Ind. Girl's National Anthem Rendition Stirs Flap Posted Fri Jan 28, 2011 11:05am PST by Associated Press in Stop The Presses! Share retweet An Indiana school district that told a black teenager to perform "The Star-Spangled Banner" in a "traditional way" after receiving complaints about her performance is drawing questions now about whether the complaints and directive were racially motivated..
Shai Warfield-Cross, 16, has performed the national anthem at sports events at Bloomington High School North over the last year without incident. But school officials said they received complaints about her performance during a game in Martinsville..
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Principal Jeff Henderson told The Herald-Times in a statement that people had complained that while the words to the anthem were the same, the tune was unrecognizable. He declined to comment to The Associated Press..
Some who complained after the game in Martinsville - a predominantly white community about 30 miles southwest of Indianapolis - also said they felt the rendition was disrespectful to current and former members of the military, Henderson said..
Warfield-Cross' family says athletics director Jen Hollars told the teen last Friday that she would not be allowed to sing the anthem unless she modified her version and sang in a more traditional way. Hollars declined to comment and referred questions to Henderson, who said school officials told Warfield-Cross the performances should be more "traditional" to ensure the song's tune is recognizable..
"She was not told that she would no longer be allowed to perform," he said. "She was given guidelines that we hoped she would follow. She performed the next night using those guidelines and she sang beautifully.".
Aurora Marin, the teen's stepmother, told The Herald-Times that the directive denies Warfield-Cross her "rights of expression and individuality." The family has written a letter to school officials seeking an apology..
"The national anthem is a historical symbol for our country for independence. The irony is that Shai is being denied her right of artistic expression as a result of her natural voice and cultural heritage," they wrote..
"The situation really makes us question the staff and leadership there, and what their representation of diversity is," Marin said..
Khalil Muhammad, an Indiana University history professor, said he listened to a version of the anthem sung by Warfield-Cross on YouTube and concluded it was "a fairly traditional rendition." He noted that many artists, including Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye and Jose Feliciano, have put their own stamp on the song without significant controversy. Musicians have also performed the song using traditional Jewish musical styles, he added..
Muhammad also questioned the complaint that Warfield-Cross' version was disrespectful to military members..
"African-Americans die in our wars like white Americans," Muhammad said. "Since Vietnam, African-Americans have served disproportionately in our armed services.".
Warfield-Cross, who is a member of the high school's choir and has performed with the Bloomington Playwrights Project, said she felt "really confused" after the discussion..
"I felt bad, like I was doing something wrong," she said..
Quote: Muhammad also questioned the complaint that Warfield-Cross' version was disrespectful to military members..
"African-Americans die in our wars like white Americans," Muhammad said. "Since Vietnam, African-Americans have served disproportionately in our armed services.".
No one played the rest card, in relation to armed service personnel. id like to hear her rendition... a national anthem IMP is not something we should take artistic liberties with*.... maybe a little bit but not a whole lot.
* not just the lyrics, but the melody and the inflection.
I just listened to her sing it. What's wrong with that? Sure, she added a few "trills" here and there.
Go to a pro game. Heck, Tuesday night at our high school game a guy sang it and did the same as what she did.
Now, I prefer a straight up rendition of the Star Spangled Banner myself - but what she sang was no where near the level of "freedom of expression" that I see on an almost weekly basis from professional singers...........or even roseanne barr............
I don't see the deal here. I don't see at ALL what people were complaining about. Not at all.
Listened to it. She holds a few notes a bit too long but 98% of the song is in traditional rhythm. Much ado about nothing if you ask me. She did a great job.
Well, she does take some notable "detours" where the melody is concerned, but I've heard much worse (Rosanne Barr anyone -- I still shudder when I recall that travesty). Her voice is actually quite nice, IMO. I don't care for the embellishments, but I didn't hear anything disrespectful in her rendition of our National Anthem. People should give this 16-year old girl a break.
[color:"white"]"Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."
I am a big fan of singing it the way it was written. However, if a barbershop quartet sang it, I would expect to hear it differently than if say . . . Michael Bolton sang it. I can live with the variances.
Some people get carried away and ruin it. Some people don't know how to live a little either.
It least she didn't sing it like Roseann Barr did.
Quote: Aurora Marin, the teen's stepmother, told The Herald-Times that the directive denies Warfield-Cross her "rights of expression and individuality."
