5 Things to Get Excited About at the Super Bowl

The main event will start off with a bang: Vocal powerhouse Lady Gaga will sing the National Anthem. The Golden Globe winner (and Academy Award nominee) will join a list of elite singers who have sung the anthem for the big game in the past, including Whitney Houston, Billy Joel, Cher, and Idina Menzel. We have no doubt the sultry songstress will do the “Star Spangled Banner” justice and we can’t wait to hear her rendition.

We probably sound like a broken record—Super Bowl commercials are always a major incentive to tune in—but we’ve got a great feeling about this year’s ads. We’re expecting big things since a 30-second spot during the show is costing some brands upwards of $5 million. If crooning “Super Bowl Babies,” (yup, that’s right, babies conceived on the Super Bowl) don’t strike your fancy maybe one of the many celebrity cameos in the commercials will. Ads featuring Ryan Reynolds, Serena Williams, Amy Schumer, Liam Neeson, to name a few, are already circulating. See how many celebs you can count in this year’s commercials.

The big game is set to feature some big names at this year’s Pepsi halftime spectacle. Coldplay is headlining the show for the first time and will reportedly be joined by none other than the goddess known as Beyoncé (*cue tears of joy*) and crooner Bruno Mars, who in 2014 drew the second largest viewing crowd in the show’s history. The English rock stars and Queen B recently collaborated on the dreamy tune “Hymn for the Weekend” off the band’s new album A Head Full of Dreams. This will be Bey’s fourth time performing at the the game. You might remember when she headlined in 2013 with Destiny’s Child and subsequently shut the entire stadium down (literally). If all of that wasn’t enough, we’re hopeful for some surprise guests à la Missy Elliott at last year’s performance with Katy Perry.

Rumor has it that Super Bowl 50 will be legendary quarterback Peyton Manning’s last game ever. The 39-year-old leader of the Broncos has been in the league since 1998 when he was selected by the Indianapolis Colts as the first overall draft pick. He is a record five-time NFL MVP and currently holds the record for most career touchdown passes. Oh, and he’s super lovable. We’ll be sad to see him go if he decides to retire, but no doubt Manning’s last game would add even more epicness to an already historic night for football.

Super Bowl 50 is a game of milestones on and off the field. And if the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee has anything to do with it, one of those milestones will be giving. In an attempt to make it the most philanthropic and giving Super Bowl ever, the committee has created the 50 Fund, an initiative to help close the different economic and opportunity gaps that exist in the Bay Area for children and young adults in low-income communities. The program, which promises to give back 25-percent of all money it raises, will offer grants to organizations dealing with youth development, community investment, and creating sustainable environments. And it’s looking good so far. As of the end of January, the fund had raked in about $12 million. To learn more or to apply visit here.