We get it, Christina, you can sing. But your vocal-athletics routine is almost worse than your mistaking the lyrics to the Star-Spangled Banner. It is arguably the most important song in America's history, and to remember the words was your only given responsibility at the moment.
On Sunday evening, the pop-starlet Christina Aguilera, 30, sang the national anthem at the 2011 Super Bowl, and endured much critical backlash. The past year has been tumultuous for the singer--she released an album that sold a low number of records, a film in which she was overshadowed drastically by another fading icon twice her age, and divorced her husband.
Whoever runs the Super Bowl chose Aguilera for her star-wattage power, impressive vocal range, and her conventional "good looks." The platinum blonde teetered on the stage in a three-button black Dolce and Gabbana skirtsuit and seven-inch, double-platform Christian Louboutin pumps. (Aguilera has also gained a significant amount of weight since her album debuted and her tour was canceled, prompting many gossip sites to nickname her "Snooki in a blonde wig"). Her skin was uncharacteristically bronzed, yet she kept her signature "Bitch, I stole your boyfriend" red lipstick.
She belted the national anthem, dragging out every line, tragically killing the song by over dramatizing-- she made a very climactic ballad quite anti-climactic. She can definitely hold a note, even if it may take screaming her head off to get there.
Maybe she was nervous on the stage, but her resume notes that she's had a lot of practice doing this (singing at basketball championships, previous Super Bowls, and countless live shows). However, the bottom line is--she made up an entire phrase. As if her throwing-her-voice-all-over-the-place display was not enough to offend the deceased Francis Scott Key. She sang "What so proudly we watched at the twilight's last reaming," instead of "O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming."
Her outfit was unspectacular and bland, something also uncharacteristic of Aguilera-- she often wears a skin-tight Herve Leger bandage dress in public, but surely for the Super Bowl a fashion-conscious person expects a patriotic, show-stopper look. After all, two years ago Jennifer Hudson performed the anthem in a ruffled black Alexander McQueen blazer with a buttoned cutaway hem, and appeared strong and optimistic following her family tragedy. Aguilera looked stiff, like she had walked out of a business meeting. Putting a cropped, three-button blazer on a short person was not a good idea.
Perhaps she should have worn a casual dress by a young American designer like Alexander Wang, or go the sexy route in Altuzarra. If she really wanted a suit, it should have been one from Olivier Theyskens’ line for Theory. And if she wanted to get jazzy à la Jennifer Hudson's outfit, she would have chosen a glam Balmain jacket. It was her opportunity to shine, and she missed it.
I liked this a lot, you wrote from a place that you seem to know a lot about which made your writing authoritative. I like the interjected super bowl/fashion history, which made it seem much like Batuman's style. The piece was quirky and focused on a new aspect of her messing up the national anthem adding that her appearance was not the only thing that fell flat. nice.
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