I had to go back and listen to Whitney's after this to clean out my ears.

This is how you sing the national anthem. No over-singing, no needless runs, no weird melody.

https://youtu.be/uVeqtVwoC4g

[Edited 2/16/20 20:36pm]

Wow...

Literally put my fingers in my ears and started yelling for her to stop. The worst I have ever heard by a talented singer by far.

I wonder why nobody sings the verse about slaves.

2020 said:

They’re saying it’s worse than Fergies awful rendition yikes! 😳

It's a difficult song to sing. We should just ditch it. It's ridiculous, annoying, long as hell. Singing an anthem for a piece of land is sorta stupid.

Chaka must have missed the lesson from February 13, 1983 on how to make it her own.

https://www.youtube.com/w...NydcwDriuU

I didn't like it either, as it was unnecessarily drawn out and very different than what we are used to hearing.

However her intentions were good, she was trying to put her own personal spin on a song that has been sung basically the exact same way millions of times.

We are not talking Roseanne-bad here.

And to me, butcher means messing up the words. I don't think that happened here.

And let's please leave the politics out of this thread. It's about Chaka's singing, not the anthem itself. I just don't want to see yet another thread moved to P&R.

Why can't people just sing the melody everyone knows? If you have a great voice you can still make it powerful and your own.

Pokeno4Money said:

However her intentions were good, she was trying to put her own personal spin on a song that has been sung basically the exact same way millions of times.

We are not talking Roseanne-bad here.

And to me, butcher means messing up the words. I don't think that happened here.

But why, when people apparently hate any "personal spin" applied to that fucking song?

And no, "butcher" doesn't mean messing up the words. It means messing up the song in any way possible.

It was 'turruble'-Barkley

PatrickS77 said:

But why, when people apparently hate any "personal spin" applied to that fucking song?

And no, "butcher" doesn't mean messing up the words. It means messing up the song in any way possible.

Many singers, especially celebrities, apply their own personal spin to the anthem.

Yes, I agree Chaka did it more than most. But there's no rules about how the anthem should be sung.


Lady Gaga
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=112&v=GbXSZBnBOQ4&feature=emb_title


Beyonce
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhrrGu2rcZ4&feature=emb_err_watch_on_yt


Christina Aguilera (who truly DID butcher the song by singing the wrong lyrics)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk3w5sNgqj4&feature=emb_err_watch_on_yt

Pokeno4Money said:

Many singers, especially celebrities, apply their own personal spin to the anthem.

Yes. And the people usually hate it/talk about the song being butchered. So why continue doing it?

There might not be a rule to how it's sung. But I guess there is a way how it was written and originally sung and people want singers, especially celebrities, to stick to that and not mess with their precious anthem. Nevermind that this whole anthem business is bullshit anyway.

[Edited 2/17/20 8:51am]

I wasn't crazy about JHud's Kobe tribute either. It started out OK but then as usual she starts screaming and over singing.

https://twitter.com/Cinephile420/status/1229213582061133824?s=20

It wasn't "that" bad, but then again, it wasn't that good either.

PatrickS77 said:

Pokeno4Money said:

Many singers, especially celebrities, apply their own personal spin to the anthem.

Yes. And the people usually hate it/talk about the song being butchered. So why continue doing it?

There might not be a rule to how it's sung. But I guess there is a way how it was written and originally sung and people want singers, especially celebrities, to stick to that and not mess with their precious anthem. Nevermind that this whole anthem business is bullshit anyway.

[Edited 2/17/20 8:51am]

I think when singers are invited to sing the anthem, it's up to the inviters to insist how they want it sung. I would think the inviters watched Chaka do at least one practice run, right?

Like I said, I agree with you in that I personally didn't care for how she did it. But as long as those who invite singers to sing any way they please continue to do so, we don't have a right to complain about it. Chaka did nothing wrong.

And for me personally, getting the damn lyrics right is a lot more important than how the song is sung.

So, first of all, I'm glad she got the lyrics right. Chaka has a long history of not knowing the lyrics to songs she doesn't sing often.

No, this was not one of her shining moments. She went from singing really low to really high, which I think made it even worse. The lower register is where she sounded off-key and flat. Chaka has never sounded great at lower register. We already know Chaka still has an unbelieveably powerful voice for someone her age and people expect to hear that from her. There are a lot of singers much younger than she who's voices have been destroyed due to not taking care of it. Obviously, that's not the case with Chaka.

The problem with Chaka over the past 20+ years is she doesn't have a lot of control over her instrument, partiuclarly the way she did in the early to mid 90s. Back then, Chaka used to hit the stage singing at the top of her range and stay there for the entire show without a single flat or off-key key note. There is nothing wrong with "over-singing". Gospel singers "over-sing". Aretha, Patti, Tina, Chaka, Jennifer have all been accused of it and that's why all of them are so beloved and considered iconic. Chaka is the only one out of that bunch who has no gospel training, she always had the least control, vocally, which I think is something the others learned from singing in church.

I always thought Marvin Gaye's version was over-the-top. But I loved the way they poked fun at him on an episode of "The Simpsons".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD6l4IPYQ4U

kitbradley said:

I always thought Marvin Gaye's version was over-the-top. But I loved the way they poked fun at him on an episode of "The Simpsons".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD6l4IPYQ4U

RJOrion said:

there's nothing sacred about that bland, outdated song...people can sing it, or interpret it, any way they want...who REALLY cares?

Apparently many people do. I don't. As I think that whole notion that a fucking national anthem is sacred and needs to be respected totally ridiculous.

Pokeno4Money said:

PatrickS77 said:

Yes. And the people usually hate it/talk about the song being butchered. So why continue doing it?

There might not be a rule to how it's sung. But I guess there is a way how it was written and originally sung and people want singers, especially celebrities, to stick to that and not mess with their precious anthem. Nevermind that this whole anthem business is bullshit anyway.

[Edited 2/17/20 8:51am]

I think when singers are invited to sing the anthem, it's up to the inviters to insist how they want it sung. I would think the inviters watched Chaka do at least one practice run, right?

Like I said, I agree with you in that I personally didn't care for how she did it. But as long as those who invite singers to sing any way they please continue to do so, we don't have a right to complain about it. Chaka did nothing wrong.

And for me personally, getting the damn lyrics right is a lot more important than how the song is sung.

I don't know. Maybe they wanted to be surprised. Yeah, I guess, whoever does the inviting should set some rules. But then maybe no one would show up.

Here is what Chaka's sister Yvonne (aka Taka Boom) posted on FB. And I must say I have to agree with her regarding the song and how it hasn't served all Americans equally:

"Cant believe my sister is being dragged thru the dirt for her rendition of a song that has nothing to do with us and our experience as people of color in this f----d up country.... this song never served us....she should've taken a knee while singing. My sister has spent her entire adult life serenading you....how dare you! She did it and she did the way she felt it..... Stand down!"

Ropey in parts, certainly, when her vocal runs went awry, but far from the worst I've seen.

PatrickS77 said:

I don't know. Maybe they wanted to be surprised. Yeah, I guess, whoever does the inviting should set some rules. But then maybe no one would show up.

For big events, there would never be a shortage of willing anthem singers. I think in many instances, they should have a time limit.

Typically it takes 52 seconds to perform the national anthem.

Chaka took nearly 3 minutes.

I'm reading the comments that some of her "fans" are posting on her Facebook page they are brutal.

In other,happier Chaka news,she is planning to release a live album soon I think it comes with a DVD,too.