Overheard Thursday afternoon at the Black Eyed Peas press conference: "Do you know who the Black Eyed Peas are? Are they any good?"
That gentleman might’ve been the only one in the room at the Dallas Sheraton who wasn’t feeling the Boom Boom Pow from this year’s Super Bowl halftime headliners.
The Peas -- Fergie, Will.I.Am, Taboo and Apl.De.Ap, who sported a “BEP XLV” shave into the back of his hair -- fielded questions at the well-attended press conference, which was followed up with some one-on-one interviews.
But if they knew anything about swirling rumors of additional halftime appearances by Usher and Slash, their lips were sealed. (Afterward, Will.I.Am toyed with reporters when he said he’d also heard rumors about Sade and Morris Day and the Time showing up.)
But they did talk about their daring Twitter experiment: Will.I.Am plans to Tweet live -- while the Peas are performing. "Here we are in 2011, and social media is very important," he said, "And we’re a group of four, so when Fergie’s doin’ her part and Taboo and Apl.De.Ap are doin’ theirs, wouldn’t it be awesome to send a Tweet to all the people that are following, bring people even closer to the stage? Kids are watching on TV, and they’re on their phones." (He called his phone his "little Tweet machine.")
Taboo says he’ll Tweet live, too. But don’t expect any Tweets from the Duchess. "I’m the only one not on Twitter," Fergie says. "Plus, I have to be picky about hitting my notes, making sure I’m good in the heels. That’s what I’m concerned with. But all power to him. If anyone can pull that off, Will.i.am can." (Follow Will.i.am on Twitter at @iamwill.)
As they brave the icy insanity of North Texas, Fergie says they haven’t had many weather-related close calls. “Only when it comes to my heels,” she said, arching her foot in a striking black heel. “These are not the right shoes to pack,” she laughed. “But they’re my shoe company, from Fergie Footwear.”
When it comes to picking a favorite in Sunday’s big game, Taboo and Fergie were predictably diplomatic. “I feel like Green Bay is bringing their game because they want to prove they can do it without [Brett] Favre,” Fergie said, “seeing that he did join their arch-nemesis of a team. But I think the Steelers are coming to play as well, and they know how to win big games like this. And that song Black and Yellow [by Wiz Khalifa] is a nice song that I can’t stop singing!”
Said Taboo, whose autobiography drops on Tuesday: “We got a show to do, so we don’t want people to be throwing stuff at us on the stage if we’re a little too biased,” he said. “We just want a good game. We’re sports fans, so we just want to see people playing their hearts out, because we’re gonna be playing our hearts out.”
Star watch bonus: Fergie said she was headed to the owners' party Thursday night: “I’m going tonight to see Jerry Jones, and introduce my dad to him. That’s a huge deal."
