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Performing at the Super Bowl by Finneus (February 12, 2010) I have been a fan of football for all my life. As a matter of fact, one of my first Super Bowl memories involved watching a different Packers team, led by a man named Lombardi. I watched the game through the face mask of a Packers helmet, part of a full uniform (including pads) that I got from Santa just a few weeks before. I don’t remember who sang the National Anthem for that game, but I’m guessing they sang it right. This year at Super Bowl XLV, Christina Aguilera sang the Star Spangled Banner wrong, not only that, she messed up the words. Now I stopped following pop music shortly after the power cords of Boston and Bachman Turner Overdrive faded away, so I really know little of Ms. Aguilera and her work. Based on her Super Bowl performance, I’m not terribly impressed. I guess I’m old fashioned, but I think there is one way to sing our nation’s song of unity and patriotic pride, and that’s the right way. There are millions of songs that I have no problem with “artistic interpretation” being added by the artist doing the song. However, my National Anthem is not one of them! The Star Spangled Banner is the one song (just about) every American knows the words to. Not everybody knows the words to Chattanooga Choo Choo by Glenn Miller or Redneck Woman by Gretchen Wilson, but most people know the Star Spangled Banner. It is a sign of patriotism and respect to stand, face the flag, place your hand or your hat (yes, gentlemen remove your hats) over your heart, and sing along with the National Anthem. When the person singing the National Anthem sings it in a non-traditional way, the crowd has no alternative but to stand and listen, rather than sing along. And there by, it becomes a performance. Ms. Aguilera, like so many singers before her, came to the Super Bowl to perform the National Anthem rather than sing it. Considering that she sang the wrong words to a song that (just about) every American knows makes her look like quite the dunce. So if you should be one of the vast number who can sing better than I and are asked to perform the National Anthem at an event, tell them no, but you would be happy to sing it! |