Celebrity Musicians' Super Bowl Picks

Quick: what do Vince Neil, Wayne Newton, and Martina McBride have in common (besides a penchant for heaps of makeup)? Give up?

Well, for starters, all three have picked the New England Patriots to win Sunday's Super Bowl. Huh? It's true. Yesterday the 19th annual Scripps Howard Celebrity Super Bowl Poll was unveiled, and the aforementioned trio is just a sample of the musicians willing to put their soothsaying abilities to the test.

Giants fans, take solace: Placido Domingo and Joan Jett - among others - have got your back. After the jump, the full list of musician picks (right down to the final scores) and some final thoughts from EAR FARM...

MUSICIANS PICKING THE PATRIOTS

VINCE NEIL, lead singer of Motley Crue: Patriots, 49-14. The Giants pass defense is just not there, and they can’t get to Brady. And I think Belichick has a plan for the Pats D to eliminate the Giants offense.

WAYNE NEWTON, singer: Patriots, 35-30. As a true patriot and devoted chairman of the Celebrity Circle of the USO, I have to side with New England.

MARTINA MCBRIDE, country singer: Patriots, 31-27. Brady will throw for three touchdowns and they will have one rushing touchdown. Manning will throw for one touchdown and they will rush for two touchdowns.

DAVE GROHL, musician, Foo Fighters: Patriots by 3 because I like their three-corner hats.

ANDY WILLIAMS, singer: Patriots, 21-7. The difference will be Tom Brady who will continue to make his march towards being recognized as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

RANDY JACKSON, “American Idol” judge: New England Patriots by a touchdown, trust me!

SUSAN ANTON, singer/actress: Patriots, 31-28. This match up has the potential of being a classic. Eli and company have a lot of momentum going for them as well as confidence knowing that they almost beat the best team in football the last time they met. Experience will make the difference and Brady certainly has that. He is simply the best!

BOB WEIR, musician, Grateful Dead: Patriots, 31-24. Slowly, inexorably.

TOM SCHOLZ, founder of the band Boston: Well let’s see ... I live in Boston, the name of my band is “Boston” ... definitely a Pats fan. The Brady Bunch to win by 7.

RODNEY ATKINS, country singer: Patriots, 42-17. Their offense is outta control.

MUSICIANS PICKING THE GIANTS

PLACIDO DOMINGO, opera tenor: Giants, 24-21. The Giants might be the spoiler by breaking the Patriots’ perfect season and playoff record.

STEVEN VAN ZANDT, actor, “The Sopranos” and musician, The E Street Band: Well, it’s a little bit of a quandary for me since I was born in Boston and grew up in New Jersey. I don’t really follow sports anymore. I don’t have the time. You gotta hope for the hometown team, don’t ya? I mean, they shouldn’t have been there, should they? I watched the last couple games and, you’re like, how are they doing this? They shouldn’t be winning! But Michael Strahan is a good friend of mine, so I’m very happy for him, and the team is just looking terrific. I mean, what can you say. I wouldn’t bet against them right now, I’ll tell you that. I predict right now the Giants will win outright. Let’s win by 6, what do you say?

DIONNE WARWICK, singer/entrepreneur: Giants, 27-17. Most people will think I am crazy but I truly believe the Giants will pull it off.

DIERKS BENTLEY, country singer: Giants, 27-24. The Giants finished the season strong, and I guess I just enjoy pulling for the underdog.

JOAN JETT, rock star: Giants, 35-21. I’m a Packers fan and knew they were in trouble. New York is on a roll.

EAR FARM'S PICKS

Matt, EF Founder and Fibonacci sequence nerd: Giants 42, Patriots 294.
This game is going to either be another Patriots-patented 3 point Super Bowl win, or a total blowout. Completely dependent upon whether or not Eli Manning can keep it together for one more game. I'm guessing he doesn't, and we see multiple INTs from Eli, thus my prediction of a blowout win for the Pats. Unless Arlen Specter's investigative panel finds Belichick's cheat tapes by halftime and cuts them into an entertaining (yet informative) 30 second commercial that they then run during the 4th quarter thus causing the entire Pats team to revolt against their crooked head coach and allowing the Giants a window of opportunity. If all of THAT happens, Giants by 3.

Me, basket case: Call it superstition, bad karma, voodoo or whatever your pet term for "terrified of jinxing everything" is but I just don't feel comfortable publicly predicting the outcome of this game. Not to say I'm without an opinion, but for now I'm just going to keep it to myself. The Patriots have provided me with so much over the last 27 years, it would be shame to jinx them. Among their many gifts to me:
- The setting (the old Foxboro Stadium) where I would first learn the perils of consuming more than 10 Icehouses in a sitting.
- Following a particularly dramatic Monday Night Football loss, the sustained numbness necessary to ace a college interview the next morning, ultimately resulting in me attending said college.
- The joy of watching Matt walk around with a Carolina Panthers hat for a week following Super Bowl XXXVIII after a lost bet
- Common ground with Wayne Newton AND Bob Weir!

But enough of all that, who you got on Sunday? Man, all I know is the waiting is the hardest part...

Listen:
"The Waiting" by Tom Petty (he of this year's Super Bowl Halftime Show)

Above photo found HERE