Carrie Underwood's Super Bowl National Anthem (VIDEO)

Carrie Underwood's Super Bowl national anthem kicked off tonight's main event. Scroll down for video of the performance.

WATCH:

Comments

[fiduciaryatlarge]

05:32 PM on 02/09/2010

I think Carrie has a chance to become the greatest female country artist of all time. If she continues to perform the way she has been she will end up very close to the top. This performance was dreadful.

[Blackorpheus]

02:54 PM on 02/09/2010

Hard to say what's worse: the shameless patriotism or the shameless commercials. Between the two, watching the Super Bowl is equivalent to surgery without anesthesia.

[quick]

04:18 PM on 02/09/2010

Thank goodness we have a little patriotism left. Some positive isolation would do us good. There is no way 6.7 billion human beings--and growing--are going to live as well as we in the US have since World War II. We should protect that standard of living and avoid its dilution.....

[DBtv]

12:07 AM on 02/10/2010

We must protect the fatherland!!

America, uber alles!

[Blackorpheus]

01:23 PM on 02/10/2010

Yes, of course. We are and will always be an ideal representative of the virtues of of the military-industrial complex.

[AnitaG]

02:52 PM on 02/09/2010

I thought she did a very respectful job on a very difficult song. She sang without music and made me proud to hear our National Anthem. This I can not say for some of the people the NFL had picked in the past.

[simontherm]

01:39 PM on 02/09/2010

who invented that mic grabbing tic that 90% of all singers seem to be doing? Sigh...well I guess it's better than the Mariah hand or the Celine chest thump.
But all is moot unless you're sounding original and relevant. I couldn't pick Carrie Underwood out of a blindfold listening test, compared to the truly great singers that you can identify in an instant.
It's the American Idol theme, competent, generic singers who can hold a high note.

And by the way, the fact that Americans are impressed by parlor tricks as opposed to true talent and soul isn't limited to singers....i.e. Sarah Palin. This is largely a country fascinated by shiny objects.

Not a great national anthem at all. Whitney set the bar....

[Cryostatic]

12:52 PM on 02/09/2010

The Who was awesome. First song up, and everyone in the crowd under twenty was like "Pinball? What's that?"

Way to show your age, guys.

[Edogg62]

12:07 PM on 02/09/2010

And The Who? It's what... HALF the original band? Please. Roger abused his voice for years (and probably smoked as well) and now has lost a significant portion of his range. Pete is known for songwriting at this point... he was never a guitar god per se, but what he formerly had has deteriorated noticeably. Pino Palladino is a phenom studio bassist, but he's not John Entwistle (style diff). And Ringo's kid on drums? C'mon... VERY stiff. But hey... he's RINGO'S kid right? Ha ha. The closest I've seen any lineup of the band post-Moon come to replicating the energy/sound of the band in it's heyday was the Simon Phillips w/orchestra tour. AMAZING.

But the Super Bowl performance? SUPER loose and under-rehearsed apparently. Oh well... still a great band on record, and that's the way they'll carry on for eternity.

[Edogg62]

12:02 PM on 02/09/2010

Being a professional musician and respecting Carrie's vocal ability, I was a little bit shocked that she had a little bit of trouble with the tune. But as anyone who sings knows, it's a physical instrument... if you're sick, were recently sick etc, it doesn't function properly. It's a tough song, but I really had thought she'd nail the song due to her range/control. No biggie... thank god it wasn't Beyonce going out of key all over the place and getting lauded for it. Too funny.

[quick]

11:47 AM on 02/09/2010

For those of you trumpeting Whitney's "live"performance, here you go:

"Just days after Super Bowl XXV, a report surfaced that Whitney Houston lip synced her performance. It was confirmed that she was actually singing into a dead mic, but the performance heard in the stadium and on television was prerecorded.[2][1] The disclosure, however, did not tarnish the performance's critical praise."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_anthem_performers_at_the_Super_Bowl

Since we have lots of evidence of Carrie's sound check (which sounded different than her live version at the game), I think it safe to say Carrie sang it live. Whitney recorded with accompaniment in a studio--hardly comparable. Whitney was a great singer (then), no doubt, but no one should ever compare carefully crafted studio fare with a real live performance.

