by Brian Tuck

Christina Aguilera fumbles over the lyrics to the United States National Anthem at Sunday's Super Bowl XLV.  Having caused a huge media stir, you can tell the singer knew what was to follow after the performance. She apparently quickly left the premises and did not stick around for any of the events.

I'm hard pressed to give someone more flack where I'm sure she's embarrassed enough. Was it lack of preparation, nerves or maybe a combination of both? Performing live in front of millions does come with its challenges, but the all hype over the fumble seemed to be a little exaggerated, not unlike her voice at any other performance for that matter. She definitely can sing, we can't argue that, but she is known to strain her voice and rarely holds back to emulate that whitney-esque style. All those riffs and growls were almost to make up or distract us from the messed up song lyrics.

Surprisingly, I actually admired how she stood her ground. Knowing she made a mistake, I give her props for showmanship. I can imagine some people would appear more visibly shaken. The pressure to perform an anthem so perfectly at risk of thousands of websites now remarking on how much of a whore they think she looked, how they approve of her cleavage, remarking on her weight and calling her a bitch as punishment. Patriotism is quite unforgiving indeed, I wonder what criticism would be spewed if it were a male who made this same mistake?

Ok ya, it sucked, but geez it was nothing compared to Roseanne Barr in 1990. Patriotism takes itself a little too seriously and expectations were at an all time high for Aguilera.