I mean… it’s Whitney Houston. Compared to most of her music I thought she sang it pretty straight.
But it’s not ornamentation in general that I object to. It’s one specific wrong note, which is really a wrong note and not ornamentation in my opinion, that I vehemently object to.
The first syllable of the word “banner” is a
C6 on a quarter note which is correct and what Whitney Houston sang.
It is not C6-D6 on eighth notes which is what Lady Gaga sang and what so many others who don’t know the correct tune sing.
(Ok, I’m not sure what key Whitney Houston or Lady Gaga sang it in, but it’s most commonly done in Bb which corresponds to my comments. Transpose my notes to a different key as necessary. Pretty sure Whitney Houston didn’t do it in Bb, but she only sang one note on the first syllable of “banner” which is the real issue.)
Perhaps I am permanently scarred by wasting a shocking amount of rehearsal time on this in my high school choir every year from people who weren’t even aware that they were singing it wrong and couldn’t seem to figure out how to sing it correctly. It’s just nails on a chalkboard to me. I detest it every time I hear it and think less of the artists who get this wrong. It’s not a flourish or embellishment or ornamentation… it’s just singing a wrong note.
today was so not about Trump at all. You could almost forget he exists today, particularly since he refused to go to the inauguration and is banned from the internet.
Oh they’ve heard the song. They were just able to claim “well of course I care about these issues! I sing along to GB” — and never do anything more than that.
I would call it an ornamentation (it’s an escape tone) but I do think it spoils the effect of the suspended fourth resolving to the third. Interestingly, there is an escape tone in the next phrase that is written in the music for the word “of” (during the phrase “home of the brave”).
Technically she was singing into a dead mike, not lip syncing, but yes, this is true. That was just how they did things in that era. I think most Super Bowl performers (both national anthem and halftime show) were either lip syncing or singing into dead mikes.
For example, Jennifer Hudson and Faith Hill have each lip synced the national anthem at a Super Bowl. Pavarotti lip synced Nessun Dorma at the 2006 Olympic Opening Ceremony. Michael Jackson, Katy Perry, Prince, Beyonce and the Red Hot Chili Peppers all lip synced the Super Bowl halftime show. I’m sure this is a grossly incomplete list.
Currently injecting Mayor Pete’s confirmation hearing into my veins. Already adjusting to normalcy. I found a few non-gray hairs in my temples this morning.
