I have to disagree. Watching the replay again for the 4th time, the crowd was not animated in the least. There are certain things you can see on television that you can't hear on the radio. People were standing still with their arms crossed, dead still, simply watching with no emotion evident. Yes, people cheered for him when he took the floor and ended, but there was absolutely no cheering or singing along as he performed, especially for such a hit song.
I'm not too sure people here would have been as concerned about the crowd's reaction to Party Starter as they would have just wanted an unveiling of something fresh. The NBA finals is a very, very large stage to perform a new single. Granted, San Antonio isn't really known for their love of hip hop, but I'd rather have the crowd not cheer for Party Starter and have everyove who is watching on television and listening by radio hear it for the first time than have Will perform Switch and have the crowd not get into it regardless of it being a hit and being out for going on 3 and a half months with people watching on tv and listening by radio hearing it for the 30th time.
Incidentally, when Outkast performed at the All-Star game, people cheered and sang along, and they were very animated... maybe too animated, before, during, and after the performance. Same thing with Black Eyed Peas last year during the playoffs.
This isn't to say that Will didn't do a good job performing Switch. He did an excellent job, but the crowd wasn't really into it.
I did record it... so those who didn't get a chance to see, I'll put it up sometime today.