# Fuck you, Christina Aguilera **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 7, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488 "2011-02-07T04:23:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/101 "2011-02-09T04:47:36Z")
> [@McReady](#): > > Note that Roseanne Barr did nothing wrong. Sang a difficult song as well as she was able. Don’t ask me why MLB officials put non-singers in that position. Roseanne says that was one of the most regrettable things she has ever done. She was absolutely mocking and disrespecting, she admits it herself and still gets asked about it today. All she has to say is she’s sorry about it and regrets it. > [@Yeticus\_Rex](#): > > [Here…get that bad taste of CA out of your mind and feast on Whitney.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR_KwLvf0is) > > Damn, that was already 20 years ago. This song can be great song if sung by a great singer, not a trendy. Sung like that, it brings tears to my eyes. > [@Silver\_Fire](#): > > Okay so… lyric fuck up aside, that was terrible. WTH. Not quite as bad as this one though: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SHnpWohrg0&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SHnpWohrg0&feature=related) Same cop, next day: “You have a right to an attonammuffaly, anything you say will be afforded to your silementos. Your court of law is a silence and everything will be held against your knowkslelp of a slgroffffoppft. Do you unnecessarily stand these rights?” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/102 "2011-02-09T05:06:39Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Even if she had managed to get the lyrics right, it still would have been embarrassing. Of all the countries i’ve lived in and visited, America loves its anthem the most, and yet Americans seem perfectly happy to have it mutilated on a regular basis. No, Thailand’s got America beat. When it comes to anthems here, it’s like a throwback to Nazi Germany. The national anthem is played at 8am and 6pm every day on the radio and TV and over loudspeakers nationwide. Even in a bustling metropolis like Bangkok, if it’s not being drowned out by the street noise, everyone stops and stands at attention. It’s quite amusing to watch everyone suddenly stop except for the clueless tourists who keep on going with a look of bemusement on their faces while looking around them wondering just what the hell is going on. It is often reported that the Thai national anthem is played before movies here. That is completely incorrect. What is played before each movie is the king’s anthem, NOT the national anthem. But everyone still stands at attention while a montage of the king’s life is displayed while the anthem is played. From time to time, some Thai will try to make a point and not stand. They usually get the holy shit beaten out of them by many if not most if not all of the other audience members. They’ve even been reported and arrested despite there not actually being a law on the books requiring anyone to stand; the cops, as usual, don’t care if there’s no actual law, you’re going to get the treatment. This has even happened to the occasional tourist who figured this standing up didn’t apply to him. Not being a sports fan, I can’t remember if it’s the national anthem or the king’s anthem played before local sporting events, but it’s one or the other. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2011, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/103 "2011-02-09T09:55:51Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > First time I ever heard of Christina Aguilera, she was 11 or 12 years old and sang the anthem for a Stanley Cup finals game here in Pittsburgh for the Penguins. She was also performing the anthem at that age (around her Mickey Mouse Club stint) for the Pirates and the Steelers. > > She knows the anthem, and from the age of 12 could sing circles around 99% of the population on that horrible, plodding tune with its paceless and non-linear lyric. > > Disliking her style, which is distinct and has been her trademark from her youth (she was singing “At Last” and “Sunday Kind of Love” in that torchy belting style at the age of nine) is one thing. But she was hired to be Christina Aguilera singing the national anthem, not as a singer of the national anthem who happened to be Christina Aguilera. The mistake in the lyrics (which as a former public anthem singer I’ll put down to absolute nerves) aside, she no more “ruined” the anthem singing it in her known, definitive style than Faith Hill did when she sang it in her known, individual style, or Billy Joel in his style, or Marvin Gaye in his. > > And as for it being an occasion where mistakes are unacceptable, perhaps we should tell that to the players, who were making mistakes all over the field during the game. You know, the part that counted. If a receiver who makes millions a year can drop a pass right through his hands and cost his team the game, a singer can bumble some arcane, archaic bullshit lyrics in an anthem that glorifies war, doesn’t even name the nation it “represents” and needed to be replaced 100 years ago. I’m a singer. I understand that people often don’t understand how difficult it is. But singing is not a competition in the same way football is. There are no surprises coming in that can throw you off, especially when singing a capella. There’s no one actively trying to mess you up. When you are in a competition, you are just being the best you can be, and hoping that your best is better than someone else’s best. I actually find I agree with Vinyl Turnip, actually, that she was being lazy. It sounds like she’s showing off, but I know from experience that heavy melismatic singers get to the point where they can do it effortlessly and without thought. So it’s actually worse than what people think: she just didn’t care. It’s fine for you not to like the anthem, but then you shouldn’t sing it at a professional gig. BTW: The anthem is purely metaphorical now. It just basically means that America will, triumph through adversity. Though we are attacked, we will still triumph. Though things are bad, good will come. And, with the one verse version, the question at the end is clearly rhetorical. You’ve just got through saying that the flag is proven to still exist. So of course the answer to the question is yes. Heck, I bet most people don’t even think of it as a question, but rather a poetic turn of phrase, since is honestly makes no sense to question what you’ve just said to be proven. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/104 "2011-02-09T11:24:12Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > What pisses me off is that everyone feels a need to “interpret” it, or put their own unique stamp on it. Just effin’ sing it like it’s written and unless you have opera-level training or are channeling the ghost of Hendrix don’t “embellish” it. Just do it straight. > > Better yet, get a military singer to do it - those folks are trained singers, they know the words, and they don’t do weird crap to it. 1. “To Anacreon in Heaven” is an 18th-century drinking song. Doing weird crap to it and hamming it up is what you’re supposed to do to a tune like that. 2. The US tradition of gospel music, and for that matter jazz, is replete with embellishments. It’s part of singing in this country. If you don’t like it, a) you need a different tune, & b) you’re rejecting American musical culture. I suggest you emigrate. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/105 "2011-02-09T13:37:59Z")
