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Maya Rudolph Sang the National Anthem Version to End Them All on SNL
Rudolph is a contest winner who takes "The Star-Spangled Banner" to wild vocal highs and hilariously bizarre lows in this hysterical SNL sketch.
As anyone who's watched Maya Rudolph on Saturday Night Live knows, Rudolph's comedic gifts are matched by her musical talents. Whether she's tearing up the SNL set with a dancefloor-ready number like May 11, 2024's "I'm Your Mother" monologue, pretending to be a member of ABBA, or singing just like Christina Aguilera, Rudolph is a master of using her body as an instrument. And in 2006's "National Anthem" sketch, Rudolph managed to sing "badly" the way only a great performer can.
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Maya Rudolph sang the national anthem like you've never heard it before
In "National Anthem" from Season 32, Rudolph plays a woman named Pamela Bell, set to sing the song before Game 5 of the World Series after winning a local supermarket contest.
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Her big moment is introduced by sports announcers Joe Buck (Jason Sudeikis) and Tim McCarver (Bill Hader). Dressed in jeans and a classic early-2000s "going out top," Pamela takes the mic at the center of the baseball stadium and immediately forgoes the "Oh, say can you see" opening lyric, opting for some jazzy, abstract vocalizations instead.
Pamela's spin on "The Star-Spangled Banner" moves from throaty attempts to channel Whitney Houston to a breathy, Britney Spears-esque coo in a matter of seconds. She also doesn't seem to fully know the words, and as she sings of "the twa-lah...last bleaming," the camera cuts back to the now completely stunned sportscasters.
The back half of the song goes fully off the rails as Rudolph uses her elastic voice to veer between deep-throated growls and spoken-word-style riffing complete with pantomime — and draws genuine applause from the SNL audience because, in spite of it all, Rudolph remains a fantastic singer.
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"B to the R to the A to the V to the E, buh-buh-buh braaave-ah! Thank you!" Pamela sings, bringing it home as she appears to rev an invisible motorcycle. Move over, Whitney Houston.
About "The Star-Spangled Banner"
Written by Francis Scott Key, the song that's become the United States' national anthem is set to a tune that was already popular at the time: The British song "To Anacreon in Heaven" (also known as "The Anacreontic Song"), composed by John Stafford Smith
Key was inspired to write the lyrics after a real experience he had during the War of 1812. Witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore in 1814 — the "rockets' red glare" and "bombs bursting in air" referred to in the song — as he watched from a ship, he was heartened to see a large flag still waving at daybreak.
Since then, the song has been given memorable treatment from Houston, Beyoncé, Meat Loaf, and many more.
