As viewed on CBS, there was a power outage at the Superdome where half the lights went out in New Orleans. Naturally, the outage causes a severe security concern at the venue where Super Bowl XLVII was held on Sunday evening.
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There were signs of trouble to come during the Pepsi Halftime Show featuring singer-actress Beyonce as a smoke alarm reportedly sounded in the press box area of the Superdome. That was followed by Phil Simms' microphone cutting out during a video replay that malfunctioned at the beginning of the third quarter, and cameras having to return to the live CBS broadcast. Lights across the top bank of seats went dark. Generator lights worked as backup lights but escalators, ATMs and more were non-functional during the 34-minute power outage. The problems were on the side of the stadium where the Baltimore team was stationed.
After the second half began, following Beyonce’s impactful performance on the field, and just after a record-breaking 109-yard touchdown by Baltimore, the power failure continued to escalate. After a predicted 15-to-20 minute break by CBS announcers, the interruption continued for 34 minutes before the electricity returned to the stadium to give the venue its previously-lighted condition. The game then resumed with the score Baltimore 28 to San Francisco 6.
Up to that point when the power surge occurred during the CBS presentation of Super Bowl XLVII, the event had gone without any concerns or controversies. In fact, the entire week leading up to the Super Bowl had been impressively planned and administered.
While authorities ruled out terrorism or a fire in time, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu called the power outage unfortunate and said there would be a full after-action report from all parties involved in days to come.
The Super Bowl 2013 event included a performance by the Sandy Hook Elementary School Chorus accompanied by Jennifer Hudson singing “America the Beautiful,” Alicia Keys performing “The Star Spangled Banner,” and Beyonce doing the Pepsi Halftime Show – joined by her former group members from Destiny’s Child for a brief time.
In spite of the power incident and security concerns, authorities decided to keep the players on the field during the incident.
During the past week, the United States Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have reportedly gone to great measures to secure the Superdome from any danger of terrorist attacks or other acts of violence or devastation.
The game tightened up after the power outage, but Baltimore held the lead for the victory by evening's end.
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