BEYONCÉ COULDN'T TOP MADONNA'S SUPER BOWL RATINGS RECORD

Beyonce seemed destined to break Madonna's record for the most-watched Super Bowl haltime show in history, based on the relentless hype alone. There were the behind-the-scenes photos. The rehearsal videos, the psuedo-controversies about whether she'd perform live, the terribly-kept rumours about a Destiny's Child reunion onstage. But it appears that the diva has not yet dethroned the Queen of Pop, Madonna.

According to Deadline, Beyoncé pulled in about 100 million U.S. viewers on Sunday evening, quite a considerable feat, to be sure. But the number looks a little less impressive when one considers that in 2012, 116 million tuned in to watch Madonna stalk around awkwardly in too-tall stilettos and a cheerleader outfit. There are, of course, other factors than Beyoncé's pull at play here: This year's game was slightly less popular than the last, and the way the first half went down (i.e. the Niners getting their tails handed to them) didn't help matters.