No it doesn't. It just says if she wants to sing at school events she has to follow school guidelines. She can sing it however she wants, just not for the school.
How she sings it is no different than the way most of the artists sing it. I think that the people that complained were senior citizens who just don't like change.
Now I can't stand how just about everyone who sings the national anthem uses it to show off their vocal abilities. Just sing the song the way it is written. However, I do not think it is disrespectful and I know that my belief is in the minority and that I'm an old fuddy duddy..
I don't see what the big deal is... if you don't like the way she sings it don't ask her to sing it.... but if you ask her to sing it IMO she has a right to her own freedom on the song... wonder what they'd think if someone got up there and did a Hendrix version
Quote: Aurora Marin, the teen's stepmother, told The Herald-Times that the directive denies Warfield-Cross her "rights of expression and individuality."
No it doesn't. It just says if she wants to sing at school events she has to follow school guidelines. She can sing it however she wants, just not for the school.
How she sings it is no different than the way most of the artists sing it. I think that the people that complained were senior citizens who just don't like change.
Now I can't stand how just about everyone who sings the national anthem uses it to show off their vocal abilities. Just sing the song the way it is written. However, I do not think it is disrespectful and I know that my belief is in the minority and that I'm an old fuddy duddy..
My real name is Fuddy Duddy.
I agree, and I thought she sounded horrible. Sounded like something you would hear on Hellen Keller's greatest hits.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
Quote: Listened to it. She holds a few notes a bit too long but 98% of the song is in traditional rhythm. Much ado about nothing if you ask me. She did a great job.
98% is a bit high. Actually, it's way too high. She changes the cadence and inflections of the lyrics to the extent that it would be unrecognizable in places if the song were hummed or played musically to her rhythm without lyrics.
I believe that The National Anthem deserves respect, and should be performed the way it was intended to be performed. People sing along with the National Amthem. If everyone sings their own version, then this becomes impossible.
If you want to so "cover" someone else's songs, then do so, and adapt them however you see fit. The National Anthem should be sung the way it was intended without embellishment and alteration.
Just my $0.02 worth.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
I just Youtubed it (almost 800,000 hits!). It wasn't that bad, a little off on a few of the notes but I've heard worse.
That being said, I agree with YTown in that a national anthem needs to be sung very close to what was originally intended. Sometimes young vocalists with good pipes like to play with their instrument (and please hold the jokes ).
I'm not even going to bother, I'm sure I won't like it, as I have little appreciation for most anyone's sung version of it. My preference is to hear a good marching band play it for the crowd while the crowd sings along to it. As a matter of fact, when it is sung on TV, I scramble for the mute button.
Exceptions are made for the NYPD Choir, the AF Academy quartet and the like -- folks who I know aren't using the mike to grandstand themselves.
I once heard a 20-25 member youth choir sing O Canada outside, and it was the most memorable version I have ever heard. The arrangement and performance were absolutely gorgeous.
The best arrangement I've heard in years was the one used for the Winter Olympics last year. Close to the "original" (I put that in quotes for a reason, but that for another thread at another time), but with a very stirring re-arrangement of the string and woodwind parts. Sensitively done, and written in very good taste.
It's an awkwardly-written piece to begin with- and not just for a singer... so it's very easy to make it sound bad. It's a very difficult task to make it sound better. This arrangenment succeeded. I've tried to find it on the net, but have so far been unsuccessful (I've also asked our librarian to chase it down for our use... if anyone can find it, he can).
The version of Oh, Canada used during the olympics was out-of-this-world good, too. Somebody was on their game that day.
p.s. For my tastes, it sounds best sung straight, by a person who's had formal vocal training. When the voice is used properly, with good diction, tone and breath support, the original notes are all that's needed. Any further 'dressing up' is just gilding the lily. But that's just me. By the way, the young lady in the clip did nothing I could view as disrespectful in any way... it's just yet another pop-y version that's heard so often these days.
J/C... (Although coming from another classically-trained musician, I agree!)
I'm kind of on the fence.. I'm definitely not a fan of the way she did it, but don't know if it was worth risking creating a big hubbub by making her change it.
While some embellishment is fine... at a point, performances like hers do change the structure and intent of the piece too much. And it ends up being more about the performer than it does the piece. She does change enough of the melody, cadences, and rhythms, that in my opinion, it crosses the line. And becomes more of a "nod to" the national anthem.
