‘Worst rendition ever’: Fergie’s excruciating anthem overshadows NBA All-Star clash
Fergie missed the mark with this performance. Photo: YouTube
It was the national anthem performance so bad star players could not hide their laughter.
Several of basketball’s biggest names broke up during pop star Fergie’s rendition of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ before Monday’s (AEDT) NBA All-Star clash.
The eight-time Grammy Award winner, best known as a vocalist for The Black Eyed Peas, will struggle to live down her performance in Los Angeles.
As her attempted sultry rendition of the national anthem of the United States went majorly awry, members of the crowd and some players giggled during an excruciating two minutes and 17 seconds.
Watch the rendition below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XBWZI6f-38
American website Deadspin pulled no punches in their assessment of the performance in a piece titled ‘Words cannot begin to describe the horror of Fergie’s All-Star Game National Anthem’.
“Even in the context of the NBA’s disastrous, shriekingly awkward pre-game nightmare, Fergie’s national anthem was an absolute abomination,” journalist Chris Thompson wrote.
“A goose being strangled in your living room would produce a much more pleasant series of noises.
Players faces during Fergie’s rendition of the National Anthem… pic.twitter.com/QQ3VXaBchT
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) February 19, 2018
“I would believe that this was done on a dare. I would believe anything except that multiple real human beings listened to Fergie practice this anthem and thought ‘Oh, yes, that is for sure the kind of thing that belongs on television’.
“What the hell happened tonight, NBA?”
Users on social media were quick to criticise the performance, with singer k.d. lang summing up the mood.
Would it be so bad if we just dropped the national anthem altogether from sports events.
?#sports #NBAAllStarGame #NationalAnthem— k.d. lang (@kdlang) February 19, 2018
It later emerged that Stephen Curry, one of the main figures in the All-Star match, liked a Tweet that said Fergie produced “the worst rendition ever”.
Curry’s team, dubbed ‘Team Stephen’, was beaten 148-145 by ‘Team LeBron’, which was led by superstar LeBron James.
The match was a typically high-scoring contest, with James himself leading all scorers with 29 points.
He added 10 rebounds and eight assists while Golden State’s Kevin Durant (19 points) also impressed for the victors.
Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan and Portland’s Damian Lillard (21 points each) topped the scoring for Team Stephen.
