Cameo with the Prez
The UK Daily Mail coverage of Jon Baptiste singing his Star Mangled Banner -—
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/nfl/article-14378841/Fans-slam-Jon-Batistes-shameful-rendition-national-anthem-Super-Bowl.html
I will give Baptiste credit for tremendous vocal range into the high notes.
Could have been worse. I’m not enamored with inner city culture. Wish we could quit kowtowing to anything “black”. But I’ve heard much worse.
Still, I quit watching football when the Colts left Baltimore so it isn’t as if the NFL is worried about what I think.
All the guys who perform, I compare to Chris Stapleton’s version, all the women, I compare to Whitney’s version. This guy’s rendition wasn’t good.
I did not care for it. I like jazz. But, I prefer to have the crowd sing the National Anthem together. There is no reason why that can’t be done.
It was awful.
When I saw it was going to be Baptiste, I watched my wife—big fan of his. Three notes in, she winced and cringed, and said, “ Oh, but I love Jean Batiste… how could he do something so bad?!?
Yeah, it sucked dirty dead doggie d!@$s.
It’s a NO from me. There is no reason to stray from the original score.
These a$$clowns who think they know better, simply don’t.
Leave it alone.
I liked it
Very New Orleans style
the Grit network Dale Robertson Movie was much better.
I liked it. I prefer a truly traditional version, but I thought this one was really good for what it was: a totally different song. I liked Batiste’s version much better than the ones with all the warbling and injected vocal runs.
I listened. Horrific rendition. Anyone who knows the history of that song when Frances Scott Keys wrote it and under what conditions would NEVER sing it with a grin in a jazzy fashion. Shameful. This song is NOT subject to interpretation. It is our soul as a people.
Or maybe Louise Homer, who sang my favorite version.
NFL starts with the so called black national anthem. They have not changed.
That version should only be played before dice or domino games held in back alleys. His high notes make the anthem sound feminine.
Everyone can stop bellyaching. It was fine. Wasn’t perfect. Put a jazz spin on it. It was fine.
Well, it’s New Orleans. To at least some degree, as long as it’s tasteful, when in Rome...
The counter-argument is that this is a NATIONAL event. And, what would the paying fans prefer?
I went back and found the pre-game rendition of America The Beautiful, by Lauren Diagle. If one is gonna add a lot of their own “interpretation”, well, I like hers better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hptioYZXFeU
It really would be nice if some teams tried having the artist(s) encourage the crowd to sing along to the traditional arrangement. They could even have some fun with it, with the singer / band pausing a couple lines in if the crowd is “weak”, to exhort / cajole them to do better.
Lauren Daigle and Trombone Shorty were also EXCELLENT singing and playing "America the Beautiful"