“To Anacreon in Heaven” is NOT the US anthem, the US anthem is based on it. What is acceptable in a bar room full of drunks is not suitable when singing a national anthem in from of 100 million people. She wasn’t singing “gospel style” or “jazz”, she was singing in that screechy, crappy “pop” style. Liking it or not liking it is not a test of citizenship, it’s a matter of preference. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/106 "2011-02-09T14:00:37Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > …I actually find I agree with Vinyl Turnip, actually, that she was being lazy. It sounds like she’s showing off, but I know from experience that heavy melismatic singers get to the point where they can do it effortlessly and without thought. _So it’s actually worse than what people think: she just didn’t care_… – italics mine. So it’s worse than what I originally thought, huh? Thanks for explaining that to us. Now my outrage is going through the roof! I mean, that America-hating slut, how dare she?! ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/107 "2011-02-09T15:44:45Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Our national anthem has no chorus. How does one call the line repeated at the end of each stanza, then ? A callback ? A stinger ? ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/108 "2011-02-09T15:58:15Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > If he’s classically trained, then that video is a really bad example. He is shouting towards the end with really strident notes. It was better than that Discovery channel guy, but not great. I agree that it’s not a good performance (it’s only a G at the end, guy! You’re supposed to be a tenor!), but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that it was an off day, and that it’s really hard to sing well in the open air with a raucous crowd around. One doesn’t get accepted into the Chicago Lyric training program without talent. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/109 "2011-02-09T19:25:01Z")
> [@DragonAsh](#): > > When you think about it - what kind of title is ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ anyway? Who says ‘spangled’ nowadays? I concur. We should change the song to the “Star-Bedazzled Banner.” > [@villa](#): > > After the war, with the start of the Cold War, no one wanted to be first and stop it, for fear of being seen as unpatritotic. So now, 65 years plus later, it is so engrained that if anyone stopped it people would think they were making a statement by doing so. Plus, the President will have the first person to stop it shot. > [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > The Black Eyed Peas should be available If the halftime show was any indication, they can’t sing, either. > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Why do Muslims hate the Super Bowl? Pigskin. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/110 "2011-02-09T19:37:53Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I concur. We should change the song to the “Star-Bedazzled Banner.” The Star-Blinged-Out Banner? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/111 "2011-02-09T20:08:11Z")
Already been said but I’ll cast my vote for, “So what? She fucked up. Shit happens. Get on with your life.” Yeah as a professional you expect better but even professionals are human and fuck up. She should be embarrassed but hardly Pit worthy IMO. I agree I dislike the endless ways singers feel the need to adjust the song but then that is old hat too (how many version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah are out there [as an example]). As such hard to get overly fussed about that either. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/112 "2011-02-09T20:25:55Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > The Star-Blinged-Out Banner? No, I’m imagining it as the product of The Bedazzler. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/113 "2011-02-09T21:52:36Z")
The Star-Vagazzled Banner? Eh…no. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/114 "2011-02-09T22:17:20Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > I was taught “for purple mountains’ majesty.” Singular majesty, plural possessive mountains. > > That comes up with a lot of hits, but nothing as official as Wikipedia. Learn something new every day, I guess. After your first comment, I wasn’t sure. I tried singing it, and the plural majesties seemed right, but you know how it is when you hear something different and then you wonder? That’s why I looked. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/115 "2011-02-09T22:30:37Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Well aren’t you special? > > My sister, who thinks because she was a music major that she is THE authority in music, insists that Aguilerra was wonderful, and keeps harping at us how “she sang it all a capella!!! The other singer had a _back-up band_!” :rolleyes: As a matter of fact, I AM special. As are you and every other living human being. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/116 "2011-02-09T22:36:00Z")
You seem to be a little bit confused about the meaning of the word “special.” ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/117 "2011-02-09T22:43:59Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > You seem to be a little bit confused about the meaning of the word “special.” So educate me. What does it mean? ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/118 "2011-02-09T23:00:03Z")
[Definition of SPECIAL](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/special) 1: distinguished by some unusual quality; especially : being in some way superior \ 2: held in particular esteem \ 3a : readily distinguishable from others of the same category : unique \ b : of, relating to, or constituting a species : specific 4: being other than the usual : additional, extra 5: designed for a particular purpose or occasion ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/119 "2011-02-10T01:28:09Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > [Definition of SPECIAL](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/special) > > 1: distinguished by some unusual quality; especially : being in some way superior \ > > 2: held in particular esteem \ > > 3a : readily distinguishable from others of the same category : unique \ b : of, relating to, or constituting a species : specific > > 4: being other than the usual : additional, extra > > 5: designed for a particular purpose or occasion It would seem then that I didn’t deserve to be singled out by **Guin** as being special, wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488/120 "2011-02-10T02:42:00Z")
_I_ could have told you that. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-christina-aguilera/570488.md?page=7)