My ps3 turns on and shows the wavy background for the home menu screen but no menu icons show up. Nothing on the controller changes anything and icons never come up. The wavy colored background is there though

This problem is because your PS3 software has become corrupt. The following steps will cure the problem but you will lose saved games and all other data. Your trophies will not be affected as these are stored by the Playstation Network.
Step 1. Turn your PS3 onto standby (Red light on)
Step 2. Press and hold the power button. It will beep as soon as you press it, beep 5 seconds later then beep once more 5 seconds later and then turn back to standby. Release the power button.
Step 3. Press and hold the power button again. It will beep when you first press it, beep again 5 seconds later and then beep twice quickly. Let go of the power button as soon as you hear these two beeps.
Step 4. The PS3 will start up asking you to plug in a controller with a USB cable and press the PS button. Do this and it will boot into the recovery menu.
Step 5. Choose option 5 (Restore PS3 system). This will re-install the PS3 software and restart the console.
Step 6. When the PS3 restarts you will be asked to enter the time and date and other information. When the setup is complete your PS3 will boot into the home menu normally.

Hope this helps