As Clem said.. it is a difficult enough piece in it's own right to do correctly. In fact, I suspect some of her melodic choices have a bit to do with her limitations in range.
Many folks take the piece very seriously. It's often similar to how people feel about the flag.. you rarely see people taking kindly to someone making artistic changes to the flag itself.. why expect them to behave any differently to the Anthem? While the administration may be going overboard.. her mom can take a hike too! It should be regarded as a solemn privilege to be asked to perform the anthem.. not an audition for American Idol! If she wants to "show off" her vocal skills, she should perform in a talent show or ask the director about doing a solo in the next choir concert.
PS... she also made one of the mistakes that is like nails on a chalkboard every time I hear it.. and it may sound silly.. but it's per-i-lous..not per-uh-lus, or per-uh-lis.
No it doesn't. It just says if she wants to sing at school events she has to follow school guidelines.
These are made up "guidelines" for her. It is total BS. It is a school they should be encouraging her talent. The anthem being sung in unique ways is something we have all heard at many sporting events. She was just doing her best and having fun and it should be encouraged to do it her own way as an artist. Thats what school is about experiment, learn and develop. All the talk shows should get her on to sing the anthem anyway she wants. Where is Oprah when you need her?
Quote: Aurora Marin, the teen's stepmother, told The Herald-Times that the directive denies Warfield-Cross her "rights of expression and individuality."
No it doesn't. It just says if she wants to sing at school events she has to follow school guidelines. She can sing it however she wants, just not for the school.
How she sings it is no different than the way most of the artists sing it. I think that the people that complained were senior citizens who just don't like change.
Now I can't stand how just about everyone who sings the national anthem uses it to show off their vocal abilities. Just sing the song the way it is written. However, I do not think it is disrespectful and I know that my belief is in the minority and that I'm an old fuddy duddy..
My real name is Fuddy Duddy.
I agree, and I thought she sounded horrible. Sounded like something you would hear on Hellen Keller's greatest hits.
In her defense, one of the worst places to sing is in a gym. The acoustics are terrible.
There is no problem with how she sang it.. and for those who are saying her changing the rhythm, cadence, etc up.. is showing a sign of dissrespect.. are u serious?
She took the time to learn the words.. which I'm sure a lot of US citizens don't even know..
Which is more disrespectful? KNowing the words and singing them how your heart tells you to sing them? or NOT knowing the words AT ALL?
Quote: but it's per-i-lous..not per-uh-lus, or per-uh-lis
Where is a 'standing ovation' emoticon when you need it?
Not to hijack the thread, but another of my pet peeves is the way we've all been conditioned to recite the pledge of allegiance. I'd bet that most folks have no idea that the pledge is all one sentence... and as such, should be recited with minimal pauses- and at only at the punctuation spots. Try it sometime- it sounds very different, and takes on a new level of import and content.
Instead, we teach it to little children by rote in bite-sized chunks, so that is is stripped of virtually all depth and meaning:
"I pledge allegiance"... [wait nine hours] "To the flag "... [wait nine hours] "Of the United States of America. [deadass 9-month pause] "And to the republic" [wait nine hours]
...you get the idea. It sounds stupid... and the pledge is anything but stupid.
I propose that once little children have been taught the pledge by rote, they are re-trained in 5th or 6th grade to recite it in the manner in which it was written. Good elocution should still have its place.
AND- it didn't stray too far from the 'traditional.' (still feels weird to hear it done in four instead of three, tho-)
p.s. I rather liked the Blackhawks player's version at the NFC playoff games in Chicago. While not Pavarotti or Robert Merrill, he really belted that thing out with passion....
Old fashioned traditionalist. I get the most chills and up when a trained voice with range, elocution, and sense of phrasing lays it on from the heart. Too jazzed up or far afield to the point shifts to the singer rather than the song usually leaves me cold. Not sure I would call it disrespectful; just selfish if you need to show off your chops, too often badly or flatting. For me, putting one's skilled ego in the back seat for this one is a sign of respect in my book. I am amazed what passes for talent in a good deal of the much too drawn out talent shows on TV like American Idol. Just my tastes (distastes). Opinions vary.
