THE BEAT

OSCAR WINNER Jennifer Hudson (below) will sing the national anthem before Super Bowl XLIII. It will be her first public appearance since her mother, brother and nephew were murdered in October.... Raiders running back Darren McFadden will appear in a Super Bowl ad for the NFL Network. McFadden starts out running in a snow-covered park before the background morphs into the draft, training camp, the Hall of Fame ceremony and, finally, a field on opening day. McFadden's clothing also changes seamlessly thanks to the same camera technology used in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. "I'm excited I'm going to be in the Super Bowl, but next year I want to actually be playing in the game," McFadden said.

PHOTO

GREGG DEGUIRE/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES (HUDSON)