Christina Aguilera got ‘caught up in the moment’ during national anthem

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Christina Aguilera has been America’s punching bag for just over 24 hours now, since she flubbed the national anthem before the Super Bowl. However, the diva did issue a statement explaining and apologizing.

‘I got so caught up in the moment of the song that I lost my place,’ the ‘Burlesque’ actress said Sunday night. ‘I can only hope that everyone could feel my love for this country and that the true spirit of its anthem still came through.’

A source told E! News that Aguilera, who’s been singing the national anthem publicly since she was 7, was ‘visibly upset,’ skipped the Super Bowl after-parties and caught a plane right back to L.A. Those who doubt that the New York native knows the lyrics can check out the second and third videos in this post, showing her knocking it out at age 11, and just last year for the NBA Finals.

‘It’s such a huge venue, your nerves take ahold of you. I completely understand,’ the Black Eyed Peas’ Fergie said, defending Aguilera during a radio interview Monday and mentioning some issues with her own performance -- though maybe not mirroring exactly what some of the game’s 111 million viewers took away from the Peas’ halftime show.

‘Some of my notes were pitchy to me,’ Fergie said -- but hey, she had a great time.

Some stories have circulated lately about erratic behavior from Aguilera, but really, who wouldn’t be off their game if they had to live with an estranged husband and a new boyfriend? Xtina filed for divorce from Jordan Bratman in October, and has been dating Mark Rutler, who according to TMZ moved in before Bratman’s stuff was hauled away in January.

Rutler accompanied Aguilera to her Super Bowl pregame performance.

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-- Christie D’Zurilla

The Associated Press contributed to this post.