Try Not to Laugh: The Worst National Anthem Fails

"shes modulating more than shostakovich" -twoset 2021

That woman at the GOP CPAC wasn't just off key, she lost the key and got locked out of her house.

Every other country: lets just play an instrumental version and let the audience sing it together. America: which B-list celebrity is available to butcher our anthem?

Classical soprano here. The United States national anthem (The Star Spangled Banner) is not only just inherently difficult in composition (particularly when you get to "and the rocket's red glare" where everyone tends to mess up lol) but it was not meant to be belted. Francis Scott Key wrote it in 1814, meaning our modern belting style was not a "thing" yet, therefore it was meant to be sung in classical, or what we call "legit" voice. Though not the original key, nowadays it's typically performed in Bb major, so the highest note you'd be attempting to belt is an F5. That is NOT an easy note to belt! Once you get to that point on the staff, singers should be switching into what's called "head voice" to keep themselves on pitch. Belting is typically done in middle and chest voice on lower notes. If you try to take your middle voice belting sound into head voice range, chances are you're going to fall flat or just sound like you're screaming. (People can talk about "mixing" all day, but it's not any easier of a technique) It's one of those technical things that's difficult to put into layman's terms. Think of it this way: Have you ever tried to sing "Let it Go" from Frozen? The top note Idina Menzel sings there at the end is an Eb5. So you're trying to belt a half step higher than that in the US national anthem lol. Please just don't. ESPECIALLY don't try to make some poor person sing a piece with so many skips a cappella. That piece requires a good ear. Hire classical sopranos/tenors or use military/marching band lol. Case in point: The Star Spangled Banner is not a pop song, nor musical theatre. Don't treat it like one, or you'll be immortalized on reaction Youtube lol.

Americans: can't sing the national anthem in tune standing still Canadian: sings in tune while ice skating, face plants, continues to sing in tune

“She is Modulating” is a very nice way of saying she has no pitch

5:04 that Chinese national anthem 5:40 “it wasn’t that bad” As someone in Hong Kong, I can tell you they messed up the Chinese national anthem BIG TIME.

I remember when Fergie tortured the USA anthem… it was extremely painful to hear & to bear, for real. She had to make a public apology afterwards lmao 🤣

“This is what happens when you defund the arts” That person, whoever you are, you’re spitting facts <3

“Is this anthem (US) just that difficult?” The US national anthem is basically a centuries-long prank on soloists

The awful thing about the NBA one is that she practiced that. She heard herself sing it, and still thought "yeah, this is a good idea"

I legitimately felt my jaw drop to the floor when the CPAC girl switched keys ten times in two verses

As a wise friend once said, “You can’t sexy up the national anthem.”

I feel bad for the ice skating guy. You can’t see anything further than a foot in front of you under a spotlight. They did him so dirty. I guarantee that carpet wasn’t there in rehearsals and whoever was in charge threw it down for some special guest while that guy was in some green room waiting for his performance.

I definitely laughed. Putin can't seem to get a break. And I'm proud of the Canadian anthem guy. But Fergie...this was actually my first time hearing her rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner." And while I'm not American, I felt genuine pain for the Americans listening to this.

The US national anthem is especially notorious for getting wrong when singing live. It has pitch variations of more than two octaves and singers are usually advised to start with a low key. Also, in the expression "in the land of the free", you switch quickly from an open vowel sound to a closed vowel sound which is really difficult to pull off.

Noobs: she's out of tune Pros: she's modulating more than Shostakovich

LMAO PUTINS FACE WHEN SAUDI ARABIA PLAYED RUSSIAS NATIONAL ANTHEM

I love seeing the expressions of the politicians when their anthems get messed up by foreign bands. They all look like they're going "bruuuuuh" inside

I have played in a military orchestra and sometimes you get out of the bus, you tune up and then you wait for 15 min in the sun and especially the brass heaths up and you start and EVERYONE is out of tune and everyone is trying to compensate, but as you play your breath cools down the instrument and it’s all different for everyone. My two worse extreme performance was an +42C for around an hour in total and at -27C for around 4 hours going in and out every 20 min for around 20min. If you put musiciens through this and also their instruments for years, what do you expect. That’s why we had concerts once a year so we can just care about the music…