Forgive the mixed sports metaphor, but Fergie really wishes she could have a mulligan on her NBA All-Star Game national anthem performance.
The artist made headlines for all the wrong reasons on Sunday night after she donned a sexy dress and then belted out some kind of sultry rendition of our nation’s theme song.
Pretty much every single person who heard this version of the Star-Spangled Banner laid into it. Hard.
We mean it, too: Every. Single. Person.
Heck, even Roseanne Barr claimed her disrespectful and disastrous performance way back in 1990 was better than whatever Fergie was trying to accomplish.
We disagree with that assessment.
But the general point remains: This was a baffling and bizarre rendition by Fergie.
Take a look and take a listen for yourself if you have not already done so:
In the wake of universal panning across the Internet, Fergie has taken a step we can’t ever recall an artist taking after he or she performed a less-than stellar anthem:
She’s come out and apologized.
“I’ve always been honored and proud to perform the national anthem and last night I wanted to try something special for the NBA,” she said in a statement first published by TMZ.
The statement continued:
“I’m a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn’t strike the intended tone. I love this country and honestly tried my best.”
Pretty impressive, right?
Many stars over the years have attempted to put their own spin on this legendary song by holding certain notes for a long period of time or emphasizing certain lyrics.
Fergie likely thought she would attempt something similar.
She just lacks the vocal range to pull anything too unique off with her range, so she went the seductive route instead.
It failed miserable, as evidenced by the Tweets below…
… but it’s hard not to admire Fergie for admitting it and for taking responsibility for it.
And we certainly never thought for a second that Fergie had anything but love for the United States.
At various points, the Black Eyed Pea seemed to struggle to hit notes, although she closed out the tune with an impressive vibrato, telling the arena at the very end:
“Let’s play some basketball!”
Thankfully, the All-Star Game itself was so competitive that some people forgot all about Fergie’s opening fail.
Some, that is. But very clearly not most.
