Touch down on Miami beach for Sunday Super Bowl

Miami's South Beach was swamped with celebrities during Super Bowl week. Whether they were hanging out on South Beach, mingling together at intimate parties or participating in some of the more high-profile celebrity events, they often times outshined the football players during the sport's biggest showcase.

Here's a look at some of the more notable things seen, heard and observed leading up to Sunday's Super Bowl.

Sing stars

Carrie Underwood sang the US national anthem before the game, while veteran British rockers The Who (above) performed the 12-minute half-time concert.

The Celebrity Beach Bowl

While the game between the New Orleans Saints and the Miami Dolphins got millions of fans screaming around the US on Sunday, a smaller game similarly had spectators on the edge of their seats: The Celebrity Beach Bowl, a star-studded game between the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Marlon and Shawn Wayans, Victoria's Secret model Marisa Miller, and former NFL players. The main draw? Watching Taylor Lautner put those abs to good use, naturally.

Celebrations and headaches

Kelly Rowland wasn't one of the celebrities who popped into town for the Super Bowl. She lives in Miami, and like a lot of residents, was trying to grapple with the headaches that come with having the Super Bowl on your doorstep.

"I happened to come home during Super Bowl. I was like, ‘Why is there so much traffic?' And everyone was like, ‘Super Bowl!'" the singer said. "Nobody wants to drive. So I have to spend a lot of money for a car service."

Week of celebration

Rihanna had more to celebrate during Super Bowl week than most. The singer was still excited over her two Grammy wins a week ago.

"You never come down from that," said Rihanna, who won with Jay-Z and Kanye West for Run This Town. "When you remember it, you're like, ‘Wow, I won a Grammy.'"

Rihanna will switch from the music world to the literary world soon. She's finishing a coffee table book that will be out this year.

"It's like a look into my life, behind the scenes, what you don't really get to see, but also fashion shots."

(More than) Fashionably late

The Black Eyed Peas were more than tardy for the party.

The Grammy-winning band was the main attraction for Playboy's Super Bowl bash, which started around 9pm. But many guests had already headed out the door by the time the Peas rolled into the event around 2am.

They may have had a better excuse than most for being late: The quartet had performed earlier Saturday night at American Airlines arena for the second date of their The E.N.D. tour.

Nearby, another men's magazine Maxim was also holding court with stars like LL Cool J.