Fergie Sings “Interesting” Rendition of the National Anthem at the NBA All Star Game

The NBA All Star Weekend wrapped up with the actual All Star Game itself on February 18th in Los Angeles, with Team Lebron winning 148-145 over Team Steph (no one wants to see defense in an NBA All Star game). Team Lebron captain LeBron James was the game’s MVP, scoring 29 points, with 10 rebounds, and eight assists.

Garnering as much attention as the game itself was singer/songwriter Fergie’s rendition of the National Anthem. Her slowed down, sultry singing wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, as was evidenced in social media and the crowd in attendance at the Staples Center. If you didn’t happen to catch it, here it is:

However one feels about Fergie’s performance, she does have good voice and is a professional singer. Whenever there is a high profile performance of the National Anthem that doesn’t please everybody, it’s useful to recall the absolute worst performance of the song at a sporting event that we can recall. That would be the infamous Rosanne Barr rendition before a San Diego Padres game in 1990:

That was just awful. Besides spitting, she also grabbed her crotch afterwards, which didn’t make it on camera. It was another era back then, but nowadays she’d be trashed for disrespecting the troops with those antics. When asked, Roseanne said her performance was better than Fergie’s.

Well neither one compares to Jim Cornelison, who sings the Anthem before Chicago Blackhawks games. The Blackhawk fans have a unique tradition of cheering during the National Anthem, which unfortunately makes it hard to hear on TV, but darn near impossible if you are in the seats at the United Center. Here’s Cornelison belting it out: