"WHAT SO PROUDLY WE HAIL..." CHRISTINA'S NATIONAL ANTHEM

Tonight, was Super Bowl XLV! Yea, yea, I confess, I really don't care much for football...I care about it as much as it cares about me. But I deinitely watched one of the singers I admire, Christina Aguilera, sing the National Anthem. So many things come to mind whenever the National Anthem is even mentioned. Firstly, it is a brilliantly written song! And if you pay close attention to it, it gives an intense visual of the sights of war: "...and the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air..." And if you really listen to how the melody rises perfectly with the right words, it should ALWAYS deliver chills to the listener. Our National Anthem, to me, is one of the greatest ones written; although I'm sure every person feels that way about their own national anthem - no matter what country they are from.

Another thing that comes to mind is how difficult it can be to memorize the American National Anthem. Have YOU ever personally tried to memorize it? Not the easiest song. One of the reasons most songs written actually rhyme is to make it easier for the listener to remember the words. Not true with the National Anthem. When I was attending Aquinas High School in the Bronx (Class of '85), my choir director and mentor, Mr. Roman, literally went insane when someone, anyone forgot the lyrics to the anthem. I mean his face would turn red, his blue eyes went black (at least that's what it looked like from my standpoint) and his voice went to such volume that one could hear him from the principal's office...and his classroom was in the basement! I remember him saying, "Dammit!!! You are an American...EVERY American should know the national anthem! What kind of American are you??? Jesus!!" Then with his veins popping through the side of his temple, he would sit down in defeat and throw anything within his reach onto the floor. And then...
Silence.

I never forgot that for some reason. His words rang in my head for years. And thank God it did. Four years after graduating, 1989, there I was performing in Flushing Meadow Park, Queens for World's Fair. The Gipsy Kings were headlining, and I had the fortunate blessing of being introduced to them. I didn't understand one word they said...I can tell you it wasn't Spanish. It was a mix of Spanish, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Oh, sorry...back to the story. All of a sudden, Al Bandiero, one of the dj's for HOT 103, came screaming out, "Does anyone know the National Anthem? The person who was supposed to do it never showed up and the show can't start until the National Anthem is done." I was a little hesitant but I raised my hand. There I was onstage, alone...no music, no lyric sheet and Mr. Roman's face bursting in my head. "Oh, say can you see..."

Fast forward to 1993 or so. I found out that the NJ Nets were holding auditions for National Anthem singers. I wanted to be one of them so bad. I had already been singing professional for years, and Iknew all the words. I auditioned and it was harder than expected. As you sing, you hear the line you already sang come right back at you while you're still singing. It gets very confusing...and you basically hear your own echoes delayed for a second or two. It is not just confusing' it's annoying! I was finished. I felt pretty good about the whole thing. Then I got the letter: "Dear Ms. Torres, we regret to inform you that you have not been chosen for this season..." WHAT?!! Do they know who I am?? LOL...Yes, for a second I was full of myself. Sad, but true.

This is what was written about Christina Aguilera's performance tonight of the National Anthem at the opening of the Super Bowl (link:http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Video-Christina-Aguilera-goofs-up-the-National-?urn=nfl-317568): " Perhaps she was too concerned with breaking Patti LaBelle's record for turning single-syllable words into entire paragraphs during the singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner," but noted ex-teen queen Christina Aguilera botched the national anthem something fierce before the Super Bowl. Aguilera started out all right, but she had a problem with the ramparts -- specifically, the "O'er the ramparts we watched" line, which she left out altogether.Aguilera tried to make up for it by combining two lines -- "What so proudly we watched," instead of "What so proudly we hailed", but let's just say that it was too late to reverse the error. Twitter blew up, and all Aguilera could do was to oversing every word from there on out, which she most certainly did."

My point?

Leave Christina alone!!! Oh, my goodness, have YOU ever tried singing it in front of over 100,000 people....acapella...I'm sorry but I have here what I call "singer's compassion." As a fellow singer, let me just tell you...it is a FREAKING TERRIFYING experience to sing at a stadium. It's not the same as when you sing for a concert. Yu sing your own music, with your own tracks or band in the background and everyone in the audience PAID to see you because they are ALL fans!! Not so in this situation...All eyes are on you. She's singing acapella which means she has to stay on key no matter what she does. Not too many people are very good at doing that. Take another look at American Idol auditions and you will see that some pretty good singers lose out on their chance because they're "all over the place" with the key of the song. Then she's got to worry about all that echo coming back, which can throw off almost anyone. Who knows what was happening in her head. Yes, she's a pro. Yes, she's a seasoned performer. Yes, she's great and level of expectation from us is far greater!! But that's my point, we ALWAYS expect greatness from her...and God forbid she doesn't deliver EVERY...SINGLE...TIME! And sure, one could argue that it might be nice to hear her sing the melody without all the runs and rifts and screams, etc...but that's her style and you know it. Why would she sing any differently. Actually I was impressed that she did all those runs and didn't forget what key she was in to begin with. LOL.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just a nice person. Perhaps it's that I realize that there has been a rare occasion when I forgot the words...to my OWN songs...or times when I cracked in the middle of a high note. I say, "Good job Christina!!! You were great~! And when you messed up the words, like a REAL PRO, you kept going...you didn't make it obvious that you flubbed. In fact, I'd bet anything that if there weren't a whole bunch of articles and tweets about it, 1/2 the audience wouldn't have even noticed it. By the way, Ms. Aguilera, you were FANTASTIC in Burlesque!" ...Applause, applause!!

FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES...25TH ANNIVERSARY OF FREESTYLE PART 1

It was Saturday, November 6, 2010, the day of the 25th Anniversary of Freestyle concert at Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. I had only about 5 hours of sleep; seems that's about the average I've gotten in the last few weeks. The sleep deprivation resulted from anxiety, concern, nerves and good stressors in my life recently. But today would be the day - lots to do, lots to say, lots to sing. I arrived to Atlantic City, after getting myself lost for the first time, which robbed us of about 45 minutes of relaxation time. But I was excited - the surprise I'd been keeping locked inside would finally be revealed.

My surprise? My Trump Card? My Secret Weapon? The Chorus of PS 22 in Staten Island would be performing No Reason to Cry with me on stage, just as they had done in 2006 at their school as a surprise to me! For years I had thought about those children, and wanted to include them in a show of some sort, but I was always turned down for one reason or another.  Having children perform in big venues is a big insurance, liability risk, blah blah blah.  But somehow, by God's goodness, this year I was granted permission to ask them to sing with me at Taj Mahal.  I had a month to make this happen,  First, I had to get the producer's permission.  The next step was to write a proposal letter to the principal and get permission from the Board of Education. I did all the necessary things in less than three days but it took about three weeks for it to happen!!!

First I was told to wait for an answer. Then I was granted a yes, Then a no.  Then a yes.  Then I was overjoyed!!  Then two days before the show, "Judy, we have a problem."  NOOOOOO, what could it be NOW??? Turns out that I was scheduled to go onstage at 10:25p.m. - PS 22 Chorus would sing with me first.  The problem was the 10 year old children had to be back at the school by midnight the latest.  The teacher explained to me that the students had a curfew of midnight - no later - no exceptions! They had even performed for the President of the United States, and had to be back by midnight.  So if they didn't make an exception for him, I would not be any different.  Hm.  So NOW what would we do??

So the producer, Vito Bruno, and I put our heads together and came up with the idea that since I'd hosted the KTU Freestyle Free For All for 12 1/2 years, I could open the show with the children...and say "There's No Reason to Cry because Freestyle will never die!!"  Corny,  yes, but we'd have to make it work.

I arrived to soundcheck, and saw all of PS 22 Chorus filling in the first two rows of the audience. I said hello to them all, and in an instant you could hear the genuine joy and excitement in their voices.  I high-fived them, asked them if they were excited, if they were ready....and in unison they cried, "Yesssss!"  Kids are the best!  The biggest challenge at soundcheck was to ensure they would all be heard. I said it over and over again to the sound engineers, "It's not about me...I'm fine, I'll be fine, but if those children are not heard, it will be useless."  Their amazing teacher, Mr. Breinberg, looked at me with the same concern I had...but by the third try, they could be heard.  Thank goodness....our dream was going to happen in less than 3 hours!

Not much time to do too much. I swallowed dinner and rushed to get ready. I met with the students of the PS 22 Chorus in the green room, and wished them luck.  They had nothing but compliments:  "Ooh Judy, you look so pretty!" And then from a boy, "Judy, you look beautiful!"  And then of course, most likely from a future fashion designer: "Judy, NICE shoes!!"  LOL. They were so adorable with their smiling faces...and it was their faces that I remembered as I walked to the stage.  I was nervous -actually I had severe dry mouth, lol.  But it was those faces full of hope, excitement and joy that I brought with me.  The chorus began to form onstage, and I watched from the screens backstage. They were holding their hands up high, waving to the audience. It was a great moment.

I walked out onto the stage, and I just felt so supported.  I'm used to being on stage alone.  And sometimes, it can be lonely.  Although I can handle it, it was just great to have people on stage with the very same intention:  to please the crowd!  And then the music began. I started softly...if you begin singing too loudly you have no where to go. That was a valuable lesson my high school music teacher, Mr. Frank Roman, had taught me, and I never forgot anything he said to me.  So I began singing and as soon as I heard the children behind me, I was just full of love.  I was so happy with how it was sounding, and then when I introduced them, I heard the crowd TRULY support their presence and I almost cried. In spite of my dry mouth, which sucked, I sang the words:  "...'Cause, darling, it was meant for you..."  and I heard the crowd roar!  Great feeling...nothing describes it.  And then I heard the children, "There's no reason to cry..." and I knew we were all performing something I'd never forget.

Afterward, I walked upstair to congratulate them:  "WE DID IT!"  And the PS 22 Chorus screamed with the exhilaration that only children can, and I was just so grateful.  Working with them made me miss the one year that I was a music teacher at St. Dominic's in the Bronx - I taught Kindgergarten through 8th grade, and although I loved them all, I have to confess it was the 4th and 5th grades that were my favorite!  I wanted to take these kids home forever! I told them, "I have no children, but today I do!" And Mr. Breinberg interjected, "You have 65 now!"  I also gave them a little pep talk:  "How many of you want to be a professional singer when you grow up?"  Many enthusiastic hands went up.  "Well, let me tell you, you see how smal this room is?  You see there is nothing fancy here?  This is the reality of being a professional singer: the lights and glamour are on stage, NOT back stage. It is very important to remember where you come from.  It won't always be fancy.  If you are wanting to become a singer only to be famous, you are wasting your time.  Be a singer because you want to make people feel good, help them forget their problems, NOT because you want fame.  I love you all & I will never forget what you did for me today!"  I walked away, feeling happy, but feeling sad.  I know in some way, I am meant to work with children. Actually, it's been in the back of my mind for a few years now, that I'd like to start an afterschool mentoring program called, DreamCatchers!  It would be an afterschool program for underprivileged children that would support them in self-esteem and performance arts.  It will be something I do one day, for sure, but I had to release that thought for a moment because I had to go back on stage in a while...time to change...the show must go on!