programm rund um den sb

für wen's interessiert, hier das programm rund um den sb.
besonderer hinweis an trosty (;)): ich werde mich mal schleunigst um eine credntial für den biki-contest bei hooters kümmern.

NFL, Landing roll out their entertainers

Organizations confirm their pregame performers as bridges theme again comes into play.

By JORDAN RODACK and THOMAS LAKE
The Times-Union

Some of the hottest performers in the nation -- and a fleet of rubber ducks -- will highlight a growing, star-studded Super Bowl week entertainment calendar announced Thursday.

The National Football League revealed its lineup for the Sunday pregame show, and The Jacksonville Landing took the wraps off its entertainment agenda in separate announcements.

The pregame show features six acts from today and yesteryear coming together for the Feb. 6 show.

Country music star Gretchen Wilson will perform with Southern rockers Charlie Daniels Band, while Grammy Award-nominated Black Eyed Peas will team up with Earth, Wind and Fire. Fox, which is televising the game, also will feature American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer John Fogerty from the NFL Tailgate Party.

Grammy Award-winner Alicia Keys will perform America the Beautiful in a tribute to the late Ray Charles. She will be accompanied by 150 students from the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind.

Meanwhile, The Jacksonville Landing will offer some of its own big-name entertainment in the week leading up to the game.

Comedian Tom Arnold, basketball great Dominique Wilkins and a fleet of floating rubber ducks will appear during seven days crammed with concerts and parties -- most of them free to the public.

Southern rock band Molly Hatchet will headline a cast of at least a dozen musical acts playing at the Landing from Monday, Jan. 31, to Feb. 6.

"We will go hard and strong until the early morning hours of Feb. 7," Landing spokeswoman Rachel Kaltenbach said. "It's our one chance to really show the world why we love Jacksonville."

Highlights of the week include:

· Daily tapings of Fox Sports' The Best Damn Sports Show Period with Arnold.

· A preview opening of The Twisted Martini, which is billing itself as an "upscale entertainment and dining venue" featuring exotic cocktails and appetizers such as citrus-cured duck quesadillas.

· A bikini contest at Hooters.

· A players reunion party hosted by former NFL running back Eric Dickerson, featuring names such as Fred Taylor, Wilkins, Bernie Kosar, Kenny Smith, Willis McGahee and Joe Horn. Tickets are $50 for general admission and $200 for VIP admission, and are available at (407) 697-3511.

· The American Cancer Society's Duck Race, in which thousands of rubber ducks will be dumped off the Acosta Bridge and float down the St. Johns River to the Main Street bridge.

Landing officials say they've spent $250,000 improving the property in the past 18 months, including painting, pressure washing and changing 3,660 light bulbs.

Admission will be free all week. That's a change from last year's Georgia-Florida weekend, when the Landing experimented with a $5 cover charge to help control the mass of fans.

At Alltel Stadium, the concept behind the pregame show is to bridge generations by combining artists from different generations, said Brian McCarthy, spokesman for the NFL. The pregame acts will be followed by legendary rocker Paul McCartney, who will perform at halftime.

"We're very pleased that each of the talent bought into the building bridges theme, so we were able to play off with bridging generations," McCarthy said. "This should be a high-energy show that should appeal to a wide variety of fans."

The tailgate performances featuring Clarkson and Fogerty will be shown about 3 p.m. as part of Fox's prolonged pregame broadcast. The pregame show itself will begin between 5:30 and 5:45 p.m.

The show also will include a salute to the military and "the Greatest Generation," although McCarthy wouldn't give specific details about the salute or the show itself.

"Once again, it will tie into the overall pregame show theme of bridging generations," McCarthy said.

He said the national anthem won't be performed by a celebrity, but he wouldn't confirm or deny that a military group may perform the anthem. An announcement may come as early as next week, he said.