Shall we listen to it again? I put Fergie’s absolutely terrible singing in the links yesterday, and apparently everyone wanted to talk about how she butchered it. Fergie performed the anthem just before the NBA All-Star game got underway. Instead of taking a knee or singing along, most of the basketball players and celebrities were looking around like “WTF is happening?” Let’s watch the video again:
It’s one of those performances that goes bad from the very first words. Like, as soon as she breathy-sings “oh say can you see,” most people were already like “Oh nooooo.” So, Fergie heard all of the criticisms and shade. So she actually released a full-on official statement/apology for the performance:
“I’ve always been honored and proud to perform the national anthem and last night I wanted to try something special for the NBA. I’m a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn’t strike the intended tone. I love this country and honestly tried my best.”
That’s not really an apology, first of all. Second of all… do we really need an apology? I mean, she didn’t actually disgrace anything. She just did a really dumb version of the anthem, but it’s not like she grabbed her crotch and spit on the floor. She didn’t hump the flag or set fire to our nation’s most precious resource, LeBron James. She just sang poorly. But she tried. So no, I don’t think she really needs to apologize, which is good news because she didn’t apologize with this statement. It’s fine. Whatever.
Here are some funny reactions/tweets:
Who saw Fergie's national anthem performance at the NBA All Star Game? I think mine was better lowkey
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) February 19, 2018
A moment of common ground. Retweet if you think Fergie should refund the NBA after that, dare I say it, performance…. 😂🤣🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/OM4bkSbCth
— Oliver McGee PhD MBA (@OliverMcGee) February 19, 2018
Let's be real, #Fergie gave the U.S. the anthem it deserves right now.
I mean you see who the president is, right? pic.twitter.com/Lbkymqd1co
— Britni Danielle (@BritniDWrites) February 19, 2018
Would you like to hear something classy? Fergie’s estranged husband Josh Duhamel brought her flowers on Monday after her disaster performance. That’s a really nice gesture!
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
The comment about this being the anthem the country deserves right now is spot on.
Was going to say exactly this (about the tweet).
Yesterday I listened to the whole thing. Cringed a bit but didn’t think it was the disaster people said it was. It was uneven, that’s for sure.
The funny thing was that my cats Titus Pullo and Vincent Van Prince came to my bedroom immediately after it was over…almost as if they wanted to check if I was all right.
Bahahah this made my day! Love when cats can really read the room better than anyone!
Titus Pullo!
I couldn’t get past 39 seconds.
Titus and Vincent probably thought there was a yowling lady cat in there somewhere, and came looking for some loving.
@ Ankhel:
LOL!
P.S.: They’re neutered.
Yes. And unlike Trump at least Fergie knew the words.
It’s times like this I love the internet:
https://instagram.com/p/BfXi-TtHUUl/
I was actually waiting for her to start scatting on this really bad jazzy rendition 😂😂😂
I think scatting could have only improved this mess.
Why is she singing the national anthem in the first place? This is not a match of the national team?
@LilLil the national anthem is routinely sung at the start of pretty much every sporting match here. we’re a weird, puritanical nation that fetishizes displays of “patriotism”
I wanted to write that yesterday. But i thought people would think I’m anti american. Which is far from the truth I just won’t bother visiting until 46.
I’ve heard sheboons mangle it worse…..far worse. Go Glorious Leader!
Honestly, #fergieforpresident – she would be better than your current cheeto in chief.
Growing up in a family that has had Celtics season tickets for decades, I have endured the National Anthem is just about every form imaginable, including a kazoo band. Fergie’s was, by far, one of the worst I’ve ever heard. It is not an easy song and it does not benefit by trying to be creative with it. Just remember the words (Cristina Aquilera is one of many who blew that assignment) and sing it without getting fancy. My great aunt keeps a list of the best & worst she’s heard. This one is the second best and how it should be done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK9R87LJq5w We actually saw Donna perform it a number of times. My aunt’s favorite version was Ruth Pointer of the Pointer Sisters who used to perform it at Celtics games several times a year. Number 3 was Aretha Franklin.
Don’t try to get fancy, Fergie, just sing it.
