Hm, interesting question...
I really hated this year's show (because I strongly dislike Coldplay, a fact not attenuated by me watching the show at like 3am) and asked myself the same question. Here's what I came up with:
1) It would have to be someone young or at least a group of people including some visible young people.
2) They would have to be so well-known as to require no introduction
3) They would have to combine Rock, Pop, and Rap/RnB elements
4) They could not be too specific to the American context (lots of people watching around the world!), ruling out modern country artists
5) They would have to combine male and female members
6) They would need to have had some exposure in the run-up to the super bowl
That's a pretty long list... But I guess it kinda makes some sense.
That being said, I could see Adele with a rapper, the Foo Fighters with a female RnB artist, John Mayer with Rap or RnB (the rapper would have to be more famous than John Mayer though...), Queen with Adam Lambert and a female artist. And, let's face it, Taylor Swift combined with a "Rock LEGEND" on guitar and a male Rapper/RnB artist.
I am not saying that I favour a solution like that but something like that seems likely while still providing some musical quality... Amirite?
