M.I.A. Flips Off Viewers As Madonna Rocks Super Bowl Halftime Show

INDIANAPOLIS - If Madonna's career has successfully spanned a couple of generations, her much-anticipated Super Bowl halftime show jumped across a couple of millennia.

But while the roughly 15-minute act was free of any Janet Jackson-style wardrobe problems, British rapper M.I.A. had a middle finger malfunction towards the end of Madonna's set that sent Twitter into overdrive and forced Super Bowl broadcaster NBC Sports to issue an apology for airing the obscene gesture.

Still, it was the 53-year-old pop queen who stole the show as the halftime entertainment kicked off Sunday night -- being towed into the stadium on an extravagant Egyptian-themed float by buff Roman-looking soldiers.

Of course, Madonna was the float's centerpiece.

Breaking into her worldwide hit "Vogue," Madonna and her backup crew danced like Egyptians while images of the pop princess were beamed on the stage's foreground.

As the track mixed into "Music," the backup dancers changed and the routine jumped more than 2,000 years forward to the 21st century -- with electro-pop duo LMFAO joining Madonna on stage as the music changed again.

After a quick mash-up of LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem," Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. -- dressed in Egyptian-style cheerleader outfits -- joined Madonna on stage at Lucas Oil Stadium for her new song "Give Me All Your Luvin'."

Controversy struck towards the end of the song, as M.I.A. was captured on camera flipping off tens of millions of people watching the game across the globe.

NBC Sports later issued a statement apologizing for airing the obscene gesture.

"We apologize for the inappropriate gesture that aired during halftime," the statement said, according to Entertainment Weekly. "It was a spontaneous gesture that our delay system caught late."

Controversy aside, Cee Lo Green joined Madonna as she pushed into a version of "Like a Prayer," for the show's finale

And then she was gone -- literally disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Earlier, pop star Kelly Clarkson received high praise prior to the game for her rousing rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

All eyes were on the original "American Idol" winner, after Christina Aguilera flubbed the lyrics ahead of last year's Super Bowl, while Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler was accused of butchering the national anthem before the AFC Championship game in Massachusetts last month.

Clarkson, however, managed to avoid any embarrassing gaffes.