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Opera star Renée Fleming to sing national anthem at Super Bowl

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M

Mumei

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A pop star won’t sing the national anthem before Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium. Instead, the NFL has selected opera legend Renée Fleming to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” in East Rutherford.

Fleming, a renowned soprano, is a break from the recent trend of pop, country or R&B stars chosen to sing the anthem. She follows Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, Carrie Underwood and Jordin Sparks.

A four-time Grammy winner, Fleming is one of the world’s most famous voices and has performed at international events including the Beijing Olympics, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, President Obama’s inaugural celebration at Lincoln Memorial in 2008 and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012. She has ties to the New York area with a history of performances at the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center, as well as Carnegie Hall.

She enters less rarified air here and will be open to the typical Super Bowl performer questions: Will she lip-sync to a pre-recorded track or take her chances with the weather and stadium sound system and go live? And, for gamblers, will her version be over or under two minutes?

Like all others, Fleming will be held to the gold standard of Super Bowl national anthem performances — Whitney Houston’s 1991 rendition during the Gulf War prior to the Giants victory over the Buffalo Bills.
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Link.

Personally I have to wonder how this will translate to an operatic style, but I am interested. Renee may be past her vocal prime, but she's still one of the best singers around.
 
A

Angelus Errare

Banned
Should have went with Selena Gomez.

Missed opportunity…
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M

Malvolio

Member
Fantastic news. While many of the recent pop stars that have performed it are clearly talented, their desire to make a statement with their rendition always detracts from the event.
 
T

Touchdown

Banned
Yeah and if it goes well which I'm sure it will, it could open the door to a lot of non-mainstream singers getting a chance to take on the song and get some promotion. The majority of the singers chosen have been well-known singers, not necessarily all pop.

The last man to perform it was Billy Joel (who performed it twice 2007,1989).
 
M

muu

Member
I don't care who sings it, just sing it without your own fucking interpretation of it. Sick and tired of it and frankly it's disrespectful. You wouldn't put your own trimmings or flair onto the flag, why do they think it's OK to do it to the national anthem?
 
T

Touchdown

Banned
muu said:
I don't care who sings it, just sing it without your own fucking interpretation of it. Sick and tired of it and frankly it's disrespectful. You wouldn't put your own trimmings or flair onto the flag, why do they think it's OK to do it to the national anthem?
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eh I disagree with this a little bit only because that's what makes it great to listen to. 10 singers can sing it differently and all be great, I think it's more about your presentation of the performance.
 
TheMan

TheMan

Member
rumor has it that she's not even going to sing, but rather bust out a guitar and cover jimi hendrix's version of the song
 
Z

ZaCH3000

Member
Skiptastic said:
I'd prefer an operatic tenor or baritone male sing it. Do a rendition like Jim Cornelison. But this is definitely a welcome change.
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The anthem should only be sung by men/women with such talent. Holy shit. The loudness of the fans is telltale. Putting up the newest American Idol winner receives applause out respect of the anthem. Vocal talent that is on the level of the anthem achieves a standing ovation. I can't wait to hear her version this Super Bowl.
 
W

wsoxfan1214

Banned
ZaCH3000 said:
The anthem should only be sung by men/women with such talent. Holy shit. The loudness of the fans is telltale. Putting up the newest American Idol winner receives applause out respect of the anthem. Vocal talent that is on the level of the anthem achieves a standing ovation. I can't wait to hear her version this Super Bowl.
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He sings it at the beginning of every Blackhawks game. I love it. Gets you pumped like no other.

Look at my post above you for the one he did at game one of the Stanley Cup Finals last year. The fans just feed off of it.
 
Z

ZaCH3000

Member
wsoxfan1214 said:
He sings it at the beginning of every Blackhawks game. I love it. Gets you pumped like no other.

Look at my post above you for the one he did at game one of the Stanley Cup Finals last year. The fans just feed off of it.
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Just did. The fans drown him out at the end. These pop stars botch the anthem every time. I used to go yo every 76ers home game back in the day. Same shit. Every once in awhile you get someone singing it properly and it fires up the entire arena.
 
