(Photo credited to Getty Images-Retrived from abc.15.com on February 13th, 2012)
Growing up in suburban Detroit has made me a Detroit sports freak. Tigers, Pistons, Lions, you name it, I know it. But hey, this is Hockeytown right? I have always said that going to Red Wings games are the most fun games to go to, and one of the reasons has been my lifelong crush-Karen Newman, national anthem singer for every Red Wings home game. I got to thinking about her incredible renditions of the Star Spangled Banner because of the recent passing of Whitney Houston. While I cannot claim to know much about Whitney Houston or her music, I of course know about her incredible national anthem performance at the 1991 Super Bowl. It is regarded as one of the greatest renditions of all time, especially because it came just after the United States had entered the Gulf War. In honor of her performance, I decided to come up with a personal top five most memorable musical performances at a sporting event:
5. Karen Newman and the Detroit Red Wings
- A personal favorite that reminds me of Hockeytown and Joe Louis Arena-GO WINGS!
4. Ozzy Osbourne and "Take Me Out To The Ballgame"
- Just a suggestion, Chicago Cubs executives-perhaps you should have administered a drug test to Ozzy before he sings at Wrigley Field!!!
- Who can forget the infamous wardrobe malfunction at the 2004 Super Bowl? Simply a classic.
2. Michigan Marching Band
- Is there a better sound in all of sports? I can't think of any.
1. Whitney Houston's Incredible Performance
- The national anthem has never sounded better. This performance will be remembered forever.
This is a great post, I remember 2 and 3 vividly, and can definitely attest to them being amongst the best ever. I am personally a big fan of this year's half time show at the Super Bowl, I thought Madonna did a fantastic job. I also felt the Black Eyed Peas did a great job last year. I don't think I can say either was amongst the best of all time, but they were certainly great, and I would look forward to hearing an extension of the list.
ReplyDeleteHey Mark,
ReplyDeleteYou put together a great list. Some of those songs are classics. One of the things I wonder is why we have these musical performances at sports events. Is it about pulling in more money? Giving a rising star an opportunity to gain new fans? Keeping a restless crowd happy during a long game?
I'd argue that their primary function is to maintain a sense of togetherness among those who are divided by team loyalty - participants and spectators alike - and abstract the game to the level of "just a game."
Looking at the general function of songs in sports events, they are often used for rallying. Sometimes, a team's fans will chant or sing a song to motivate the players on the field and to express their team pride. Similarly, I believe, a team-neutral song allows for the rallying around a common goal, which leads to the suspension of the seriousness of the game. That is, because a sports game is serious play, a musical performance that everybody can enjoy (or, especially with patriotic songs, identify with) helps to draw peoples' minds outside of the scope of the game, which helps them forget the seriousness and recognize the playfulness of the whole event.
I believe the function of such songs are crucial. If people get too caught up with the seriousness of "serious play," tensions may rise to the point of violence or discontent. Fortunately, a universally catchy or recognizable song may be the remedy to such problems.
Does anybody else have any ideas?
- Jonathan Lipkin