Slash, a guitarist for Guns N' Roses, joined the group to perform his band's hit song Sweet Child o' Mine, and Usher also dropped out of the scoreboard and on stage for a quick rendition of his hit Omg. Will.i.am, who had said last week that he would tweet during the show, showed his disappointment after the performance with a lack of service on his cellphone.
"At&t??? Wow...no service during halftime...unbelievable," he tweeted after the show.
While that seemed to be the only thing that went wrong for the Peas, another performer earlier in the night wasn't so lucky.
Before kickoff, Christina Aguilera mangled the lyrics during her performance of The Star-Spangled Banner. Aguilera skipped the words "O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming," instead replacing them with a line that had been sung earlier.
-- Tim Gardner
Biff the sports buff: If it's a big sporting event, you can expect Biff Henderson of Late Show with David Letterman to be on-site, putting fans on the spot with off-the-wall questions.
He was flagging down fans outside the stadium Sunday, such as an elderly man whom Henderson "mistook" for Brett Favre, asking if he was going to lay low or overshadow the game.
Or the black-and-gold-clad cluster of Steelers fans whom Henderson asked if they lived in Pittsburgh by choice (yes) before following up with a request to sing, Glee-style, what the game's key would be (Dee-fense!).
"When it's in New York (in 2014) in cold weather (and open air), that'll be the best Super Bowl ever," said Henderson, who missed last year's game that was broadcast by CBS, his employer.
-- Gary Graves
Vilsack for Steelers: Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was born in Pittsburgh. His great-grandfather was one of the founders of the Iron City Brewing Company.
He wore the same "D.C. Steeler Nation" T-shirt on Sunday that he wore when Pittsburgh played the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Jets in the playoffs. "I've got my lucky shirt," Vilsack said.
-- Gary Mihoces
Hair attraction: Steelers fan Constantine Kokolis, 37, was rocking his No. 43 Troy Polamalu black jersey topped off by a black-and-gold fuzzy hat and curly faux black locks flowing out from underneath, trailing down his shoulders.
The Pennsylvania transplant, who works in information technology at Children's Hospital in Dallas, bought the wig two months ago in Pittsburgh and was getting good bang for his 15 bucks Sunday.
"I can't believe how many fans have come up to me, wanting to grab my hair and asking to get a picture with us," Kokolis said.
-- Jim Corbett
Brady honors: Tom Brady removed the suspense from the NFL's MVP race months ago, compiling one of the most impressive seasons of his sterling career while leading the New England Patriots to a league-best 14-2 record.
In a unanimous vote of NFL writers, Brady was announced as the league's 2010 MVP hours before Super Bowl XLV ... which didn't include the Patriots, much to Brady's chagrin.
"I think playing in the Super Bowl is the greatest thing that any quarterback could be doing this time of year," Brady told NFL Network. "But I obviously give a lot of thanks to my teammates and my coaches."
Brady, named offensive player of the year last week, passed for 3,900 yards and 36 TDs while throwing four interceptions, none in his last 335 attempts, establishing a record.
-- Nate Davis
Rodgers twins: Packers fans Marc Dupee, 45, and Jeremy Bidwell, 35, of Oshkosh, Wis., wore home and away versions of Aaron Rodgers' No. 12. Dupee wore the white jersey and Bidwell the green.
The pair made the 18-hour trek Thursday from the frozen tundra of Wisconsin and paid $900 for face-value seats nine rows behind the end zone.
Their experience on Wisconsin's wintry roads served them well last week. "We drove straight through, 18 hours with just two stops," said Dupee, who arrived Friday. "The best thing was nobody was driving, so I was able to go 45 in the left lane when everybody else was going 20.
"People were probably saying, 'What the hell is this guy doing?' Then they saw my license plate and said, 'Oh, he's from Wisconsin.' "
-- Jim Corbett
Roethlisberger reception: Jason Brichta, 37, and his wife, Deb, provided an interesting study on how far Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has come in the minds of Steelers fans since his four-game suspension to start the season for violating the league's personal-conduct policy.
Roethlisberger was suspended after he was accused of sexual assault by a 20-year-old female college student in March.
The Brichtas are transplanted Steelers fans living in San Antonio, and Jason wore Roethlisberger's No. 7 jersey while his wife wore Polamalu's No. 43.
Does Jason Brichta find it hard to root for Roethlisberger given the March scandal and an accusation the summer before?
"I did take issue with it at the beginning of the season," Jason Brichta said. "I would not have faulted the Steelers for trading him. ... But from what I've seen in his behavior, he's taking the right steps."
Deb Brichta also tried to look beyond the incident. "I don't think you can penalize the entire organization for the actions of one individual."
-- Jim Corbett
Cheese and towels: Packers and Steelers fan accessories were selling briskly outside Cowboys Stadium.
Chris Detreville, 47, of Tallahassee was volunteering with friends to sell the merchandise.
Cheeseheads were going for $30; gold-and-black Terrible Towels were priced at $15.
Asked if nachos were available with the Cheeseheads, Detreville pointed to the nearby free Doritos that were being handed out to fans.
-- Jim Corbett
Road warriors: Two brothers from the Pittsburgh area, whose dad made a cross-country drive in 1980 to see the Steelers play in Super Bowl XIV in Pasadena, Calif., made separate long-distance drives to get to Super Bowl XLV. Through snow and ice, they made it by midweek.
"It was terrible," said James Sterling Jr., 28, who drove from Chicago in 18 hours. "The closer we got, there was less snow, but the ice was brutal. We drove about the last 300 miles at 30 miles an hour, tops."
Joshua Sterling, 24, said his drive from Pittsburgh took 24 hours. He said in the 1970s their father, James, also drove to see the Steelers play in Super Bowls in New Orleans and Miami.
-- Gary Mihoces
Jersey scorn: Brent Clifton, 24, of Crystal, Minn., stood out in the crowd as he wore Favre's jersey — from the quarterback's tenure with the Minnesota Vikings.
"I'm getting tons of reaction. A lot of it is negative, but any press is good press," he said.
Some fans are still disappointed that Favre was unwilling to call it a career with the Packers and instead played one season with the New York Jets and two with the Vikings. "How can you wear that?" a few of them shouted at Clifton.
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