Redemption, thy name is Beyoncé.

After suffering the world’s shortest fall from grace — over an inauguration day issue you may have heard about — Beyoncé gave an absolutely live Super Bowl halftime performance that killed.

Small wonder the stadium lost power for a spell after she left the stage. She must have sucked the place dry.

Despite the distraction of being surrounded by exploding shafts of fire, blinding cross-hatches of lights, and her own unquestioned hotness, Beyoncé seized center stage with her burly voice.

 

To make sure, she opened with a blissfully sure acappella run, leading into “Crazy in Love,” one of her most assertive hits. Though the performance didn’t include a cameo from hubby Jay-Z, as does the studio version, it found the singer in bold form.

Then again, given both Beyoncé’s persona and talent, only a fool would have bet against her at this particular event. It’s hard to think of a star better suited to the Super Bowl than she is.

From the start of her career, Beyoncé’s songs have had the dynamics of a sporting event. The beats often have a militaristic power and discipline, the lyrics a triumphant spirit and her performances a take-no-prisoners zeal.

It makes sense she chose to feature a song like “End of Time” in her taut, 13-minute set. The beat has an athletic force, which Beyoncé’s all-female band delivered in sinewy style. The singer gave the guitarist a showcase in the song, with an instrument that spouted fireworks from both ends. The result did more than just provide a visual exclamation point. It allowed Beyonce to give her R&B pop songs some rock ‘n roll punch.

Though Beyoncé’s staging wasn’t as changeable, or as camp, as Madonna’s hysterical performance from last year, it found sufficient theatricality in her body movements alone. She’s got legs and she knows how to use them, as ZZ Top would have it. It didn’t hurt that the micro-dress, designed by Ruben Singer, showed as much of her gams as censors could allow.

Beyoncé carved out a cameo for the trio that first catapulted her to fame — Destiny’s Child. Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams shot onto the stage like missiles launched from below, flanking Beyoncé and matching her shimmy for shimmy.

Though, as a group, Destiny has been dissed as nothing more than a holding pattern for Beyoncé before her inevitable ascent, the women have genuine musical chemistry. They proved it by braiding their voices in old hits like “Bootylicious,” or in their rendition of “Single Ladies.”

Before Beyoncé was done, she showed she doesn’t have to sing defiant songs in order to make her point. She closed with “Halo,” a ballad, if an especially bold one. Like all the songs here, it allowed a woman who made a minor fumble a few weeks ago to score a clear musical touchdown.