At this point, as might be expected, it was time for Madonna to rip off her Romanesque skirt.

Right on cue, she obliged, but just the top layer, leaving a mid-thigh flounce behind and showing not an ounce more of skin.

And she was beautiful.

I don't know if you caught how many times she dropped into a deep squat and jumped to her feet, but Madonna's still got it. She's got it in a way that doesn't require her to bare 480 square inches of skin to get headlines.

Yes, M.I.A. gathered some attention for her no-doubt. pre-planned "rude" gesture. (Back at ya, girl.)

But we're all talking about Madonna today because she delivered a performance that was unexpected and gorgeous.

But today, the word online is that she looked great "for 53."

What does it take for female performers to get respect? Mick Jagger can gyrate in a taped performance with Will i. Am, working that old groove of rooster moves he's been defaulting to for 40 years. Madonna headlines the biggest show of the year, and gets "not bad for an ol' girl."

Compared to whom? The Black Eyed Peas and their 2011 performance?

I'd take Madonna over Fergie in a cage match any day. Judge for yourself. Stacie Ferguson, 36, wanders about three feet from her planted position the entire (off-key) show. I think she shakes her hips a couple times for effect.

You and I both know Madge could run laps around most of us – and shame your boyfriend in a push-up competition. If she wants to turn cartwheels and dance in high heels during one of the biggest broadcast events of the year, more power to her.

As one Twitter user, sfj, put it:

"A magical thing will (happen) if any 53-year-old man is ever submitted to the same physical critiques as Madonna."

Women age, folks. Get over it.

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