Christina Aguilera flubbed the national anthem at the Super Bowl. She’s not the first and she won’t be the last. The list of folks who have had difficulty singing the anthem is long and filled with quiet a few notable performers: Robert Goulet at the Ali – Norton fight 4+ decades ago seems to stand out in my mind (I’m a fight fan), but take a short sojourn into the world of YouTube and you will find scores of botched anthems saved forever on film.
I also seem to recall a noted Broadway song and dance man standing up and singing the anthem once at a major championship of some sort and getting halfway through and completely losing the words, humming through to the finish then walking off the stage looking like he was trying to find a place to slash his wrists.
And you’ll also find one of the best stories that ever came off the sports page, when Maurice Cheeks saved the day when he helped a young woman – Natalie Gilbert - who was singing the anthem. She forgot the lines and started to freeze up and Mr. Cheeks stepped forward and helped her finish – and showed his true self. (If you have never seen it, search for ‘maurice cheeks national anthem,’ it will pop right up.)
The point is this: no performer wants to put on a poor performance. At the same time there is no song that receives more scrutiny then the anthem. Literally, everyone is staring at you. The Super Bowl means an audience of 100 million or more. And that means more pressure still. Everyone is trying but sometimes even the best fumble under pressure. Ask Ben Roethlisberger about producing a perfect performance under the scrutiny of 100 million viewers and the pressure of a Super Bowl. So let’s give her a break.
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