[quick]

11:25 AM on 02/09/2010

First, none of you know what her "last note" was because what you heard was lots of cheering, crowd noise and jet engines. I heard her live on the radio (not on the TV, not on some supposed video posted after the fact), and on that feed, again, all you heard was "Br..." before she is drowned out. I don't trust videos after the fact, several of which sound different.

Second, she sounded great generally: lots of power and emotion, a nicely arranged turn on "there", powerful note on "free", and her pitch was very good, IMHO. Most of the anthems some of you say you really love (like Whitney Houston's) were pre-recorded and lip-synced. I have it on good authority Carrie's was not. Also, if you want an opera singer, write the NFL--lots of them need work.

Third, some of you said Carrie's arrangement deviated to much from the melody. Huh? The typical "urban" singer some of you trumpet "urban yodels" throughout the song, adding random notes and rhythms miles apart from what is written.

Finally I don't know what you were watching and hearing, but The Who were great. Pete's voice has never been any good, but Roger's sounded fine, the band sounded wonderful, their stage was killer, and the songs they chose were outstanding cuts. I guess we could have had some rapper get up their and "talk" his way through something, but why?

[Sinned39]

02:14 PM on 02/09/2010

Not true. On live TV you could definately hear that last note go WAY sharp. Your radio station must have been using a different mic feed located near the crowd if Carrie's clam got drowned out.

And regarding your "urban yodels" comment - the greatest singers are able to take a basic melody and make it their own - distinguishing themselves from those who just sing the notes off a page. I think that is where the true artists set themselves apart from your average "good" singer.

[FloridaLAW]

02:34 PM on 02/09/2010

Your a racist and you expose yourself with every word "typical urban", "some rapper", why don't you just come out and say what you really mean. You think white artists are superior to "typical urban" artists. Does that cover it? Carrie Underwood is about packaging, she's much better than average looking so she looks the part. Other than that she's average at best. Not a horrible singer but there is nothing extraordinary about her voice or her skills. She won a popularity contest (American Idol) based on her looks and the fact that the show wanted to make a statement by choosing a country singer. BTW, I feel the exact same way about Rihanna, all image and gimmick and limited skills. Unlike you, music is not about race with me.

[quick]

04:25 PM on 02/09/2010

I enjoy lots of black artists--The Marsalis brothers, Leontyne Price (from the old days), The Temptations, The Four Tops, Jimi, and many of the "urban" artists today are white--like Christina Aguilera. and Eminem. But, you can believe what you want. I think the modern "urban" style sux. Get it?

When I hear singers wander all over the place hitting random notes they could never repeat a second time, I find it laughable. Beyonce tries that often. And there are many others. Even the white tenor lead singer for Rascal Flatts does it, and again I chuckle. Sing the notes. If you want to make a few subtle and artistic adjustments (like Carrie did), fine, but the wholesale wanderings we get today in the name of some artistic license are a joke.

But, we agree about Rihanna--I hear nothing but vocal filters and ProTools adjustments when she sings....

[Okieborn]

06:22 AM on 02/09/2010

Carrie girl !!
You made the State of Oklahoma so very proud, as you always do !!

[Swami Salami]

10:05 PM on 02/08/2010

awful...

[johnmo8]

08:10 PM on 02/08/2010

It was good...if you like screaming for 3 minutes.

[JKM07]

02:09 AM on 02/09/2010

Too Funny...Like any of you LOSERS could do a better job, maybe all the haters are jealous because she's rich, talented, beautiful and has a better future than any of you who are slamming her. Get Off The Cross you haters....Someone needs the Wood !

[Treehuggindirtworshiper]

06:49 PM on 02/08/2010

I'm all for artistic licence accept when it comes to our National Anthem. If you can't do it the way it was written then let someone who can.

[scotia626]

05:52 PM on 02/08/2010

her mediocre performance was golden compared to the half time show; the football game was great but the window dressing this year was bad bad bad....

[VTL]

06:16 PM on 02/08/2010

What was wrong with the Who?

[dtghope]

04:45 PM on 02/08/2010

“This young woman, Ms. Underwood, is classy, elegant and supremely talented!

The 'haters' of this world will attack anyone --- even a young lady with class, charm and tremendous beauty and talent, such as Ms. Underwood!”