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Star-Mangled Banner: Aguilera Botches National Anthem At Super Bowl

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Singer Christina Aguilera performs during the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLV Pregame Show at Dallas Cowboys Stadium on February 6, 2011 in Arlington, Texas.  (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images)

Singer Christina Aguilera performs during the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLV Pregame Show at Dallas Cowboys Stadium on February 6, 2011 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images)

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP/CBSNewYork) — Christina Aguilera flubbed a line as she belted out the national anthem at the start of the Super Bowl Sunday night.

When Aguilera, who was born in Staten Island, was supposed to sing the line “O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming,” she instead repeated an earlier line, with a slight variation.

The Grammy Award winner sang “What so proudly we watched at the twilight’s last gleaming,” which is the same line from earlier in the song but with the word ‘watched’ instead of the word ‘hailed.’

The mistake immediately set social networks abuzz with people commenting on the error.

Aguilera’s representative did not immediately return a call and e-mail seeking comment.

SOUND-OFF: Did you catch Christina Aguilera’s anthem gaffe live?  Give us your thoughts in the comments section…

She’s not the first person to mess up the lines of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In 2001, Macy Gray was famously booed for her off-kilter rendition of the national anthem.

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She garbled the words at the Pro Football Hall of Fame exhibition game in Canton, Ohio, her home state. She later told The Associated Press: “That was definitely life’s most embarrassing moment.”

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

View Comments
  • Uncle Kermit

    :) Two Thumbs Up :)

  • Barry Hirschberg

    I never thought anyone could destroy our National Anthem worse than Rosanne…I was wrong! Miss Aguilera may have done us all a favor, by showing future personalities, who are offered the honor of singing the Star Spangled Banner at a public event, to just SING IT as it was meant to be sung, and to honor our country not feed their egos!
    Even if she had not botched the words, her “vocal calisthenics were overwhelmingly annoying!

  • Nancy

    I don’t think she botched the song. If you listen to her sing the National Anthem at different events at a younger age, she sings the same thing. Maybe that’s they she learned the song?????!

  • Howard Sprague

    Aguilera did a shameful job of singing OUR National Anthem. On a brighter note, she now looks like Cindy Lauper !!!

  • gary

    Maybe she sang it her way. I don’t know. These days everything goes way knot this it was U.S.A. It was great show. Way better than what we saw last year!

  • E. George Strasser

    She is without a doubt the worst singer I have ever heard. When you pick someone like her to sing the anthem, you get what you deserve. Next time pick someone who can sing music as it was written.

  • Mary

    I heard Young Canadians sing it perfectly at Hockey Games. She should be ashamed of herself.

  • Noel Rivera

    There’s absolutely no reason for her to make a mistake singing of all thing’s, the national anthem. she’s an artist and has to memorize the lyrics just like she does when she works on an album. So shame on her for not preparing for a performance of that scale.

  • Davey Crockett

    It’s pathetic. Doesn’t a person rehearse for such a major event? How can an American NOT know their national anthem??? It’s yet another example of the pathetic, Apathetic, oblivious behavior of Americans today. She should NOT get paid for such an incredibly poor performance!

    Why even have an over-paid singer sing the national anthem? Why not just have everyone in the stadium sing? Maybe it would lower the price of the tickets or the refreshments. It’s a sports event, not a music concert! Why are the NFL trying to make it a multifunctional “entertainment event”?

  • TRUE PATRIOT

    Absolutly PATHETIC!!! That was the WORST performance of the National Anthem I have ever heard. The people who hired Ms. Aguilera should be FIRED!!! Its UNAMERICAN to NOT know the words to our National Anthem, let alone to sing it the way she did. As usual they try to sing it with to much jazzy B.S. added to it. She should be FINED and BANDED from ever being aloud to sing the National Anthem again!

  • Mr. E

    Stop letting celebrities sing the national anthem. How about a nationwide search for an unknown that can actually sing?
    What better way to show the American Dream than to have someone live it by singing at the Super Bowl?

  • Kathy

    American Idol contestant could do better than her.

  • Betty

    This was a major fiasco. Hopefully next year they will hire someone who knows the words to the National Anthem and will sing it instead of SCREAMING it. The halftime was fair. The game was fantastic!! I was yelling for the Packers. Being a life long Texan I can’t believe the horrible events surrounding this great game.

  • Tim

    The national anthem was a joke. She was so busy trying to show off her voice she didn’t care about respecing the song and what it stands for.

  • John Sowa

    She not only botched the words, she didn’t know the melody. They should have a loud band play along in order to drown out the stupid bimbos who can’t sing.

  • OldVet

    Heard it …. was suprized…. then, i just thought she was trying to be “Artistic”…. guess not.. You or I can make that mistake in that setting … but not a professional whos used to singing in front of thousands.. – that’s not cool…

  • Melissa

    Her performance was absolutely disrespectful!! Especially with the troops watching. She should be embarrased and ashamed! You can mess with a lot of things , but not the national anthem. I understand the pressure of being up there but there is no excuse for disrespecting your country.

    • Rhoda Israel

      It is a terrible thing when a known singer cannot sing the correct words to our National Anthem.. She also sang her own rendition. This song should always be sung as written without any added slurs. It is a disgrace to let a singer like her sing our Nation’s song.

  • 01608

    Aria:
    S.I.N.Y. BORN.
    Please xplain.
    But I could be wrong about S.I.N.Y.

  • jnb757

    You probably do not know the words either

  • Ellen

    Not only was it sad and awful, but so was the half time show as well.

  • Mr Armenia

    She got paid to sing the superbowl so just deal with it
    People aint perfect

  • lamb

    Aria, your comment is so disgusting. What does ethnic background have to do with making a mistake singing the National Anthem? Are you NATIVE AMERICAN? NO? Then you are just as much of a foreigner as she is!

  • Jeff Rosen ret NYPD

    C’mon, as if we all never messed up the national anthem in a full stadium televised all over the world.

  • mak

    This is why she gets paid the big bucks.

    What a moron.

  • HEARS HURT

    SAD AND AWFUL

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