No Polka?

By Melissa August, M.M. Buechner, Helen Gibson, Tam Gray, Daniel Levy, Michele Orecklin, Desa Philadelphia, Flora Tartakovsky and Josh Tyrangiel

At half time of Super Bowl XXXIV in Atlanta, the NFL and Disney will unveil "Tapestry of Nations," a global-diversity play narrated by Edward James Olmos and featuring aerial dancers, puppets, a multigenerational choir, a symphony orchestra, and music by Phil Collins, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton and Christina Aguilera. Too much? Perhaps, though the quality of the Super Bowl's 10-min. themed extravaganzas may actually be improving. Some historical evidence:

THEME SUPER BOWL IV: Mardi Gras

ENTERTAINMENT Carol Channing and jazz trumpeter Al Hirt

MEMORABLE MOMENT The tractor carrying Channing and Hirt stalls on the 35-yd.-line, while a prop hot-air balloon almost crushes costumed Southern Belles

[THEME] SUPER BOWL XII: Carnival

[ENTERTAINMENT] An army of steel-drum bands

[MEMORABLE MOMENT] Removal of field-size Caribbean map causes 11-min. game delay

[THEME] SUPER BOWL XXIII: Bebop Bamboozled

[ENTERTAINMENT] Magicians and dancers...in 3-D!

[MEMORABLE MOMENT] Bob Costas' acrid tone of voice when introducing the show: "This is the single proudest moment of my life."

[THEME] SUPER BOWL XXIV: Salute to New Orleans/Snoopy's 40th Birthday

[ENTERTAINMENT] Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw, gospel singer Irma Thomas, Peanuts characters

[MEMORABLE MOMENT] The cognitive dissonance brought on by having Charlie Brown and a performance of the song Shall We Gather at the River? on the same stage

[THEME] SUPER BOWL XXIX: Indiana Jones Adventure

[ENTERTAINMENT] Patti LaBelle, Tony Bennett

[MEMORABLE MOMENT] Indiana Jones chases after a lost Super Bowl trophy, while LaBelle, obscured by a giant hat, gamely tries to lip-synch

[THEME] SUPER BOWL XXXIII: Soul, Salsa and Swing

[ENTERTAINMENT] Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

[MEMORABLE MOMENT] After support staff is briefly delinquent in assisting Wonder from his vintage car, the star recovers splendidly and tap-dances with Savion Glover