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The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

    Sultry rendition lands artist in hot water

    “Let’s play some basketball.” This is what singer Fergie said after performing what seemed to be a bad delivery of a “sultry” rendition of America’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” at the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 18. The performance left many viewers watching amused, confused and outraged at what is normally viewed as a patriotic moment to honor America. 

    After countless mixed reviews on social media, Fergie released a statement to TMZ apologizing to people about the lackluster performance. “I’m a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn’t strike the intended tone. I love this country and honestly tried my best.”

    Despite the apology, many people felt that Fergie should not have taken any risks at all and just stuck to a “traditional” performance with the original sheet music.

    The first time I saw Fergie’s performance, I really didn’t think it was major news because this isn’t the first time someone has unsuccessfully delivered the national anthem. There have been worse. For example, comedian and actress Roseanne Barr at a 1990 San Diego Padres game basically yelled out the song instead of singing it. Also, former track star Carl Lewis couldn’t hit any notes at all back in 1993 during a regular NBA basketball game.

    So, there are two things I learned from this incident. The first one is don’t take risks on the national anthem unless you want backlash, and that people put musicians under too many standards and expectations that they really should not have to worry about meeting.

    The main issue that people seem to have a problem with when it comes to Fergie’s performance is that it was too sexy, and it should have been taken more serious and patriotic. But why should Fergie have to follow this expectation when she, as an artist, has a right to express her artistic freedom in whatever way she desires? Fergie’s decision to change the style of singing was nothing new, and it doesn’t really have an expectation since artists have been adding their own spin to it since the song was written over 200 years ago.

    Another thing that stood out to me in Fergie’s apology was that she called herself a “risk taker.” I feel that’s a trait every artist should have because if they didn’t have it, how would they stand out from other artists? It’s one of the reasons why we love listening to music so much. One thing that I constantly hear when it comes to artists and their artistry is that they don’t want to sound like someone else. When I hear people judging Fergie’s style of singing, it sounds like they are critiquing her for expressing who she really is as an artist. For an eight-time Grammy award winner, I’ll say she’s doing a great job as an artist.

    Many people would probably refute this by saying that even though Fergie was utilizing her artistic freedom, they still have the right to express how they feel, which is totally fine. However, if you were an artist, do you think it would be fair and interesting if every artist who performed the national anthem had to perform the song one way every time? What about if your favorite artist sung it in a style that wasn’t their own and it ruined the song? Would you still be interested, and do you think they had a fair chance? Some people also looked at Fergie’s performance as disrespectful to what the song stands for. But what does her style of singing have to do with how much she loves and respects this country? 

    So, the next time you see someone perform the national anthem or any other performance that you don’t like, think about how artistic freedom differentiates artists from other artists and ask yourself, if every musician performed the same, what would music be like today?

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