Christina Aguilera

What was the accusation?

On February 6, 2011, singer Christina Aguilera kicked off Super Bowl XLV with a rousing rendition of the U.S. national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner. Almost halfway through her number, though, Aguilera fumbled the line O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming, singing instead “What so proudly we watched at the twilight’s last gleaming (a botched rendering of previously sung lyrics). While the second half of Aguilera’s performance was lyrically flawless, viewers at home and at AT&T Stadium (Texas) quickly seized on the singer’s obvious faux pas, taking to social media to both criticize and ridicule her. Mortified by her mistake, Aguilera soon issued a public statement explaining what had happened and expressing hope that the true spirit of [America’s] anthem still came through in spite of her poor performance on the field.   

Key Apologia Strategies:

Accident, Transcendence

Video

N/A

Transcript

I got so caught up in the moment of the song that I lost my place. I can only hope that everyone could feel my love for this country and that the true spirit of its anthem still came through.

Sources

Kaufman, G. (2011, February 7). Christina Aguilera apologizes for Super Bowl national anthem flub. MTV News. Retrieved from http://www.mtv.com/news/1657367/christina-aguilera-super-bowl/

Schabner, D. (2011, February 6). Christina Aguilera mangles ˜Star-Spangled Banner’ at Super Bowl. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/christina-aguilera-mangles-star-spangled-banner-super-bowl/story?id=12854244