Personally, I Like It

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Monday, February 19. 2018

There's mixed feelings about Fergie's rendition of the national anthem at the 2018 NBA All Star Game. Personally I like it.

Posted by Bruce Kesler at 00:23 | Comments (33) | Trackbacks (0)

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Two words:
First word: starts with: B
Second word: ends with: l

Bloody Terrible!

#1 Confused Old Misfit on 2018-02-19 01:03 (Reply)

One of worst I've heard, painful to get to the end, at least the NBA players weren't stupid enough to be kneeling.

#1.1 grant1863 on 2018-02-19 06:54 (Reply)

Terrible =Awfull
Also Horrible, execrable

#2 Confused Old Misfit on 2018-02-19 01:07 (Reply)

I thought I was pretty flexible about interpretations of the National Anthem.

Not that flexible.

#3 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2018-02-19 01:15 (Reply)

Nothing wrong with that. Technically well done. It's a basketball game – not Memorial Day. It's stylized; appropriate and in no way disrespectful. In the Land of the Free, one stylizes. Where else? Why not?

#4 Ralph Thayer (Link) on 2018-02-19 06:21 (Reply)

You have strange standards these days.

#4.1 Confused Old Misfit on 2018-02-19 06:23 (Reply)

I thought it was interesting. Fergie is more of a spoken word artist than a singer, so I’m not surprised that she did something different.

#5 Juan Paxety (Link) on 2018-02-19 06:55 (Reply)

The bizarre pro-military sacrament in which some narcissist showcases one of the more amusical anthems imaginable to a crowd of silent party-goers is a sign of a seriously schizo nation...

#6 Especially Meh on 2018-02-19 07:44 (Reply)

What are you trying to say?

#6.1 Dale on 2018-02-19 09:53 (Reply)

Only that the bizarre pro-military sacrament in which some narcissist showcases one of the more amusical anthems imaginable to a crowd of silent party-goers is a sign of a seriously schizo nation...

#6.1.1 Especially Meh on 2018-02-19 11:12 (Reply)

Thats nice.

What are you trying to express with the word salad you offer? What is your definition of "bizarre pro military sacrament"? It seems to be a highly personalized bit of language that only the originator knows the definition of. Can you offer some insight into what a "bizarre pro military sacrament" is..any other examples that you can think of that is similar, or does it hold a unique place in your mind??

Thanks

#6.1.1.1 Dale on 2018-02-19 11:57 (Reply)

Heretic that I am, I'm thinking it offends folks to learn that we don't all have to jump through the same reverent hoops to feel just. Some don't need to feel something positive about or to be justified by a public display of expected rapt identitarianism in today's remaining church, the sporting event.

I'm just pointing out the obvious: that such cultural jingoism is obvious enough to warrant a comment. Shrieking at the NFL this last season for its great failure of intellect and goodness was just as dumb. It's like demanding diesel mechanics play the violin or be cast out of the ranks of a deeply, religiously musical people, the ingrates. People who drive diesels, probably.

When both leftists (Kimmel et al) and rightists (anthem exulters a dozen generations removed) agree that the form of the thing is this controversial when nobody even knows what the original was all about, save for a few personal, romantic notions, it's clear how useless the whole virtual sacrament is - useless that Roseanne and this gal both got an invite to this patriotic mass and disgraced it; this public test of nationalistic mettle of ours, the same one Baraq defiled while enjoying not just four but eight years of unfettered access. It's as useless as any great ode to what's basically our own failure to maintain and preserve. We've got a long list of them.

Every word in that salad, as some great intellectual just put it, is kinda self evident. Ergo the loaded questions looking for a different answer that'll eventually justify simplistic, angry suspicions. Why, I must be some kinda liberal or something.

#6.1.1.1.1 Especially Meh on 2018-02-19 14:24 (Reply)

This is a logical fallacy.
--------------------------------
Heretic that I am, I'm thinking it offends folks to learn that we don't all have to jump through the same reverent hoops to feel just.
==============================

It's the Begging the Question Fallacy.

This:
---------------------------------

I'm just pointing out the obvious: that such cultural jingoism is obvious enough to warrant a comment.

====================

...is the same fallacy.

This:

------------------------------------------

When both leftists (Kimmel et al) and rightists (anthem exulters a dozen generations removed) agree that the form of the thing is this controversial when nobody even knows what the original was all about, save for a few personal, romantic notions, it's clear how useless the whole virtual sacrament is

----------------------------------

...is simply nonsense, that, without some sort of clarification, only exists in your mind. Again...what is it, exactly, that you're goi9ng on about? Jingoist, this...sacrament that.. I'm sure everything is very clear in your mind, but I'm referring to objective reality.
Can you strip away the post modernist bullshit and flowery imagery and be more specific in expressing what your point is supposed to be?

This:
----------

Every word in that salad, as some great intellectual just put it, is kinda self evident. Ergo the loaded questions looking for a different answer that'll eventually justify simplistic, angry suspicions. Why, I must be some kinda liberal or something.
----------------------

...seems simply delusional and vague at best imo.

