2007年VOA标准英语-Cirque du Soleil to Open Super Bowl XLI Enterta

By David Byrd
Miami
02 February 2007

 
Super Bowl XLI tickets
Entertainment at the National Football League's Super Bowl Game is as much as part of the game as the athletic¹ competition. This year, the internationally renowned² Cirque du Soleil will highlight the pregame show. Veteran entertainer Billy Joel will sing the U.S. National anthem³, and Prince will perform at halftime. As VOA's David Byrd reports from Miami, Florida the site of Super Bowl XLI, this year's entertainment promises to dazzle and amaze football fans.

 
Cirque du Soleil team members with the production crew
Cirque du Soleil, the internationally known artistic⁴ organization based in Quebec, Canada, has delighted fans for years. Since its founding in 1984, Cirque has combined a unique mix of music, dance, acrobatics⁵, scenery, and other performance art to dazzle audiences. At this year's Super Bowl, Cirque du Soleil has teamed with Miami-based visual artist Romero Britto to produce the One Day, One Game, One Dream pregame show.

Cirque du Soleil President and CEO Daniel Lemarre says the pre-game extravaganza will combine palm trees, ocean waves, fishes, footballs, birds and flowers to emphasize the fusion⁶ of football and South Florida.

"So we have put together this team and they have been working for six months now to put together this high energy extravaganza - music, acrobatic, dance, percussion⁷, in order to create enthusiasm right before the game. We have flown artists from Russia, Hungary, England, Argentina, and of course from Canada and the U.S.," he said.

 
'Making Love' by Romero Britto

Romero Britto, who combines elements of cubism, pop art and graffiti in his work, was recently a guest artist at the World Economic Forum⁸ in Davos, Switzerland. He says that dealing⁹ with world economic problems and celebrating at the Super Bowl both add to the lives of all people.

"And I think that's what I saw in Davos. People were concerned about doing something better to the world. And I think the NFL and Cirque du Soleil they are really adding to the life of a lot of people. And what we are going to have on Sunday with the Super Bowl, a lot of people are going to have the best time of their lives," he said.

 
Billy Joel will sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl
Once the pre-game festivities are over, Billy Joel will sing the national anthem. Joel has sung the anthem several times before, including at Super Bowl XXIII in Miami. Joel says that the song is a difficult one to sing.

"It was written early in the 19th Century and that's the vernacular¹⁰ that is used in the song, so nobody remembers the lyrics¹¹ because they don't really know what they mean. And the melody is difficult; everybody drops out on the high notes. So it's really kind of a slog actually. I'm just doing the anthem; I'm not doing the halftime show. Prince is doing the work," he said.

As Billy Joel mentioned, Prince will headline the halftime show. Unlike others at Thursday's media events, Prince did not answer questions, but performed three songs. The Grammy-award winning entertainer, who just won a Golden Globe for writing "Song of the Heart" for the movie Happy Feet, teased and then rocked a room full of reporters.

 
Prince performs for the media
Dressed in a bright orange suit and flanked by two twin female dancers in gauzy mini dresses, Prince rocked the pressroom for three songs, including his version of "Johnny B. Goode" as well as "You Need another Lover like You Need a Hole in the Head" and "Get on the Boat".

The prolific¹² musician and producer has recently opened the 1,000-set 3121 Lounge at the Rio in Las Vegas, where he performs on Friday and Saturday nights. He also is nominated for five Grammy awards for his 2006 album 3121. The single "Black Sweat" is nominated for best male R&B (Rhythm and Blues) performance and best R & B song.

Prince joins a long line of entertainers to perform at halftime at the Super Bowl, including last year's show by the Rolling Stones, as well as U2, Paul McCartney, Aerosmith, Phil Collins, Shania Twain and most notoriously, Janet Jackson, whose so-called costume malfunction¹³ caused an uproar¹⁴ when her breast was briefly¹⁵ exposed three years ago.

1 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

2 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

3 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

4 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

5 acrobatics   

n.杂技

参考例句：

• Acrobatics is hard to learn but beautiful to watch.杂技不好学，但很好看。
• We watched a performance which included a puppet show and acrobatics.我们观看了一场演出，内容有木偶和杂技。

6 fusion   

n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc. 黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• This alloy is formed by the fusion of two types of metal.这种合金是用两种金属熔合而成的。

7 percussion   

n.打击乐器；冲突，撞击；震动，音响

参考例句：

• In an orchestra,people who play percussion instruments sit at the back.在管弦乐队中，演奏打击乐器的人会坐在后面。
• Percussion of the abdomen is often omitted.腹部叩诊常被省略。

8 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

10 vernacular   

adj.地方的，用地方语写成的；n.白话；行话；本国语；动植物的俗名

参考例句：

• The house is built in a vernacular style.这房子按当地的风格建筑。
• The traditional Chinese vernacular architecture is an epitome of Chinese traditional culture.中国传统民居建筑可谓中国传统文化的缩影。

11 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

12 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

13 malfunction   

vi.发生功能故障，发生故障，显示机能失常

参考例句：

• There must have been a computer malfunction.一定是出了电脑故障。
• Results have been delayed owing to a malfunction in the computer.由于电脑发生故障，计算结果推迟了。

14 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

15 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。