With Janet Jackson's Justin Timberlake-induced "Wardrobe Malfunction" on CBS in 2004 not-yet a distant memory, there's no question that CBS producers of this year's Super Bowl halftime show in Miami are taking a bold risk in their choice for entertainment.

Prince, the funk-driven music legend, was named as the performer for the coveted gig in December.

And while the provocative performer is unlikely to strip, his sometimes-sexually charged lyrics are bound to raise more eyebrows than the last two acts since the Jackson-Timberlake fallout. If you can't remember, former Beatles great Paul McCartney played it safe with a straight-up performance of his greatest hits in 2005, while the Rolling Stones labored through their partially censored set and -- apart from the unfurling of their giant tongue logo -- failed to impress many critics.

It's hard to say which songs the six-time Grammy winner has in store for the show, but Super Bowl organizers likely requested some of his classic hits -- which range from "1999," "When Doves Cry" and "Little Red Corvette" to "Kiss," "Let's Go Crazy" and "Purple Rain."

Another possibility is "The Song of the Heart," a tune Prince wrote and recorded for the soundtrack of the computer-animated blockbuster "Happy Feet," which won a Golden Globe and is poised to become a Best Original Song nominee come Oscar-nomination time next week.

No matter what he plays to the potential audience of 1 billion people worldwide, Prince's performance Feb. 4 will be another huge step back to the top from a decade of near-obscurity in the mid-1990s to 2004 -- a year in which he wowed the Grammys with an electrifying show-opener with Beyonce Knowles, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and released his comeback album "Musicology."

Prince isn't the only classic rocker to play the Super Bowl this year. Billy Joel, who performed the national anthem before Super Bowl XXIII in 1989, has been asked to perform it again this year.

With the performance, Joel will become only the second performer behind Aaron Neville to be asked back to perform the anthem.

The performance of the song will be a kick-off, of sorts, for Joel's new U.S. tour, which begins three days later further north in Jacksonville, Fla.

The pre-game show this year will take on somewhat of a local flavor, as Miami-based artist Romero Britto will team with the internationally-acclaimed Cirque du Soleil dance troupe for what organizers promise will be "a high-energy extravaganza of music, dance, gymnastics and circus arts linked by a multi-colored football theme."

Organizers said that the performance by the 60-member troupe will become "a living, breathing canvas for Britto, whose signature pop art has come to define the color and vibrancy of South Florida."

The employment of Britto and Cirque du Soleil is a definitive departure from last year's pop music-driven pre-game concert, which featured the likes of legendary singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, who was accompanied by singers Joss Stone, John Legend and India.Arie.