We do agree on your last expression, though. Why...indeed..are you some kind of liberal?? Why bitterly cling to that outdated and bankrupt philosophical world view? Most anyone, at this point, past puberty, no linger finds much value in that.

#inb4Imamoderateconservative

#6.1.1.1.1.1 Dale on 2018-02-19 14:49 (Reply)

Were you raised such a reflexive tool of religious icons or were you converted into it later in life?

#6.1.1.1.1.1.1 Especially Meh on 2018-02-19 16:38 (Reply)

"Baraq defiled while enjoying not just four but eight years of unfettered access."

1.) Couldn't possibly agree more.

2.) Anthem- Just a damn shame people can't get over their G.damm egos's and sing the @&%king song the way they heard it when it meant something to them. Once. Long ago.

No one will ever outdo Whitney Huston at the S. Bowl. Period.

#6.1.1.1.1.2 Scullman on 2018-02-19 15:23 (Reply)

Didn't like it. Sound it a little silly to me. ABC's Good Morning America crowed about it this morning. That kind of validated my opinion on how silly it was.

#7 Fred on 2018-02-19 08:08 (Reply)

For a seriously drunk woman, she did amazingly well. Remembered the words and did not pass out...I'm impressed.

#8 Judith on 2018-02-19 08:48 (Reply)

I'm old-fashioned I guess, and accustomed to hearing the anthem in the context of an expression of patriotism and love of country, not as an expression of personal performance art. I thought it sucked wind.

#9 Aggie on 2018-02-19 09:11 (Reply)

You got it just right Aggie!

#9.1 Apple Pie on 2018-02-19 10:26 (Reply)

It reminded me of an opening act on the Las Vegas strip in the 1960’s.

#10 Sheryl Bryant on 2018-02-19 09:44 (Reply)

It's fine. Can see nothing wrong with that.

#11 LWS on 2018-02-19 09:47 (Reply)

If you close your eyes while listening and imagine it's Minnie Mouse singing, it would have fit.

#12 Tony on 2018-02-19 10:00 (Reply)

It really doesn't matter to her that I didn't like her rendition... then again, I didn't bother watching the All-Star game, and rarely if ever watch any NBA game, so...

#13 Cas on 2018-02-19 10:21 (Reply)

The 911 Exhibit came to my small town this week. Part of the presentation was the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem. As usual, they hired someone to hire the anthem over a PA system. Because it felt like a performance, the crowd sat there like fish on a beach. Later a speaker asked us to join him in "God Bless America," first confessing that he wasn't a good singer and needed our help. This time, the audience joined in. I much preferred it. I sang out, which gave some members of the crowd near me the courage to lift their own voices.

I dislike seeing the anthem turned into a performance piece. The more cute and personalized the interpretation, the less I like it. What little tradition of joining in by the audience is completely repressed when the rendition is eccentric and solo-like.

#14 Texan99 on 2018-02-19 10:59 (Reply)

I shut it down @ 4 seconds.....Bruce, You liked that? We need to talk............

#15 I.......... on 2018-02-19 13:19 (Reply)

Bruce Kesler . . . the deaf music critic.

Just teasing Bruce.

#16 feeblemind on 2018-02-19 14:10 (Reply)

I was expecting worse. I can't say that it's bad singing but it's one of the hazards of getting a 'personality' to sing the Anthem.

#17 Christopher B on 2018-02-19 14:43 (Reply)

None of you that say this is ok can possibly be serious. What a complete failure. Probably what she intended.

#18 David on 2018-02-19 17:12 (Reply)

I thought the beginning was too "sexy" but the rest was ok. It wasn't my favorite version by a long shot but I didn't feel she was disrespectful so it was ok.

I like Madison Rising's rendition much better - actually a lot - even though they embellished it quite a lot. They played it at the Daytona 500, I believe, and it got mixed reviews, which I understand completely. (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c8C7i9kdEf8)

#19 mudbug on 2018-02-19 22:25 (Reply)

Bruce, I guess everybody has different tastes and is entitled to his own opinion. My opinion is that you have poor taste and poor judgement.

#20 mike m on 2018-02-20 01:02 (Reply)

I got to thinking back a few years to all the NHL anthem singers I heard. There were some awful clangers.
But nothing, nothing as bad as that.
Was she on drugs or something?

#21 Confused Old Misfit on 2018-02-20 01:11 (Reply)

Isaac Asimov used to do speeches to various groups in which he would sing the Star Spangled Banner. He'd sing all four verses, without music. He would talk about what each verse meant. Asimov did not have a good singing voice, but he sang it enthusiastically and honestly.

I'm not a fan of Fergie, although the description above as her being a "spoken word artist" isn't a bad one. I have heard much worse performances of this song, and perfomances with much less respect for the material.

It's not too bad.

#22 Gordon Scott on 2018-02-20 11:46 (Reply)

Biggest problem IMHO, was that by ululating, undulating and generally meandering her way around the National Anthem, she prevented any one else in the arena who may have wished from singing along, as usually happens at events opened with the anthem...

#23 The Distributist (Link) on 2018-02-20 13:41 (Reply)

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Monday, February 19. 2018

Personally, I Like It