You’d be wrong, because we in the UK rarely feel the need to overemphasize our patriotism with anthems. The last time I recall hearing the UK one before a show was at a really old-fashioned cinema in the mid-1970s.
Also, Sinéad O’Connor is Irish, so your ‘Scotland’ comment is head-scratchy at best. The Irish play their national anthem more than the Brits, but if a foreign performer objected to it, I can’t see anyone in Ireland making much of a fuss.
I think she a) is completely barking mad, and b) was right to use her SNL publicity to cause a fuss. Shame it’s taken 18 years for the truth of what she was saying to be acknowledged, even in a half-assed manner.
I’m sure the people of Africa, suffering through an HIV/AIDS pandemic because the Catholic Church says condoms are “sinful”, would be disinclined to agree with you.
I thought it was a gutsy thing to do at the time… frail, bald (when the only other bald woman in entertainment was Lt. Uhura in Star Trek) Irish singer does an a’capella version of War on live American TV, but speaks out against child abuse in the church at a time when it was not well-known or widely protested… ends by tearing up a photo of the Pope, which is a symbol of organized Catholicism…
From my point of view, it was Sinatra who was throwing the hissy fit. If I were a performer, I wouldn’t want to be forced to begin my show with a rendition of any country’s national anthem, no matter who was playing it. It’s childish and inappropriate to enforce patriotism on an artist’s performance, and doubly so when the artist is from a different country.
Furthermore, it’s antidemocratic to force people to engage in country-worshipping at entertainment venues or any other venue.
I assume he meant Persis Khambatta, who played a very bald yet ridiculously hot Lt. Ilia in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I had no idea she’s been dead for 12 years.
Anyone who doesn’t appreciate vocal performances such as this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klLguqi3pqY… well, I’ve got to question whether it’s possible for such a person to know any type of quality singing when they hear it.
Thanks for that. Been meaning to start one of those, and just haven’t had the wherewithal to start it. And as they say, once begun is half done, so I do owe you.
