1. Madonna
Madonna had a very ambitious tour plan for 2012, and the single best way to promote it was a Super Bowl halftime show. She went all out for the performance, bringing in Cee Lo Green, LMFAO, Nicki Minaj, M.I.A. and even acrobats. The set was wall-to-wall hits with her pretty flaccid new single “Give Me All Your Luvin’” in the middle. M.I.A. tried to perk up the song by sticking her middle finger up on camera, which didn’t exactly thrill Madonna or the NFL – though next to Nipplegate, it was a pretty tiny scandal. The next day, tickets went on sale for her world tour and sold out everywhere.