Sorry - I know it's off topic, but many of us sing so ....

I'm sick of pop stars who feel the need to jazz up the Anthem. Whitney did the best job after 911 at the Superbowl, but this is just weak. Maybe that's why the prez likes her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4dggAeouyI

looks like she was lip syncing the song?..

LIP SYNC?

glitz, glamor, and .... BS. Where will it end? What is the POINT????? Sing it, dammit!

It will only get worse .....KARAOKE IS KING!!!

Not only did she lip sync the song, but the band never played a note. The entire thing was pre-recorded. It was the topic on a couple talk radio shows today.

Gary

Come on guys it's obvious she sang it live, just imagine if she was miming and the tape had stuck, America the brave, hell we would never hear the last of it. You only get 1.5 sec shot of the band and they look like they are playing to me, glad you guys are not running the country, hell you are the laughing stock of the financial World , let's not make you the laughing stock of the technical World. I suppose Gary if the band were playing Stars and Stripes you would be in no doubt they were playing, don't spoil what looked like a nice day for the President and your country, stop all this negative ways.

Good Old Barack hope he does well for you this round he needs to do your are deep in it, like the rest of us.

Donny,

From this time forward thou shall be knows as KKK, sounds like something you rub on something BTW this name only sticks until you buy the new Roland Dream Machine, I will then think of something that fits..

Tony

I think there are probably a lot of people throughout the world, of various nationalities that do not appreciate hearing their national anthem sung as though it is being sung in some bistro, bar, or dive while (in the words of John Fogerty) "people sit there drunk".


Speaking of lip sync and such: There is a Chicago opera company advertising their spring schedule and one of the items listed that you get for your ticket price is a LIVE ORCHESTRA.

Do you mean to tell me that there are places where people pay to see an opera and there is some DJ in the orchestra pit or off in the wings spinning platters ? ? ? I wonder what the Aida Opus sounds like when you flange it !

I don't know what you guys were listening to you. That sounded awesome to me. I don't know if the band are playing live but she certainly was singing live. I love the orchestration and the arrangements of national anthem and I love the way she actually restrained herself in singing it in a very Dignified way But maintaining her style and class.Maybe some of you need to just relax a little bit. Times are changing and people's tastes are also changing. The national anthem is not secret as far as I know. This to my mind was certainly one of the better versions of the national anthem with a contemporary feel while still maintaining its trueness to the original song. It certainly not something to get upset about

I noticed she covered her mouth from the camera also?

When I hear the National Anthem performed in the traditional manner, I can feel the song in my heart, I feel the pride and become emotional, almost to the point of tears of joy. Unfortunately, that has not been the case with many of the singers during the past two decades. Some, such as Roseann Barr, have butchered this beautiful anthem in such a manner that I've felt they should be banned from ever singing again. It's not a barroom song - it's the United States National Anthem. It should be performed traditionally and with proper respect.

Gary

Hey Guys,

I would be more worried about the national debt than the national anthem, I hope Barack can get his priorites right you certainly can't, they can sing our national anthem how the hell they want, I'm a realist.

According to Ron Paul, a member of the house banking committee, you owe China about 2 & 1/2 trillion American dollars, and we owe them a bob or two, maybe we should start singing there national anthem...

Let's extend this notion of 'butchering' the national anthem. For me, a national anthem is the sonic equivalent of the national flag. So, do we go with a different design or maybe change the colours of the flag on a whim? Er, no. Can you imagine the uproar if that were to happen? I know it 's freedom of expression and all that, but surely there are limits.

Yes, the anthem should evoke the emotion of pride in one's country, but in the current style of overdone vocal emoting, deemed so essential and so heavily promoted in pop music, that's where it should stay. When it comes to a national anthem, have a little dignity. Bending it all out of shape is disrespectful to all it represents.

It's just as bad as listening during a sporting event like the Superbowl etc, etc, .. someone always sings the anthem also most times "butchering" or forgetting the words or worse like Rosanne years ago grabbing her crotch, etc ....but, what irks me more is that just when the song is not even 1/4 of the finished people are talking, yelling, all the way to the end with NO RESPECT whatsoever. Ahhhhhhh... whats the use?
we're doomed!

