# CPAC National Anthem performance **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 1, 2021, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058 "2021-03-01T20:13:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/81 "2021-03-02T21:12:56Z")
That seems to be the majority of the opinions of those you seem to be criticising. But, you cannot mock that conservative reasoning without noting that the performance was pretty terrible. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/82 "2021-03-02T21:16:47Z")
True. I regret taking part, to the extent that it was mocking her performance, and reinforcing her national (global? I know there were UK stories on it) shaming. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/83 "2021-03-02T21:20:15Z")
It’s not my anthem, but I could not listen to the end. There were so many levels of incompetence there, it hurt. Many levels were not on her side, the organizers are mostly to blame, I can only guess. I wonder how the selection process was run. I reckon there was some nepotism and/or negligence there as well. Anyway: the result was very bad. Thank Godott that is not my problem. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/84 "2021-03-02T21:41:59Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > The range is 1.5 octaves. 1.58333 octaves, to be more precise. A “perfect twelfth,” in music lingo. Albeit the intervals found here are some very imperfect irrational numbers times the square root of minus 1. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/85 "2021-03-02T21:45:31Z")
Hopefully her performance will help teach CPAC participants sympathy and empathy for their fellow human beings. Hopes and prayers… ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/86 "2021-03-02T21:54:24Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Hopefully her performance will help teach CPAC participants sympathy and empathy for their fellow human beings. More likely, I’d expect it to be weaponized to attack the libs. How dare they mock this girl! And they say they hate cyberbullying! And those are just the memes/talking points. I expect stories from the right wing about how horrible things are for her, how she was attacked by the mob. How she was “cancelled.” And I want to be able to say “No, that’s not what happened.” ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/87 "2021-03-02T22:08:37Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > That’s the part that I keep getting stuck on here. She _wanted_ this. She wanted to be noticed, she wanted the spotlight on herself. She wanted people to know her name. Back when I watched a few seasons of American Idol, I couldn’t stand some of the bad auditions they showed. Some people were clearly bad, and knew they were bad, and wanted to get on the show as a novelty. Some people were bad, but thought they were much better, or maybe even usually were better, but they cracked under pressure. I thought many of those segments were cruel. Just having sought the limelight does not, to me, mean it’s OK to cruelly mock someone. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/88 "2021-03-02T22:09:57Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Having defined “keys” that MUST be adhered to is a liberal plot to nanny state singing. Everyone knows Geroge Soros came up with the concept of “keys” that musty be “unlocked”. Good satire, that— but in a case akin to “[mistaking the real thing for a parody](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mistaking-the-real-thing-for-a-parody/919342/),” political cranks like Lyndon LaRouche have insisted that the A=440 Hz tuning is a [conspiracy](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/A440#Conspiracy_theories_and_woo) against all that is good and right, and that correct order will not be restored until we return to A=432. In the transcribed music notation video that pulykamell shared in post 5 above, the song duly shifts into A=432 intonation… before shifting back to 440… ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/89 "2021-03-02T22:10:42Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > And I want to be able to say “No, that’s not what happened.” Yes. This. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/90 "2021-03-02T22:14:13Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > “Blue notes matter”. I think she even sang the brown note in there. Or maybe the timing of my unfortunate personal mishap was simply coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/91 "2021-03-02T22:16:41Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > She almost nailed the elusive brown note. Yeah, what he said. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/92 "2021-03-02T22:31:26Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > Back when I watched a few seasons of American Idol, I couldn’t stand some of the bad auditions they showed. You made it through a few seasons more than I. > [@eschrodinger](#): > > I thought many of those segments were cruel. Just having sought the limelight does not, to me, mean it’s OK to cruelly mock someone. And yet, that seems to be the entire reason for the existence of most of these shows. ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/93 "2021-03-02T22:34:34Z")
Agreed. She’s not the worst singer I’ve heard, but she desperately needed a backing track. Her performance is painful to listen to. Why they didn’t get a better singer is a mystery. Whether she deserves mockery or not, well, I found the video Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness linked to funny. If you get on a national stage and blow it, it’s going to get noticed ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/94 "2021-03-02T22:39:50Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > And yet, that seems to be the entire reason for the existence of most of these shows. No, most of it is not about mocking people. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/95 "2021-03-02T22:57:26Z")
🤨 The most mocking comments that I have seen about her performance were specifically those of “quoting” the judges from these shows mocking the performers on them. People don’t watch American Idol to see a winner. They watch it to see 11 losers. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/96 "2021-03-02T23:04:31Z")
That’s not why I or anyone I know watched it. ETA: And I’m not talking about critical comments. I’m talking specifically about certain cruel segments at the beginning of each season when people were auditioning. I’m going to let this subject go now, as I was just using it as another example of the kind of cruel mockery I think should be avoided, even if someone is seeking the limelight. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/97 "2021-03-02T23:06:12Z")
If the parts where they mocked the performers didn’t get ratings, they wouldn’t be on there. You may not, and maybe nobody you know will admit it, but it’s there because people want it. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/98 "2021-03-02T23:09:26Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > I’m going to let this subject go now, as I was just using it as another example of the kind of cruel mockery I think should be avoided, even if someone is seeking the limelight. And I don’t think that there is nearly as much “cruel mockery” of this singer that warrants as much tut tutting as I’ve seen. I’ve seen critical comments about her singing, I’ve seen mockery of CPAC and conservatives for their inability to hire anyone qualified for the job. I’ve only seen a smattering of jokes about the performance itself, and that’s not to be cruel, that’s to be funny. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/99 "2021-03-02T23:13:35Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > If the parts where they mocked the performers didn’t get ratings, they wouldn’t be on there. I don’t watch American Idol, but I thought the format was to do a “cattle call” episode at the beginning of the season, where they get all the clips of people embarrassing themselves, but after that, the rest of the season is about a dozen people of basically the same level of reasonable musical competence. If mocking people were the “entire reason” for these shows, I’d expect it to be more than just one episode a season? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058/100 "2021-03-02T23:27:37Z")
I think it’s not just that _Star Spangled Banner_ is a hard song to sing a capella, but that she probably also has never sung amplified in an arena-size room. It is _very_ disconcerting to hear your amplified voice bouncing back at you at a couple tenths of a second delay, and have that louder in your ears than your actual voice. She really ought to have in-ear monitor headphones so that she can hear herself over the amplified playback bouncing off the back wall, but if she does I can’t see them. She might well be able to nail the song in the shower. I couldn’t listen to the whole thing, but I did make it through the autotune version, which was still pretty awful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cpac-national-anthem-performance/934058.md?page=6)