Christina Aguilera Flubs National Anthem

Christina Aguilera sings the national anthem before the NFL football Super Bowl XLV game on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011, in Arlington, Texas.

/ AP

NEW YORK (CBS) Christina Aguilera belted out the National Anthem in Arlington, Texas, Sunday night at the Super Bowl and - probably inadvertently - put her own spin on the words to the Star-Spangled Banner.

Instead of singing the song's fourth line with the correct words - "O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?" - Aguilera sang, "What so proudly we watched at the twilight's last gleaming?"

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According to Billboard, her error was a merge of the second line with the fourth line.

(Watch the video below to hear Aguilera's change.)

To be fair to Aguilera, the song is difficult and the stage - the Super Bowl is watched by millions and millions and millions and millions of viewers - is at one of the biggest events in the world.

Aguilera's not the only singer to make a mistake belting the National Anthem. In 2009 Jesse McCartney goofed the words before the NASCAR Fontana Race. In Dec. 2010, the lead singer of the Eli Young Band flubbed the words before a Kansas City Chiefs-Denver Broncos game.

[happygael]

Christine Aquilera has no excuse. I have listened to Rise Stevens Maria Callas Kate Smith and a host of others sing our National anthem and not make any mistakes. She never prepared for the event. If she could not handle it then she should have turned down the assignment. She has no excuse. She is supposed to be a pro.

[SeattleHostMom]

I do wish that singers would sing the national anthem the way it was written.
The dramatic "interpretations" don't impress me. I just like to hear the performance of the song done well and done right.

Remember when Willie Nelson mixed up the lines "broad stripes and bright stars" several years back? This has happened before and will happen again.

[gruven13777]

by erasmus111 February 8, 2011 3:20 PM EST
"We would learn them and practice until it was right."


Well, we know that she does know the words and did get it right on this occasion....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VtF6rwNmdA


Like I said, people make mistakes. You can know something really well, but that doesn't stop mistakes from happening. In the blink of an eye, things can change. It all depends on the circumstances.

Also, singing without music is very hard. Not a lot of people can do it. And when you have people cheering around you, that makes it even worse.

-------

Dude, our National Anthem has been sung in front of mobs of people for over 100 years, so stop acting like this is the first time in the history of mankind that it's ever been attempted.

The fact is....she's just a sucky singer.

[erasmus111]

I don't give a rat's ass how many times it has been sung. People makes mistakes, that's life.

And she is not a sucky singer. She is one of the best singers. I did not particularly like the way she sang the Anthem, with all the "runs", but she still is a good singer. With all singers, there is always that one song they don't sound good singing. She sang it at another game and sounded just fine, though. There wasn't as many "runs".


"...so stop acting like this is the first time in the history of mankind that it's ever been attempted."


And might I suggest that you stop acting like this is the first time someone didn't sing the song well, or screw it up.

[oldlawoman]

So what, she just gave us more of a good thing. Think of it this way, at least she gave it her all, for us.

[RedWings_ninety_one]

Her rendition of the National Anthem may have been an insult to our country...but the halftime show was an insult to music anywhere...even the God-awful music that they sing to begin with. Perhaps the only highlight of the show was Slash....the show was abysmal...even worse than the "wardrobe malfunction" caused by Timberlake a few years back. The best halftime show so far has to be either Springsteen, or Petty.

[olebasiclady]

I can't believe the number of people defending this hideous performance.

Aguilera isn't a choir member performing for free.

She was paid more for this performance than most people make in a year, and she goofed it up because she didn't put enough time into preparation.

Blame the song? That's the new American way. Blame everyone and everything but the performer, whether that performer be an ill-prepared singer, a hostile and combative athelete, a criminal running from police, a poor performer in school, a mental patient who goes beserk and shoots a politician. I could go on, but I'm sure there will be enough negative replies to my comment already.

[bobnjersey]

[She was paid more for this performance than most people make in a year, and she goofed it up because she didn't put enough time into preparation. ]
------------------------------------------------
how much was that? post a reference to support claims that she was paid large sums of money of doing this.

[olebasiclady]

She is an entertainer. She doesn't work for pennies. That's my opinion bob, and I'll stick to it. You want to disprove it, go right ahead.

[Magginkat]

So? Just another blonde bimbo. By the way she sounded like an old Tom Cat in heat. This woman is supposed to be a popular singer???

[wlhoppers]

So Christina flubbed a lyric or two. Big deal. It's a difficult song and there isn't an armchair quarterback here, me included, who could do better.

I do like the idea of having a member of our armed forces sing the anthem and I also like the idea of having it sung as it was meant to be sung - without grandiose personalized stylings (wailing and screeching).

On a note about our armed forces - for the gallant serviceman (sorry, forgot his name) who was given the Medal of Honor - what kind of pathetic introduction was that in the show? From the sidelines in the third quarter - a brief intro while the teams were gathering at the scrimmage line? Give the man his due, a place of honor in the opening of the game or perhaps at half-time. What an insult.

[common_sense_fla]

enough is enough. The national anthem was not written with all that woo-wooing and those awful screaming high notes. ms. aguilera's rendition was an overly sad attempt. she should have spent more time learning the words than trying for some pitiful dramatics.

[salbando]

The National Anthem melody came from a British drinking song, which was much more uptempo. When it is sung too slowly, it sounds like a funeral dirge. They should really just have a band play it, instead of having it stylized by every fool in this country who thinks they are Marvin Gaye, and putting millions of people in agony.