Anthony Hamilton's rendition of the National Anthem

[Imzadi]

This is singer, Anthony Hamilton, singing the National Anthem before the NBA All-Star game in his hometown of Charlotte, N. Carolina.

What do you think of his rendition?

Should he have stuck to the traditional version?

Or do you like the spin he put on his interpretation?

 

[FlightlessDuck]

No idea who Anthony Hamilton. This rendition certainly is different.

Not actually a big fan of our national anthem, honestly.

I think we, as a society, can be too precious about this type of stuff. The anthem comes from a combination of Francis Scott Key's poem "The Defence of Fort M'Henry" and a baudy 18th century British gentlemen's club song called "To Anacreon in Heaven". It was first used in an official capacity by the US government by the Navy in 1889, and didn't become the official anthem until 1931. So, while it is something most of us have all grown up with, if you go back only a few generations it wasn't even our national anthem.

 

[kimblebee]

Fergie- Wow, I cant believe I’m known as the worst anthem singer at an NBA all star game.

Anthony Hamilton- hold my beer..

 

[Dan Murphy]

I'm open to the various interpretations as performed over the years, as long as not sung disrespectfully, as Barr did years back. That was not good/nice.

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

It's fine. It's not like it was even remotely unrecognizable or anything. I've certainly heard worse. And there's something to be said about making an effort to keep it in the range that the performer can actually perform, because that is a huge problem with the US national anthem.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

It's fine. It's not like it was even remotely unrecognizable or anything. I've certainly heard worse. And there's something to be said about making an effort to keep it in the range that the performer can actually perform, because that is a huge problem with the US national anthem.

Yes, there is a difference between changing up the anthem to fit your range and/or style vs just performing badly.

 

[soccerdad72]

Happened to flip over to TNT as they were announcing him and had two thoughts: 1.) I have no idea who this is and 2.) That's a really weird rendition of the anthem. Didn't make it more than 30 seconds before we changed the channel.

 

[AlohaNow]

I think there ought to be a law...

 

[snoodledoo]

I was expecting it to be horrible, so I was pleasantly surprised. I think he has a nice voice, but the arrangement did not enhance the song, it made it less powerful. Voice, good; arrangement, blah.