Haha, thanks for sharing. Fergie’s rendition had me wondering…where the hell did she get the idea to do it that way? Was this brainchild all hers or did someone convince her this was the anthem our tattered nation needed? My secondhand embarrassment was off the charts.
I bet she tried to go all Marilyn Monroe Happy Birthday. She has vocal chops, just bad judgment and I think the divorce is making her insecure so she’s doing sexy things to put herself out there and thinking it looks good. Really was terrible, but apology? Please. This country has many other Orange people an apology is necessary from. Fergie singing like a cat trying to get it’s tail unstuck from a car tire? Nah.
I think she wanted to do a Marvin Gaye and do her twist with a jazz influence, but it was obviously a fail.
His is my favorite remix of all time:
https://youtu.be/QRvVzaQ6i8A
Btw I really enjoyed Donna Summer! Your auntie has good taste
I love that your great-aunt keeps a list of best performances of the national anthem!
She’s 89 and attends tons of sporting events so she’s seen quite a few. The only altered one she ever liked was Steven Tyler’s.
@lightpurple Thank you! I had never heard Steven Tyler’s version, and I love it!
You got me started. I listened to Donna Summer’s version—also good— then capped it off with Whitney Houston for a palate cleanser.
Picturing the kazoo band in my mind is making me laugh. My family have had NHL season tickets since I was a child and I’ve heard amazing and horrific versions of both the American and Canadian anthems over the years.
The kazoo band version really wasn’t bad. Last week they had a group of cellists perform it, which was lovely. My great aunt really hates it when people embellish it with what she calls “vocal gymnastics” or “yodeling.” And you had better know the words. She’ll give a pass for a one time lyric flub but repeated mistakes are not to be tolerated. She used to call Scott Brown’s Senate office to complain about his daughter Ayla repeatedly screwing the lyrics up & “yodeling.”
@lightpurple Your aunt sounds like an absolute gem. I hate vocal gymnastics and “yodelling’ too. There’s no point in going rogue. Just sing the song, hit the notes and leave it at that The cellists would be great. Once at a hockey game, the singer horribly flubbed the words to both the french part of the Canadian anthem (she was Canadian) and the American anthem and then fell really hard walking off of the ice.They have a carpet that they walk on, but somehow she slipped. I felt bad for her but it was kind of hilarious. She was either incredibly nervous or very unprepared.
Kazoo band??!!?? You’re family’s dedication to the Celtics is STRONG! 🙂
Hi, lightpurple. We had an issue a few years ago with some getting creative and “oversinging” our national anthem, too. For many years, the popular, much-loved and hugely reliable Julie Anthony sang the NA at every big event in Australia. Then the younger singers started putting their modern touches to it, as if they were trying to get Advance Australia Fair on to the Billboard charts: 🎼”A-yaaaadvaaayaannnnnnce, Austrayaayaayyyliiiiiiiaaaaaa Fair-yair-yair-yair-yaaaaaiiiirrrrr.”🎶 Ugh. National Anthems are not power ballads! The powers-that-be then decided to have some rules about how the NA is performed at big, especially televised, events. No pop, rap, R&B, country, jazz, calypso etc., versions.
@lightpurple. Wow, that Donna Summer version was incredible. Gave me shivers and I’m not even American!
The anthem the country deserves is right. We don’t deserve anything better
I love her non-apology. She does not need to apologize, she just has to take the criticism like a professional, and she is doing that.
agreed
cosign!
Agree 100%!
Eh I don’t dont think owes anyone an apology – her version was absolutely ridiculous (and hilarious) but not intentionally offensive. It is neither the first nor last misjudged attempt at the anthem.
Frankly it gave me the laugh I needed last night. At the end of the day it’s a SONG. It’s ok.
Lord I still haven’t recovered from that performance. I’m a Fergie fan and now I find myself questioning her talent all together.
As a non american I just don’t get why sing the anthem at sport events 🤔
That rendition was horrible tho.
I don’t think she needs to apologize. She did it her way and that’s fine. We all got a good laugh out of it at the very least. I’m sure someone somewhere thoroughly enjoyed it.
Yeah, don’t jazz up the national anthem. This makes me think she’s having a mental episode. Girl needs a doctor.