"Every responsibility implies opportunity, and every opportunity implies responsibility." Otis Allen Glazebrook, 1880
Quote: Old fashioned traditionalist. I get the most chills and up when a trained voice with range, elocution, and sense of phrasing lays it on from the heart. Too jazzed up or far afield to the point shifts to the singer rather than the song usually leaves me cold. Not sure I would call it disrespectful; just selfish if you need to show off your chops, too often badly or flatting. For me, putting one's skilled ego in the back seat for this one is a sign of respect in my book. I am amazed what passes for talent in a good deal of the much too drawn out talent shows on TV like American Idol. Just my tastes (distastes). Opinions vary.
Quote: Old fashioned traditionalist. I get the most chills and up when a trained voice with range, elocution, and sense of phrasing lays it on from the heart. Too jazzed up or far afield to the point shifts to the singer rather than the song usually leaves me cold. Not sure I would call it disrespectful; just selfish if you need to show off your chops, too often badly or flatting. For me, putting one's skilled ego in the back seat for this one is a sign of respect in my book. I am amazed what passes for talent in a good deal of the much too drawn out talent shows on TV like American Idol. Just my tastes (distastes). Opinions vary.
Done deal,...
That may be the first time I can say that I too agree 100% with Bard ...... or even that I could understand him completely.
Seriously though ... that really does put it perfectly ....... the focus should be on the song, and its meaning, rather than on the notes the singer can hit, and the fourishes the singer can acheive. There are plenty of other songs for a singer to show off their vocal range and creativity on. This shouldn't be one of them.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
My Grandfather is a traditionalist with the song. I'm not really.
Personally I generally scramble for the mute. But not because I hate the song either. But because I find that it's overplayed and over-utilized. I am patriotic but I feel that if used too much it loses it's meaning.
Personally I haven't yet heard her rendition. I do prefer a more traditional version. But that is a personal preference....
And I do disagree that is is a violation of her right of free expression to ask her to sing the tune within some guidelines. No one is saying she cannot record the song in her own way and sell it for whatever price. That would be her expression. But when she is out there singing in front of the stadiums(schools)...she also represents those that are putting her out there and they have a right to have a say in what is expressed out there as well. And she has a choice to sing there or not...
I thought I was wrong once....but I was mistaken...
What's the use of wearing your lucky rocketship underpants if nobody wants to see them????
Quote: Personally I haven't yet heard her rendition. I do prefer a more traditional version. But that is a personal preference....
You should listen to it. I think you'd change your mind. It's really not that nontraditional.
Before I listened to it, I was prepared for something much different. This seemed like any normal girl singing the National Anthem, and she's got all the lyrics down, so whatever.
I mean, it was originally written as a poem, however many decades later they put the music behind it. So I don't see it as unpatriotic.
But yeah, as I said, it's much better than Roseanne's and Carl Lewis' version, that's for sure. And it's really not jazzed up or anything.
I do think it might be a town being racist, and sadly it's no different than the way that most any girl sings. I bet if a white girl sang it the same way, nothing would be said. That's because she isn't singing it in a different way.
And I do prefer traditional songs. I get so annoyed when I watch a Yankee game and someone comes out to sing "God Bless America". Only Kate Smith should sing that song, anyone else does it an injustice. Just play the song over the PA system, no one wants to hear anyone else try to match her. But that's because nobody can get anywhere near Kate Smith doing it. In fact, when I watch Yankee games at home, I play Kate Smith during the 7th inning stretch. It just doesn't feel right without that gregarious lady singing my favorite baseball tune.
Quote: You should listen to it. I think you'd change your mind. It's really not that nontraditional.
I don't know what I am supposed to change my mind about ......as I have not yet heard her rendition.......I can not comment on it......good or bad....
I am simply stating that my tastes lean towards a traditional perfomance of the "Star Spangled Banner" as opposed to a stylized one. I can appreciate and even enjoy the stylized performances, but I still prefer a more traditional approach.
I thought I was wrong once....but I was mistaken...
What's the use of wearing your lucky rocketship underpants if nobody wants to see them????
I was just saying that you should check it out. It's pretty traditional, it really isn't stylized at all........ Then you'll see that the school was making a fit about nothing
For anyone interested in how this girl did singing the national anthem - take a look at the top 10 worst............and these are/were "stars" singing.
She wasn't out of line on this. I thought she did a nice job. Like most things anymore, twas much ado about nothing. People just look for a reason to be offended now.
Quote: She wasn't out of line on this. I thought she did a nice job. Like most things anymore, twas much ado about nothing. People just look for a reason to be offended now.
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