For people like me, who only watch big sporting events for the halftime shows or the national anthem, Fergie’s rendition of the Star Spangled Banner during the NBA All-Star game on Sunday, Feb. 17 was disheartening. In typical Fergie fashion, she tried to make the song sexy and alluring, which for our Nation’s Anthem was inappropriate and borderline offensive — not to mention, she could barely follow through with hitting certain notes.

Right from the start, Fergie began singing in a sultry tone, similar to that of a singer you would hear in “Chicago.” With hundreds of sports fans looking down at Fergie’s black lace bodycon dress, the singer seemed out of place. Additionally, toward the end of her performance, NBA All-Stars couldn’t contain their emotions anymore, and began to let out smirks, chuckles and outward laughs at Fergie’s obnoxious display.

According to PEOPLE magazine, Fergie said, “I’ve always been honored and proud to perform the national anthem and last night I wanted to try something special for the NBA … 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.”

I’m not sure I believe that Sunday’s performance was Fergie’s best effort, as she seemed to work extremely hard in order to hit some of her longer notes. Perhaps it was the raspy effect she was trying to perform that made these notes feel forced. Regardless, the Star Spangled Banner should always be sung in a solemn tone — remember, it was written after Francis Scott Key witnessed an American ship being bombarded for 25 hours. I’m not sure what possessed Fergie to transform this patriotic tune into a sexy jazz performance.

One of the more widely discussed topics is that Roseanne Barr called out Fergie for her performance. After witnessing Fergie’s performance, Bar tweeted, “Who saw Fergie’s national anthem performance at the NBA All-Star game? I think mine was better lowkey.”

Now, even though I won’t stoop to the level of saying Fergie’s rendition was worse than Barr’s — because let’s be honest, nothing can be worse than Barr’s shrieking voice and, of course, her crotch grab — I will still place Fergie on my personal list of worst renditions of the national anthem.

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