National Anthem at Super Bowl?

[jgmklmhem]

I am with you guys on thinking it was really bad. Having said that Peter King (SI columnist) thinks it was the second best anthem behind Whitney Houston.

 

[pozey]

It was horrible. In fact, it wasn't too much better than when Roseanne "sang" the National Anthem many years ago.

When they started singing, I wasn't paying real close attention to the TV, but could hear it - I was making some quesadillas. I said to my wife "I sure hope they don't sing the National Anthem." She said "That is what they are singing."

It was almost unrecognizable.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

My DH thought Roseanne did a better job...I do think it was mic problems on Aaron and Aretha seemed to be cutting in and out too.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Is there anywhere I can download this and hear it?

 

[cardaway]

Why do performers in the USA always embellish your anthem? In most other countries, performerts sing the national anthem in the manner it was intended not their own personal interpretation.

So which performance of "Oh, Canada" was deemed to be the right one?

There is no right way as long as you get the lyrics right. Sadly that many times is an issue.

 

[PixieDust32]

It was as horrible as they did in Saturday Night Live.

 

[Kycha]

I think there were major technical difficulties during the pre-game show and the National Anthem that contributed to the fact that both performances sounded awful. There was a couple times when you would see lips moving but no sound. Aaron Neville seemed to be struggling during the whole performance. I don't think his earpiece was working right.

 

[Deb in IA]

I think the combination of Aretha and Aaron was odd.

Aaron Neville has a trademark soft, whispery high tenor, and Aretha belts 'em out.
So, when they sang together, Aaron was completely lost.


But, having seen Aretha live in concert, I can tell you that she sounded a lot better yesterday than when we saw her last year.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

It was as horrible as they did in Saturday Night Live.

Now I missed the real performance...darn it...but I did see SNL's "performance".

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you can't (or won't) sing it like Francis Scott Key wrote it, you shouldn't sing it at all. This one was terrible.

 

[declansdad]

So which performance of "Oh, Canada" was deemed to be the right one?

There is no right way as long as you get the lyrics right. Sadly that many times is an issue.

I don't know, did they sing "Oh Canada"? I wasn't watching.

I was speaking in more general terms. Almost everytime I have watched a major sporting event like the Superbowl, World Series, Daytona 500, the anthem singer always performs the song in a different manner. I have seen it sung like a lounge act, the "Rosanne Barr" style, stretched into a 5-6 minute version etc. And everytime this happens, people are asking why did they do that.

Isn't there one way of singing your national anthem?

 

[Lanshark]

It was THE worst rendition I've ever heard. An embarrassment to say the least.

Why in the world the picked the Stones for halftime, in Motown, is also beyond me.

 

[Geoff_M]

If you can't (or won't) sing it like Francis Scott Key wrote it, you shouldn't sing it at all. This one was terrible.

Forgive the history nut in me, but Key didn't write the tune... He wrote it as a poem. It was set to an old British tune (much like "My Country 'Tis of Thee"/"God Save The Queen" combo) some years later.

 

[Disney Doll]

I like both of them, but I htought they both stunk.

And I agree, I think the anthem should be sung as it was written. I hate when performers add words, inflections, screaming and screeching to the anthem.

Aretha overdid it with the screaming/screeching thing, and adding words. I just don't think Aaron Neville has the right voice for the song in general.

 

[olena]

Isn't there one way of singing your national anthem?

Yes there is. To me, messing with it is like cutting up and rearranging the stars and stripes on the American Flag or even flying it upside down. When someone sings it like that, it's not about honoring America, it's about the singer. It's so out of hand these days that many people probably wouldn't recognize a true-to-the-music performance of it. They'd probably freak out at how fast it was, because soloists like to milk it.

I don't really care about other songs and if someone wants to take artistic license with them, but the National Anthem is my sole exception. There is a correct way to perform it and that etiquette should be adhered to.

 

[cinmell]

I thought it was one of the worst, if not THE worst, renditions of the National Anthem I have ever heard.

 

[KingsFanInRI]

this was very nearly the worst rendition of our National Anthem (and let's not forget that this is what it is supposed to be) I have ever heard. I had to make the comment "It's a good thing I haven't eaten yet." And feel free to flame away at me for this but I believe that Whitney Houston's rendition was even worse. Whitney was a great singer, as were Aretha and Aaron, but this is our National Anthem, it should be treated as an honor, not as a career move.

There is a distinct difference between singing thje Anthem in your own style and totally changing the song around. If you want to hear how it should be done, do a little web research and find Boyz II Men's version, or if you can find it, (Of all people) Meatloaf did such a fantastic job of injecting passion and theatre into the words that as I listened to him sing it I felt like I was at Fort McHenry with Francis Scott Key as he wrote the song.

My problem with Whitney Houston was that she changed the tempo of the song and sang it out of cadence. It should be "Oh, say can you seeeeeeeeeee by the dawn's early liiiiiiiiiight..." but she made it "Oh, sayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy can you see by the dawwwwwwwwwn's early light..."

The only thing that could have made that Anthem last night worse was if Aretha would have had a wardrobe malfunction.

And for the record, I am a hockey fan and I never hear people Smurfing around with O Canada, and I like it that way.

 

[Melissa M]

Another vote here for leaving the National Anthem alone. It's already a difficult song as it is...no need to embelish it to try to prove how good a singer you are.

 

[HayGan]

I thought that only Roseanne Barr did a worse butchering of our National Anthem!

Aaron Neville has a wonderful voice but it wasn't meant for the National Anthem!

 

[wvrevy]

It was horrendous, and frighteningly so. 'Course, I also think Aaron Neville couldn't sing his way out of a wet paper bag , so take that for what it is worth.

Carrie Underwood sang the Anthem for (I think) one of the Championship games, and did a phenomenal job, and Leanne Rimes has an acapela version that will just about bring tears to your eyes.

Peter King is apparently going deaf in his old age.



As for the Stones...you can thank Janet and her boy-band friend for us having to suffer through them tonight. God-forbid the NFL take the chance of someone from the last four or five decades doing something *gasp* controversial. Maybe next year, we'll get Paul Anka !