The Star-Spangled Banner can be a notoriously difficult song to sing, with its broad range and piercing high notes. But usually, the lyrics work out just fine.
At the opening of Super Bowl XLV, less than a minute into the song, Christina Aguilera messed up the words to the national anthem.
Instead of “O’er the ramparts we watch’d, were so gallantly streaming,” Ms. Aguilera belted out, “What so proudly we watched at the twilight’s last reaming.” That line was a repeat of one she’d already sung a few seconds earlier, except with some personal embellishments, like she replacing the word “gleaming” with “reaming.”
Ms. Aguilera’s flub was seen by tens of millions of viewers. Twitter was immediately abuzz with talk of her mistake, and by the third quarter her Wikipedia page was changed to reflect that she made a mistake.
While it may be of little comfort to Ms. Aguilera, her slip-up was less dramatic than some recent Super Bowl displays. Most notably at the 2004 halftime show when Justin Timberlake tore off Janet Jackson’s top at the end of their performance. And Ms. Aguilera’s mistake is less likely to end up in court, as did Ms. Jackson’s episode did, when the courts struck down a Federal Communications Commission fine against the network that broadcast the performance.
At the opening of Super Bowl XLV, less than a minute into the song, Christina Aguilera messed up the words to the national anthem.
Instead of “O’er the ramparts we watch’d, were so gallantly streaming,” Ms. Aguilera belted out, “What so proudly we watched at the twilight’s last reaming.” That line was a repeat of one she’d already sung a few seconds earlier, except with some personal embellishments, like she replacing the word “gleaming” with “reaming.”
Ms. Aguilera’s flub was seen by tens of millions of viewers. Twitter was immediately abuzz with talk of her mistake, and by the third quarter her Wikipedia page was changed to reflect that she made a mistake.
While it may be of little comfort to Ms. Aguilera, her slip-up was less dramatic than some recent Super Bowl displays. Most notably at the 2004 halftime show when Justin Timberlake tore off Janet Jackson’s top at the end of their performance. And Ms. Aguilera’s mistake is less likely to end up in court, as did Ms. Jackson’s episode did, when the courts struck down a Federal Communications Commission fine against the network that broadcast the performance.
