Sue Morrow: Singers need to treat Star Spangled Banner with respect

I suspect that Francis Scott Key has rolled over in his grave many times with the god awful renditions of his Star Spangled Banner by celebrity singers who mangle the lyrics and assault the music at public events.

Most recently pop star Christina Aguilera was ridiculed for flubbing the words to the National Anthem during the Super Bowl XLV pre-game show in Dallas.

Aguilera gamely issued a statement later saying she hoped that "everyone could feel my love for this country and that the true spirit of its anthem came through."

She joined a long list of performers who have had similar problems with the lyrics.

What really galls me, though, is the performers who choose to totally annihilate the music with their own "style" of singing.

The melody they present bears little resemblance to what all of us learned to sing in our childhood.

These celebrity singers insist on elongating words such as fight - fiiiiiiigt, hail - haaaail, free - freeee, and brave -braaaave.

The practice, according to a musician friend of mine, is called "vocal scatting" and "vocal improvisation."

Perhaps one of the most infamous performances was by actress-comedian Roseanne Barr at a baseball game in 1990 who shrieked rather than sang the anthem in what she apparently thought would be funny. President George H.W. Bush correctly labeled Barr's efforts "a disgrace."

I listened to many of the celebrity singers on the Internet, and frankly I wanted to vomit.

Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler ended up apologizing to veterans who complained about his pitiful performance at the opening of an Indy 500 race in 2001. His rendition was full of vocal scatting.

Singing the nation's anthem during an American League baseball championship game in October 2003, popular balladeer Michael Bolton actually sang it pretty straight as far as the melody, but couldn't remember some of the words and had to pause until he recovered.

There was R&B icon R. Kelly who appeared in Las Vegas in 2005 for a championship boxing fight. His style in singing the Star Spangled Banner was, in one writer's words, "funkafied" and bore no resemblance to the strain we all know and love.

To top it off, he urged the audience to clap along.

Pop singer Kat DeLuna performed before a football game in Dallas in 2008. Her offering was loaded with liiiight, aaaair, flaaaag, freeee and braaaave as was the performance of R&B and soul singer Patti La Belle at a baseball game in 2008. La Belle also sang about the "skylights last gleaming."

At the risk of sounding old fashioned, I believe that the cherished and revered symbol of our great country should be treated with respect. Presenting off-the-wall musical variations to it is not only disrespectful, it's disgusting.

Sue Morrow is a longtime journalist and member of the Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame. She may be reached at soozymorrow@yahoo.com.