10 Worst National Anthem Performances Ever

Forgive me folks. I am not an American I am English. I watched a clip of Beyoncé singing the national anthem. I watched the audience and the reaction. I watched the president and his advisors and people around him. All of them were filled with pride it was clearly written on my face. Although you may not have appreciated the performance. It is clear that thousands if not tens of thousands perhaps millions did actually enjoy The performance. I did not think it was in any way disrespectful to the original piece. I thought it was quite inventive and creative while still remaining the national anthem. It's not even sensible to compare it to the flag as that is purely Visual. Music is self-expression. The original writer of the national anthem I am certain Would appreciated what Beyoncé And many other incredible artists had done to the song.

As an US ARMY veteran myself...IMO The National Anthem should always be sung publicly & respectability by a Armed Forces serviceman or woman or Veteran who has served or is still serving our great country.

Me too Spalding

Just one question for those of you who live outside the USA: "When someone sings YOUR national anthem, do they take 'artistic liberties' with it?" ... and I am asking this question out of ignorance, as I have not had the opportunity to hear many foreign anthems being sung ...

One other question ... when the great opera stars are performing an opera, do they add their 'self-expression' to the MELODY, or do they sing the notes as the composer wrote it? ... I have not attended enough operas to know, so I am 'just askin'' ???

Tony,

Whats an opera ????

Puccini's... "Nessum Dorma" my all time favorite wow!!

performed by Luciano Pavarotti conducted by james Levine last 1998 at Paris. Nessun Dorma(Italian) means 'no one must sleep'

He's covering his mouth with the mic Donny.

At least you know what great opera is now.......RIP.

I was at the nicks game at the 02 arena in the uk and our national anthem was sung by Alexandra Burke . She improvised and did a great job. If you asked an opera singer to sing the national anthem guess what style they will sing it in ? So why is there an issue about asking an rnb singer to sing the national anthem and being upset she sang it in the style of her trade ?

spalding .. the point I was making about opera is that when opera is sung it is sung as the composer wrote it ... I just feel the same should be done with our National Anthem ... so we will agree to disagree ...

Spalding, here's the way it sounds when it is performed correctly, by those who have have made the ultimate sacrifice to serve and protect this nation.




Gary

But we lost the game!!!!

I feel that many of today’s singers give more attention to the sound of their voice than to the lyric. The meaning or story told by the song is sacrificed in order to have their voice do what they are feeling. Where a word of importance should be accented it is sacrificed for ??????

I met a singer years back who when ask how she handle the task of remembering lyrics. Her answer was: My first step is to understand and feel the story. After that the lyrics seem to come easy.

The words and story in the National Anthem is all I am interested; everything else comes second.

Oh well, so be it, John C.

As with everything else on this forum, it all comes down to opinion. So, I'll just throw this clip into the mix.
Another way to bring the house down.

Hi Tony, down here in Oz we have similar behaviour where some of the singers engage in their own vocal gymnastics, (usually the latest pop star)and find it very difficult to sing Our Anthem straight as written. This makes it impossible for anyone who wishes to sing The Anthem along with them as the phrasing is not consistent with how it was written.
Also this weekend we celebrate Australia Day which every year brings out those who want to change our flag. Not this guy.
Gary, your clip says it all. If that doesn't fill you with pride and bring tears to your eyes nothing will.That was sensational.
See Ya !!
Ray

A wonderful rendition Gary.

The thing is if you want the song sung in a particular way then tell the singer or choose a singer who will sing bit that way . Then every body will be happy ... Except the folks that like to hear the national anthem jazzed up a bit. Who might be a significant number judging by the trend.

Curious, Spalding, but does the UK anthem get bent around? When I lived there I only ever heard it in its traditional form.

In short yes if sung and even sometimes instrumentals

I honestly doubt that ANYONE today (wounded vet or serviceman or operatic singer) would sing our National Anthem in the style that it was originally performed in. You only have to listen to turn of the century recordings of singers (both popular and classical) to realize just how MUCH has changed in a century!

Now take this back to how people spoke and sung in the 18th century, and you realize how much more different their vocal stylings would have been to even THAT.

Fossilizing how the National Anthem is performed to how YOU remember it from your youth is egotism, no more, no less. It has always been a work in progress, and expecting the world to stop just for YOUR sensibilities makes a mockery of the whole process. If you REALLY respect how the anthem should be sung, perform it exactly as it was originally, or give up on criticizing how it is evolving. YOUR version of it is no less of a departure from the original's than today's singers.

Let us also not forget that the original melody for our hallowed anthem was stolen (sampled!) from a bawdy drinking song, and only the words changed. Sounds pretty much like contemporary music if ever I heard it!