Beyonce's Super Bowl show-stopper before stadium suffers power cut

Beyonce gave a show-stopping performance at the Super Bowl with a 12-minute set that included a Destiny’s Child reunion and ended with a massive power cut.

She shrugged off the miming controversy at President Obama’s inauguration last month with a half-time show in which she sang live and danced to some of her greatest hits in front of a 70,000 strong crowd and a TV audience of 100 million.

Clad in black leather and lace, the 31-year-old singer strutted on stage at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans to the sounds of her hit Love On Top before being joined by Destiny’s Child bandmates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams for a medley including Single Ladies and Independent Woman.

The high-octane show also featured spectacular special effects, which may have contributed to the subsequent power cut that plunged half the stadium into darkness and delayed the start of the second half of the game by 35 minutes.

Her performance won rave reviews on social media and from the US press who had criticised her decision not to sing live at the inauguration. The New York Times said she showed “an arena-ready sense of scale with a microscopic approach to the details of her vocals” while the LA Times said she had “silenced the doubters”.

One of the most poignant moments came when actress Jennifer Hudson sang America The Beautiful with the choir of Sandy Hook Elementary School where 26 children and adults were killed in a gun massacre last December. Beyonce is to perform at the 02 on four dates in April and May as part of her world tour, it was announced today.