S

studyguy

Member
I dunno, I've heard so many bad renditions of it at games I stopped caring about who got the part anyway. I don't mind when people add their little flairs to the song, but some of the pop singers really might as well be singing something else when they do it.

I must not be murrikan enough though, watching it live be it boxing, baseball or football.
The national anthem is beer run time for me.
 
W

wsoxfan1214

Banned
ZaCH3000 said:
Just did. The fans drown him out at the end. These pop stars botch the anthem every time. I used to go yo every 76ers home game back in the day. Same shit. Every once in awhile you get someone singing it properly and it fires up the entire arena.
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That's part of it being a Blackhawks tradition for the crowd to cheer/applaud during the national anthem but it also is him. Never was this loud before him. He really is the best anthem singer in professional sports. Fantastic voice.
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
If I recall correctly she's one of the few women opera singers whose voice I actually don't mind (let alone pop singers). Sounds like a much better choice than most alternatives!

(I'm a curmudgeon that likes opera better when there isn't singing involved...or at minimum when it's Mozart-style and there's music all along instead of so much recitative. :p)
 
M

Mumei

Member
Skiptastic said:
I'd prefer an operatic tenor or baritone male sing it. Do a rendition like Jim Cornelison. But this is definitely a welcome change.
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An operatic tenor or baritone would be nice, at that. I think that the version Whitney sang, the one taken down half a step, would be nice to hear a tenor sing. He'd have to change a couple parts (mostly where she goes into head voice), but I think he'd able to sing the bulk of it.

But I don't think American opera has any male stars with anywhere near the recognition of Renée, so that's unlikely to happen.

Blizzard said:
If I recall correctly she's one of the few women opera singers whose voice I actually don't mind (let alone pop singers). Sounds like a much better choice than most alternatives!

(I'm a curmudgeon that likes opera better when there isn't singing involved...or at minimum when it's Mozart-style and there's music all along instead of so much recitative. :p)
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... That's what opera is, though!
 
Schrade

Schrade

Member
I never liked Whitney's music but I do have to admit she sang the HELL out of that national anthem. Very hard act to beat.

I still get tears when she gets to the "And the rockets red glare part". Why does this happen?
 
P

Pbae

Member
Schrade said:
I never liked Whitney's music but I do have to admit she sang the HELL out of that national anthem. Very hard act to beat.

I still get tears when she gets to the "And the rockets red glare part". Why does this happen?
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Patriotism man, nothing wrong with that and it was one hell of performance.
 
D

DurielBlack

Member
Star Spangled Banner is a song that always grates on my nerves to hear. The brass instruments and long-high pitched notes that just lead into more long and high-pitched notes just sounds like noise to me. Most anthems sound like high-school sports band music. Just not something I care to hear, ever. It doesn't help at all that most people won't sing it correctly and try to get super fancy with what is actually a very simple song. Would be interesting to hear it sung with a lower-pitched voice and no band.
 
R

Rayis

Member
DurielBlack said:
Star Spangled Banner is a song that always grates on my nerves to hear. The brass instruments and long-high pitched notes that just lead into more long and high-pitched notes just sounds like noise to me. Most anthems sound like high-school sports band music. Just not something I care to hear, ever. It doesn't help at all that most people won't sing it correctly and try to get super fancy with what is actually a very simple song. Would be interesting to hear it sung with a lower-pitched voice and no band.
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Something like this?
 
E

Eaten By A Grue

Member
Opera singers rock. In Philly there was a singer Kate Smith who sang God Bless America at a Flyer's Sanley Cup game in 1974 when the Broad Street Bullies beat the Bruins and she is considered a good luck charm for the team. She even had a statue in front of the Spectrum:

http://youtu.be/sRMtXUgVp0c

m5PeET1.jpg


The Flyers' record when "God Bless America" is played or sung in person stands at a remarkable 94 wins, 26 losses, and 4 ties as of April 26, 2011
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