Idina Menzel: Are the best singers best for the national anthem?
Idina Menzel, once famous primarily among musical theater fans, capped off a year when she became a (sometimes mangled) household name in the most fitting way possible: singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl.
How did she do? Well, fine. The slow notes in the beginning were a bit shaky, but the high notes聽 from 鈥渢he rocket's red glare鈥� on were a breeze. That鈥檚 no surprise: Ms. Menzel has made a career out of belting notes that would fry the vocal chords of mere mortals.聽 She鈥檚 been doing it on Broadway for nearly two decades, most notably in 鈥淩ent.鈥� And 鈥淲icked.鈥�
鈥淟et it Go,鈥� the mega-hit song from the mega-hit movie 鈥淔rozen鈥� was this generation鈥檚 鈥淢y Heart Will Go On鈥�: It made Menzel and her belt all but inescapable.
So yes, it makes sense that she would sing the anthem at the Super Bowl. And like opera star Renee Fleming last year, she is more than technically capable of handling such a difficult song.
But knowing your National Anthem singer can do the thing in her sleep is, frankly, a little boring. With its one and a half octave range, tricky jumps, and not-so-user-friendly lyrics, "The Star Spangled Banner" is vocal music鈥檚 ultimate spectator sport.聽 When pop stars and singer-songwriters tackle it, there鈥檚 drama in whether they鈥檒l 1) hit the notes, 2) remember all the words, and 3) sing it straight or offer up a new interpretation.聽 At its best (Whitney Houston, Marvin Gaye), it can inspire happy tears. At its worst (Christina Aguilera forgetting the lyrics), disappointment and snickers.
With vocalists like Menzel, we know what we鈥檙e getting: a technically proficient but not particularly exciting, inspiring rendition. One particularly scathing review of Menzel鈥檚 anthem, from a Super Bowl watcher in Florida, called her 鈥渕ore interested in her ability to prolong the note than what the song represents.鈥� It鈥檚 not that good singers can鈥檛 imbue the National Anthem meaning 鈥� Whitney Houston shattered any such notion long ago 颅鈥� but Menzel did it much better with 鈥淟et it Go,鈥� and 聽鈥淒efying Gravity鈥� from Wicked.聽