…or a cookie!
We need a post on LeBron. The Fox News woman told him to shut up and dribble. He said he’s not going to shut up. The right are such hypocrites. Trump can say whatever he wants and be nasty,but we can’t talk about him.
Wait, what? Did this Fox News person say that to his face?!?
No she did it on her broadcast or show or whatever as an editorial type piece. It was appalling. She repeatedly referred to him as “they.” As in “why don’t THEY just shut up and dribble.”
And he told her what she could do with her dribble. As did numerous athletes from a wide variety of sports. Part of her attack focused on LeBron going professional straight from high school and not getting a college degree, as if only those with a college degree can voice an opinion. LeBron and other NBA players have given millions to Stay-in-School programs and have funded college scholarships. That was pointed out to the idiot in no uncertain terms too.
Laura Ingraham, I think.
They’re also hypocrites because they elected a f*cking reality tv show host with ZERO political experience to preside over one of the most powerful countries in the world, yet they don’t want to hear a celebrity talk to them about politics. I have been having a field day on social media arguing with these imbeciles. Between this and their embarrassing gun arguments, it’s just getting to be too easy.
I LOVED LeBron’s response. “I don’t even know her name” LMAO!!!
That woman is so disgustingly racist.
Maybe this was a hidden message to all the people contemplating doing crystal meth…
Her rendition, while amusing, was no worse than some American Idol finalists would have done. No apology necessary.
Singing now for the most part, is an endurance contest. She was loud and held notes for a really long time. That’s enough for most people.
I NEED to hear Simon, Paula, and Randy critique Fergie’s disaster!
Based on all the hoopla I was expecting her to be fall down drunk or something. Honestly, I don’t see what the fuss was about. It was different but not that bad. People saying it was WORSE than Rosanne Barr? Whatevs.
Our National Anthem sucks as a singable song. Every singer thinks so.
She doesn’t need to apologize. It was bad, but she didn’t hurt anyone or make it FUBAR on purpose. She’s a person, who tried something new. It was awful, but no apology necessary.
She tried. I’m just wondering what kind of people she surrounds herself with — do they all just kiss up to her? Someone could have told her during practice that her rendition doesn’t sound too good…
I agree. Don’t artists tape their rehearsals so they can critique themselves? She must be surrounded by sycophants and “yes” people sort of like the Emperor’s New Clothes. I can hear them now: “Oooooh Fergie, this is the greatest version of the National Anthem EVER!”
She has nothing to apologize for. She clearly made people laugh. They were having a moment. It was funny, if unintended. Although this is probably never the time to stretch yourself artistically. Just sing it. Hit the notes, know the words.
And what a nice ex-husband.
I can’t say I’ve ever heard that anthem sound good. It’s just awful. Plus it seems like it was meant to be sung by a crowd in the 1800’s. It’s just never going to translate into this amazing power ballad that modern Americans try to force it to be.
I laughed so hard at this! The universe did as well. This morning when I opened YouTube, Maya Rudolph’s SNL anthem was suggested to me! SPOT ON!!
Her bridge wanted to come down.
Nah, she doesn’t need to apologize. Her voice is amazing, she tried something and it didn’t work. Did my face look like the thinking emoji with the eyebrows and hand on the chin the whole time? Yes. Will I watch the video from above by Oliver McGee and die laughing 100 times today? Yes. But she wasn’t disrespectful.
I’ve seen her live and she’s usually a powerful vocalist. She had a bad day. I think I like her more now. Lol
It was a terrible rendition, second worst after Rosanne Barr, but she meant no disrespect.
So no apology needed.
Her face looks very scary, she is overdoing it big time.
When women of certain age are trying this hard to look sexy, it’s really very desperate and sad.
The open mouth thing, the ridiculous eyebrows and ugly, huge nails.
Yikes.
Was Roseanne Barr even being serious though? It seemed like she was just screwing with people and making it a joke.
I don’t know why would anybody mess with the anthem. It doesn’t make any sense. If you have a problem with it, don’t accept the invitation to sing it.
Why bother?
