What So Proudly We Hailed

What could be more American than the much-envied Snow Day? How about a snow day spent listening to various versions of our national anthem? Yes, "The Star-Spangled Banner," Francis Scott Key. This is what happens when class is cancelled.

It's somehow Super Bowl Week here at my blog. Here are my thoughts on Super Bowl highs and lows of that singer strangler, "The Star-Spangled Banner." It's a hard song to tackle, especially "the land of the free," which places the highest note on an "ee" vowel. (Rough for women if they don't have a good head voice.)*

1. Whitney Houston. 1991. Lauded all around; Rolling Stone suspects it was "the best Super Bowl ever." Her performance plays in the Smithsonian in the restored flag's exhibition. The second verse gets a bit mellow, but once those rockets start glaring, there's no turning back.

2. Jennifer Hudson. 2009. Her first public gig after family tragedy. Full-throttle the whole time. Normally I dislike the song at funeral speed, laden with vocal melisma, but she's a powerhouse and knows it. Despite her Idol start, she's really come into her own.

3. Cher. 1999. Better "Believe" it. Who knew she could pull this off?

4. Carrie Underwood. 2010. This country girl goes a cappella, with an authentic, slightly strained sound. More interesting than Jordin Sparks, Christina Aguilera, Beyonce's versions. I worried, though, she wouldn't make it to "free."

5. Billy Joel. 2007. YouTube commenters debate over if he used AutoTune or not, but it's doubtful considering how many notes he missed.

6. Mariah Carey. 2002. Before she went all padded-walls on us. She opts for hushed Sprechstimme and uncomfortable riffs ("bursting in air" just sounds bad in her voice). And that two-octave jump on "free"? B above high C whatever**--cheap gimmick, and out of place.

Enough with the female belters, dear Super Bowl. Can we shake it up*** next year? Placido Domingo could sing the hell out of it.

*From Tony Kushner's Angels in America: "He set the word 'free' to a note so high nobody could reach it. That was deliberate."

**Few women can hit a B6, so applause for that. But "four octave range"? It's not like half those notes Sound Good. And she sure can't use those four octaves to pull off the Queen of the Night.

***Within limits. No Roseanne fiascos!