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Beyonce Super Bowl performance impresses (VIDEO)

By April MacIntyre Feb 4, 2013, 14:23 GMT

Halftime treat for the Super Bowl: (FILE) A file picture dated 28 August 2011 shows US singer Beyonce Knowles EPA/PAUL BUCK

Forget the Ravens and the 'Niners, Beyonce Knowles scored the most points at the Super Bowl.

Before the game, Alicia Keys performed the national anthem.  Jennifer Hudson sang "America the Beautiful" with the 26-member Sandy Hook Elementary School chorus.  The students wore green ribbons on their shirts in honor of the 20 first-graders and six adults who were slain in a Dec. 14 shooting rampage at the school in Newtown, Conn.  Hudson's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew were killed by gun violence five years ago.

The halftime show featured the singer and her band in a tight set that critics and fans agreed was the best in all recent memory.

The moment also cemented her guaranteed success for a busy and prosperous spring. Beyonce is recording her fifth studio album, expected in 2013; she'll be the subject of HBO's documentary profile, Life Is But a Dream, that premieres Feb. 16 and she'll star as Queen Tara in the 3-D animated film Epic, due out May 24.

Beyonce's prior national anthem performance was fraught with lip-syncing finger pointing, yet her performance at the Super Bowl halftime show dispelled any naysayers who disapproved of the pre-recorded moment at President Obama's inauguration.

Beyonce opened and closed her set belting songs, and in between she danced hard and heavy — opening with "Love on Top." Then "Crazy In Love," as the new mother.

Beyonce was head and shoulders better than the Black Eyed Peas' and Madonna's performances the last two years.  Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams came up from below the stage to sing "Bootylicious." Rowland and Williams were barely audible when the group sang "Independent Woman," as their voices faded into the background.  The trio also belted out "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)."

Beyonce signed out with "Halo" and said, "Thank you for this moment," she told the crowd. "God bless y'all."