HA. Her public statement is actually right in line with how I described her performance to my husband: “Oh ho ho, welp, Fergie decided to try out something new stylistically on the National Anthem, and it was kind of a dud.”
I like her. And I didn’t hate what she was trying to do! She’s older and more established than a pop starlet, so “edgy jazz standard” is a totally doable career pivot. Maybe… maybe not for the National Anthem, but it’s a totally worthwhile experiment?? Chin up, Fergie
I have no understanding why anybody would try to perform the national anthem in a sexy kind of way.
Just know the words, hit the notes and dress without showing everything.
Keep the over the top stuff for your concerts.
And please, please stop messing with your face, you are starting to look like a wax figure!
Spot on, Ashby.
I agree, she doesn’t owe anyone an apology.
As terrible as her performance was she meant no disrespect. We have all heard the expression “know your audience”…..clearly she did not know her audience.
@KBeth
I don’t think it’s about knowing the audience.
It’s a national anthem, just don’t try to re-invent the wheel. Know the words, hit the right notes, dress decent and that’s all!
Why try to sexy up the national anthem, to what purpose?
Does everything have to be sexed up?
She should leave sexy for her concerts, her other performances and her own songs.
It has always bothered me that our national anthem includes a line about bombs bursting in air. Her handling of that line made it sound orgasmic. Really weird.
Josh Duhamel looks… different. I would not have known that was him.
Fergie’s performance was fine to me. I was more embarrassed for the guy with his mouth hanging open – not in shock or awe, but just because he couldn’t be bothered to shut it – before he laughed.
She sounded ridiculous but it was just a song. She shouldn’t have to defend her “patriotism.” These are such Trumpian claims.
I think it was ridiculous. I don’t think she meant any harm, but to sex up a national anthem is just stupid and really not necessary. Just sing it right, remember the words, hit the proper notes and don’t dress over the top sexy. Really not rocket science, is it?
I disagree this was the anthem our nation deserved. Our country is so much greater than whoever happens to live in the White House.
And i think it was super sweet of her ex to bring her flowers. 🙂
The apology WAS good thinking. She changed the narrative from ‘Everyone is going to remember her embarrassing herself, she’s washed up and getting old’ (because women have a shelf life in media,) to ‘She doesn’t need to apologize. Ok making fun of her is getting kinda old.’ Making fun of someone that apologized isn’t as fun as roasting someone that is oblivious or doesn’t care.
I couldn’t agree more MP. Can I go as far as suggesting SJP might try this re her dumping on Kim Cattral , could improve her optics?
At least she sang live unlike some people who couldn’t be bothered, basically lied and lip-synced to a pre-recorded track at the inauguration of the first Black President of the USA
(don’t @ me)
“She didn’t hump the flag” No, if she’d done that, she would have received a personal commendation from BLOTUS and an offer for her own program on Faux News.
I don’t see why an apology is necessary. I don’t mind her trying something new, but Fergie sounded awful. Girlfriend cannot sing live and I think that’s why most were laughing. It’s like if Gwen Stefani tried to sing the anthem… You gotta know your vocal limitations and that’s a hard song to perform. It’s unbelievable that nobody told her that wouldn’t be a good idea during rehearsals… She needs a better team!
I was happy to use this as an example in my Class Voice meeting this morning.
Since she had a backing track that someone had to arrange and produce, it isn’t like she got up that morning and decided to do this style after going on a bender. There were many opportunities for someone to say “eh…maybe not”, and they didn’t.
I kind of dig it! She’s got amazing vocals, she just got pitchy a couple of times but dang-Jessica rabbit in the flesh 😘😘
I agree, she sang it with respect and verve. It just was a jazz version, lol. I was expecting something far worse with all the drama. Honestly, I thought she was kind of amazing, just an arty version of something in the wrong place and wrong time.
Seriously. It’s a National Anthem. You’re not creating a cover version of some top twenty. Just sing that darn anthem. Every time some artist/singers screws up the national anthem, I think of Whitney’s version and then I remember how much I miss pre Diane Sawyer Whitney.
I’m glad she’s copping it. I’ve never liked her.
Even if she did want to do jazzy, she sounded hideous. I appreciate the artistic expression, but I did not enjoy her.