Prince barely spoke, and still stole the show. It was billed as a news conference about the Super Bowl entertainment lineup, featuring pregame performers Cirque du Soleil, national anthem singer Billy Joel and Prince, the halftime-show headliner.

Typically, these events have been question-and-answer sessions.

Then again, there’s little that’s typical about Prince, the enigmatic six-time Grammy winner who once changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol and was best-known for racy lyrics and gyrations before toning his act down considerably in recent years.

“We are not taking questions at the end,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told a room packed with reporters and photographers, trying to give fair warning about a minute before Prince arrived, “but we think the trade-off will be pretty good.”

The trade-off was a 10-minute concert with Prince and his 10-person entourage using that as their taste of what’s coming at halftime on Sunday night.

His jacket, shirt, pants and shoes were orange — surprising since he is, after all, known as “The Purple One.” Shielded from view moments before taking the stage, Prince came out, took a deep breath, grabbed his guitar and sauntered to the microphone.

“Thank you,” he said, after finishing the quick set. “See you at the Super Bowl. Peace.”

Then he was gone.

“I think he’s brilliant,” Joel said. “He’s one of the most talented people in the industry today.”

A six-time Grammy winner, Joel will become the first two-time performer of the national anthem in Super Bowl history. He also sang it before the 1989 game in Miami.

Sunday’s game entertainment opens with Cirque du Soleil — touted as “a high-energy extravaganza of music, dance, gymnastics and circus arts” — pairing with well-known Miami artist, Romero Britto, for a pregame show. Grammy winner Louie Vega will provide an original musical score for the show.

Some Cirque performers were present. They were dressed as football referees and sat atop eight-foot flamingo puppets who pranced around the room.

Credit: AP