Christina Aguilera kills the national anthem -- and not in a good way [video]

 

This post has been corrected. See the note at the bottom for details.

Christina Aguilera's fumbling of the national anthem before the 2011 Super Bowl may have been worse than Nick Collins' pick-six off the Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger -- unless, of course, you're a Green Bay Packers fan.

Check out Xtina's "interpretation" of "The Star-Spangled Banner" above, and vote in the Lea Michele vs. Christina Aguilera singing poll. And remember, the blond diva has been getting the tune right for a long time, including at a hockey game when she was 11 (she starts around the 1-minute mark):

 

More recently,she got the lyrics right for Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals (see the proof below). So -- maybe this girl just isn't a football fan?

For the record, 5:59 p.m.: This post originally gave Ben Roethlisberger's first name as Brett. Of course, it is not Brett, just like Clay Matthews' first name is not Chris. Brett Favre's first name is Brett, however. Thanks to commenter @Eaglesfan19 for flagging my gaffe, and making me laugh at myself, albeit in a banging-my-head-on-the-wall way.

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Super Bowl 2011: Lea Michele versus Christina Aguilera [poll]

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Black Eyed Peas' Super Bowl halftime show promises a party vibe minus malfunctions

-- Christie D'Zurilla

 

Comments

[female_lawyer]

To Doug,

your logic is so wrong is so many levels, it does not even merit an answer! BUT, here is your rebuttal:--it is like saying to a concert pianist that you can not perform a Chopin sonata accurately, because you have not lived during Chopin's lifetime! That is why they have musical notes written in manuscripts, so having Scott Key's musical notes and lyrics in possession, a professional singer can get to interpret the melody and lyrics accurately!:

Here is the PERFECT US National Anthem rendition by Glee artist Charice--
Youtube Search:

Charice Pempengco sings the National Anthem at Dodgers Opening Day 2009!

[Daniel Slosberg]

I'm guessing that since she had sung it successfully so many times before -- here she is...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leTzT3v_mls
...at 11 years old -- she probably thought that she didn't have to do much preparation. The SSB's an easy song to botch even if you *are* prepared. I just look at her performance as a great example of human fallibility.

[LA DOC00]

I never even noticed the dropped line. But I don't think I know the lyrics by heart and besides I was focused on what a knock-out she is.

[cdz from the ministry]

Hey all, including @Daniel Slosberg -- Christie D'Zurilla here from MOG with a gentle reminder that in general we don't publish comments that include links, but since that link is to a video that's part of the post, it went live. Just wanted other folks whose comments didn't go live to know, it was probably because there was a link, or profanity.

Thanks to everybody for reading and commenting!

//cdz

[Peter Mallard]

She is now officially a hack, a hag, and so very yesterday.

[nelsoncw]

What do you expect when someone like her is hired! It is just one more instance our media and the marketing of "popular culture" that is lowering our standards to the lowest common denominator in order to put more money in their pocket.

[Mike Johnston]

Christina Aguilera seemed infinitely more focused on a grandiose performance than attending to the basics like. . .well. . .like knowing the words. You know. Simple basic stuff.

As a music mentor of mine once told me. "The national anthem may be sung or it may be played or it may be both sung and played, but under no circumstances should it ever be 'preformed.'"

Even without blowing the lyrics I thought she did a lousy job.

I believe that she didn't mess up because she didn't know the words. She messed up because she got lost in the performance. Style over substance.

She was sent out there "to honor America." Missed the mark BIG TIME.

Hey, Christina, better to be silent and thought a fool than to sing and remove all doubt.

[Emily]

And somehow she still sounded like a sweet little songbird compared to Fergie...

[Tommy]

I didn't hear ONE commentator say Polamalu's name correctly yesterday. (It's POH-lah-mah-looh, not Pah-lah-mah-looh.)

Shouldn't they be able to pronounce the players' names?

[John Cruiserj]

Why did they show the soldiers in Afghanistan?

oh, that's right, the taxpayer is paying $1 MILLION per soldier per year to keep them there so I guess the government wants to get their money's worth with photo ops.

Yet another sign of false patriotism

[susan]

that was horrid!!!! Not only messing up but it was horrid from the start and turned off the volume so missed the mess up-- lucky us

[Michele]

Let the one here that is without flaw, throw the first stone...

[Dexter Peabody]

When performers are asked to PERFORM our National Anthem, they not-unnaturally assume that they are being asked to render it in the style which made them famous, no matter how grotesque the result. This will continue to be a problem until they are asked to LEAD the anthem. When the thousands of spectators are invited to join in, the effect will be far different.

[female_lawyer]

Michele,

That is why all these so-called divas are paid gazillion of dollars to sing in front of a crowd, and that is why you are paid minimum wage to just sit down and be a spectator!

Meaning, we expect them to perform the BEST and show some talent--in this regard Aguilera failed miserably! EPIC failure!

[Robert B. Brumfield]

Once again...it has to be all "jazzed" up...and I am using the nicest term I can think of. When done properly the anthem can make your heart swell with pride and tears come to your eyes....this one just made my skin crawl.

[cooltub]

Yo Zonker: It's "Medal of Honor." Congress has nothing to do with it.

[Tommy]

Yeah, cooltub, I laugh when I hear someone refer to it as the CMH, too! About as dumb as calling them an "English" bulldog. (It's a bulldog.)

[Chris]

Well done Christina... don't worry about the criticizers.... you have proven yourself wrt the National Anthem many times....

[C]

She may have flubbed the words, but that woman still has pipes. I thought she sounded amazing. It's too bad about the mistake, but aren't we all human? Those who chastise her for the error should look at yourself in the mirror. "To Err Is Human, To Forgive Divine"

[Nick]

As I started listening to the Super Bowl anthem, I thought "This is not good". A few seconds later I said "...and she just screwed up the words." She was trying to be the next Whitney Houston rendition (remembered forever) and it laid a major egg. It was an effort in the key of suck and the lyric mishap just amplified her self-absorption. The NFL has bad taste if they screened that rendition and let it fly.

[Jon K.]

She mis-sang the anthem like many R&B stars do nowadays. How? By butchering the song to call attention to themselves rather than attention to the anthem and what it represents.

Just sing the dang song as it was written and stop trying to make it about you. It's not.

[Andy M]

she was still better than the BEPs.

A mistake is just a mistake. Disgrace is an excessive term for Christina's mistake.

Now Macy Gray's forgetting the song almost completely ...

[AwesomeMan]

She ruined it. Lady Gaga, Eminem or Katy Perry (Katy Perry the most) would do a much better job...She messed up the lyrics, missed the 4th verse and repeated the 2nd. *sigh* when is the NFL ever going to learn?

[thedog]

hey how many of you people who are so stuck on her flubbing the words were actually standing while watching on your tvs at home?those who werent standing shut up ,those who were keep em coming!

[JDW]

I suspect most of you here would have hated Jimi's rendition at Woodstock. You need to hear the same notes the same way every time? Any musicians/singers want to chime in? I thought it was great.