Mentally, I'm still here. I know Lainey Wilson is going to kill it tomorrow as she headlines the halftime show on Thanksgiving Day at AT&T Stadium during the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants, but nothing will ever top Dolly Parton's performance last year... I think Lainey would agree with that, too. Of course, playing the Cowboys game at halftime has become an important tradition, and they always pull out all the stops to get a big star to put on a big show. Aside from the Super Bowl halftime show, it's the biggest concert that happens during an NFL game all year. And in case you (somehow) forgot, in 2023, Dolly put on a show-stopping performance that I don't think anyone saw coming, as she trotted out onto the stage during halftime wearing the iconic Dallas Cowboys cheerleading uniform that barely anyone can really pull off, much less a woman who is pushing 80 (she's 78)... but most people aren't Dolly Parton, obviously. Running through hits like “Jolene” and “9 to 5,” in addition to a cover of the Queen hit “We Are The Champions,” Dolly was still promoting her massive Rockstar album, and it was quite a moment. Of course, most us were stuck on her dazzling outfit, which her manager, Danny Nozell, later told Billboard was all Dolly’s idea, and no one else knew anything about it... and yes, they all "fainted" when she walked out of the dressing room and they saw her for the first time: “Dolly didn’t tell or show anyone that she was going to dress as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader until it was time to go to the stage. It was completely her idea. She waited until right before she went to stage and came out of the dressing room to show us all. When she came out, myself, the security and my staff fainted. I couldn’t tell the difference between Dolly and the cheerleaders. That is the genius of Dolly, and people are still talking about it.” In today's world that is so social media-focused and out there in terms of what's surprising anymore, Dolly created a moment here that had the entire world watching, which is hard enough to do, much less when you're "passed the peak" of your career (I think she's the exception because in so many ways, Dolly has never felt more relevant), which made this so much more impressive. The Cowboys beat the Washington Commanders 45-10, but no one was talking about the game... they were all talking about Dolly. Possibly my favorite part about it, though, was hearing Dolly talk about her decision to wear the DCC outfit on live national TV, which she admitted she was a little nervous to do... but she reasoned that if she did pull it off, it would be "good," and if not, she could pass it off as "an old woman doing a stupid a** thing." How can you not love her... "But I thought, 'Well at my age, if I can pull it off, it's going to be good. And if I don't, I can just pass it off as an old woman doing a stupid a** thing. I've always said my desire to do something is greater than my fear of it." Well, she obviously pulled it off and then some. It's no secret that I think Dolly is the queen of everything, and she proved it once again here... I mean, just an all-time great moment in American history that we were all lucky enough to be alive to witness in real time: Dolly Parton FULL Thanksgiving Halftime Show#NFL #AmericanFootball pic.twitter.com/hC6v38fa2v — Crypto.Man (@hoangcrab_) November 24, 2023 I feel like Tony Romo might still be thinking about it too... Thanksgiving tables across America when Dolly took the stage pic.twitter.com/mC10hsYJ9k — Smylie Kaufman (@SmylieKaufman10) November 23, 2023 One performance does come close though... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j5J1-rbAfA&pp=ygUNQ3JlZWQgY293Ym95cw%3D%3D