Maybe not directly Mariah related, but
interesting
Oh, say, can she sing
By Billy Heller
Most eyes may be on the Patriots and Panthers
leading up to Sunday's Super Bowl, Beyonc is facing as much pressure as
any player: She's singing the national anthem before the game.
No, she doesn't have to weigh punting or going
for the first down with the championship on the line, but she has until
just before kickoff to decide whether to sing live or lip-sync.
Because a performer went blank - pregame show
executive producer Bob Best won't name names - during the commercial break
right before the anthem, "We make a 'protection copy,' " explains Best.
So Beyonc cut a recording a couple of weeks back
at the 20th Century Fox scoring stage in Los Angeles with a 65-piece orchestra.
"We always check with the artist the day of the
performance, and basically say, 'What are you comfortable with?' " says
Best.
"Some artists feel that they may have achieved
- in their mind - perfection on the performance copy and perhaps they would
not be able to reach that level in the rather stressful, rather rushed,
busy environment they find themselves in."
So what advice do past performers have for Beyonc?
Kathie Lee Gifford, who sang the anthem nine
years ago at Super Bowl XXIX, offers Beyonc the same words of wisdom she
says she got from Barry Manilow (Super Bowl XVII):
"No matter what, do not look up at the scoreboard
telling you how many billions of people are watching the broadcast."
Cheryl Ladd (Super Bowl XIV) says Beyonc doesn't
need singing advice from her, but concedes "the song is a challenge because
of its huge range."
Beyonc should just, she says, "enjoy every second
of the experience and let 'er rip."
Of course, just like the game itself, things
don't always go smoothly in the "Star-Spangled Banner" department.
Garth Brooks left the stadium just 45 minutes
before he was scheduled to sing at Super Bowl XXVII, at Pasadena's Rose
Bowl, in a dispute over his music video, which he wanted NBC to play in
the pregame show.
That left NFL execs scrambling like a desperate
quarterback - until one spotted Jon Bon Jovi in the stands and was ready
to draft him into anthem duty, when Brooks was coaxed back.
Another year, Julio Iglesias was going to sing
the anthem, "but bowed out," says Best.
"He made an attempt to do it in advance and he
was concerned that his English pronunciation was not sufficient to be able
to do it justice." That was the year Manilow stepped up to the mike.
The humid conditions in Tampa in 1991 contributed
to Whitney Houston's decision to go with the recording, and it's that performance
that remains "the benchmark," notes producer Rickey Minor, who's working
with Beyonc.
"Singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl
was one of the highlights of my career," says Houston.
"Beyonc told me she remembers listening to Whitney's
version over and over and over again," says Minor, "and I believe that
there will be definitely some similarities based on where we are as a country,
being at war. And like Whitney, Beyonc has an incredible voice."
When Beyonc was rehearsing with Minor, she told
him when she got to "the land of the free and the home of the brave" she
wanted "all of the families who have lost loved ones [in the war] to feel
that she feels passion and appreciation of their sacrifice."
The first time Beyonc sang the anthem in the
studio, it was almost 31/2 minutes long.
"Generally they [the NFL] like it in the 2-,
21/2-minute range," says Minor, "and it was too slow for my taste too.
I was falling asleep," he laughs.
But the recording session wasn't all serious
all the time.
"At one point," says Minor, "instead of singing
'whose broad stripes and bright stars,' she sang 'whose broad stripes and
broad stars,' so I told her there was one too many broads in the room.'"
Vanessa Williams (Super Bowl XXX) says Beyonc
has nothing to worry about.
"I know she's from Houston," says Williams, "so
she'll have the whole hometown girl factor, which will give her a lot of
support."
Among her supporters is Rudy Rasmus, the pastor
of Beyonc's hometown church, where she sang in the choir at age 12.
"I was proud to hear that she was selected,"
says Rasmus. But, he adds, "I actually would have preferred to have seen
her perform during halftime."
What's in a name? It might mean a win.
Financial analysts have noted that which conference
wins the Super Bowl affects the stock market.
And a close study of the last 10 national anthem
singers reveals that every time a single-named singer has performed (Cher,
Jewel), an AFC team has won.
So The Post predicts that Beyonc will sing the
AFC's New England Patriots to victory.
Year//Performer//Winner
2003//Dixie Chicks//Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFC)
2002//Mariah Carey//New England Patriots (AFC)
2001//Backstreet Boys//Baltimore Ravens (AFC)
2000//Faith Hill//St. Louis Rams (AFC)
1999//Cher//Denver Broncos (AFC)
1998//Jewel//Denver Broncos (AFC)
1997//Luther Vandross//Green Bay Packers (NFC)
1996//Vanessa Williams//Dallas Cowboys (NFC)
1995//Kathie Lee Gifford//San Francisco 49ers
(NFC)
1994//Natalie Cole//Dallas Cowboys (NFC)
Source: Yahoo!
News - New
York Post (All rights reserved)
Posted on January the 31st. |
. I thought The
Times was a lot more serious in the research before writing an article,
I guess I was wrong.
?
!!!!!!!
Click 
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