The Star "Strangled" Banner

I love the National Anthem. And every single time I hear or sing it, I feel a rush of emotion on the words, "....that our flag was still there." Sometimes I even shed a tear or two. And when it's over, I always cheer -- and not for the upcoming sporting event, but for the good old US of A.

I imagine Francis Scott Key, waiting through the night to see the sign from a ship out in the harbor -- the sign that would tell him whether or not the Americans had won the battle. And I imagine the flood of emotion he must have felt when he saw the stars and stripes raised over Fort McHenry at dawn. I hope he has somehow had many occasions to see and hear thousands of people rise up, place their hands over their hearts, face the flag and sing that song together.

I also hope yesterday wasn't one of those occasions. Because if he heard the performance of The Star Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl, he wouldn't have recognized it.

Now, to be fair, it's a very difficult song to sing. And 111 million people is a rather large audience, and might make you nervous. I understand that Christina came out with an apology today, and I think that was the classy thing to do. But I have a couple of questions.

A) Doesn't the NFL pretty much have the entire population of the world to choose from?

B) What in the world is wrong with singing it like it's written? It's a great song -- just like it is.

I didn't watch the game, and I didn't see any of the halftime show, but I can't imagine how bad IT must have been, after reading this in a Dallas paper: "The NFL should have let Christina Aguilera redeem herself by singing the National Anthem 10 times during halftime, instead of subjecting us to the Black Eyed Peas."

Wow.

I have an idea. To the NFL: Ditch the celebrities. Hold a national tryout for a chance to sing the National Anthem at SuperBowl 2012. "American Super Idol...." Choose somebody who can REALLY sing it, with the right words and the right melody. Now, THAT would be worth tuning in for.