National Anthem

Temptations to Sing National Anthem at NCCA Championship

Published April 5th, 2009 by Wendy

The legendary Motown group, The Temptations, have been tapped to sing the National Anthem at tomorrow night’s national college basketball championship game held at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, according to an Associated Press story.

The Grammy-winning group, which recorded such hits as “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” “My Girl” and “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” will feature original member Otis Williams, according to the report. NCAA Senior Vice President Greg Shaheen told The Detroit News it’s “a special treat … for everyone who traveled to Detroit for this year’s NCAA championship game.”

The Detroit-born Motown record label is marking its 50th anniversary this year.

"I believe there are certain songs that should be done as close to the original as possible, and one of them is the national anthem. Unless you're going..."

Marc

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Who Is Kat DeLuna and Why Did She Ruin the National Anthem?

Published September 17th, 2008 by Karen

If you haven’t seen it yet, you can watch the video of Kat DeLuna massacring the National Anthem on Monday Night Football, here. After butchering the melody, over-singing and delivering a ton of off-key and shaky notes, DeLuna was booed by the crowd.

Ashley Simpson’s infamous Orange Bowl performance notwithstanding (she was booed by a stadium full of fans), DeLuna’s sub-American Idol caliber performance is one of the most embarrassing musical moments in recent memory…Or is it.

The fact that DeLuna (a collaborator of Elephantman) is another pretty but talentless starlet isn’t too surprising considering the general state of pop music at the moment. TV stars and reality TV attention-seekers pump out albums faster than you can say “Brooke Hogan sucks.” Everyone tries their hand at overproduced dance pop with computer “enhanced” vocals that make them sound like malfunctioning Cher robots and as a result we’re stuck with a generation of one-hit wonders who lip-synch their mediocre songs in concerts and other staged television performances.

So, is DeLuna really any worse than Simpson? Or Beyonce? Or Christina Aguilera? Or any of the other over-singing, over-produced, under-talented singers flooding the airwaves? Not really. The only difference is that she tried to sing instead of lip-synching and revealed her true (awful) voice.

Shows like American Idol promote this sort of over-the-top Mariah Carey-esque singing style, ensuring that this horrible style isn’t going to disappear soon. Other than the girls who are trying to imitate this style in order to succeed in the industry, does anyone actually enjoy this kind of music?

Do you like Kat DeLuna? Is pop music getting worse?
Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

"we will of course, excuse you for your ignorance, you ARE just a girl afterall :P Oh um.. if u happen to live in Toronto and know someone named xander,..."

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2008 Olympics Dumbest Sports from Ping Pong to Polo

Published August 8th, 2008 by Karen

Most people think that the Olympics are all about running fast and lifting heavy stuff.

While that’s largely true, we also found out that there are a lot of things you can win a medal for that we didn’t even know were sports—in fact, we thought a few of them were just games for intoxicated college co-eds.

In honor of the Olympics, we present:

Top Five Worst 2008 Olympic Sports.
Enjoy.

5. Water polo
Playing in the pool is fun.
Watching other people play in the pool is not.

4. Synchronized swimming
Unless your synchronized swimming routine involves a massive recreation of the Thriller video…well, we still wouldn’t be interested.

3. Softball
All of the fun of alcohol-soaked co-ed college softball, without the co-eds or the alcohol.

2. Volleyball and Beach Volleyball
Somehow volleyball actually counts as two sports. We thought this was just a way for the gym “teacher” to torture nerds.

1. Tie: Badminton, Handball, Table Tennis
The top slot is a three-way tie between a family of sports that we really don’t even think are sports.

Badminton
Seriously, badminton? Isn’t that something you play in your backyard during BBQ season? Might as well make lawn darts a sport, too.

Handball
Nice try, yuppie.
No one ever blasted “We Will Rock You” at a handball match.

Table Tennis
That’s right, you can win a medal playing ping pong. Unfortunately, ping pong is only fun if it is part of a drinking game. Our apologies to Forrest Gump. Oh yeah, and did anybody see that movie Balls of Fury? Neither did we, but the commercials were enough to ensure that we don’t like ping pong anymore.

Is there a silly Olympic sport we missed?
Leave a comment and tell us what’s on your list!

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2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony & National Anthems Downloads

Published August 7th, 2008 by Karen

War and Why the Olympics Just Don’t Matter Anymore

News broadcasts are abuzz with the impending 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony in China set to be held on August 8, 2008.

But do the Olympics really matter?

There are countless wars going on in the world right now.
Actual, legitimate wars with people being murdered and lives destroyed.

With that in mind, it’s difficult to decide whether convincing the world’s warring nations to temporarily tolerate each other long enough to compete in the 2008 Olympics is a step towards true diplomacy, or simply a way of placing a bandage over the real issue. Pretending to get along for something meaningless, while ignoring the world’s real problems.

Will seeing athletes from diverse nations compete reinforce the need to dominate each other, or illustrate the basic commonalities that extend beyond borders and political agendas?

Or, worse still, will it just be two weeks of jocks on parade pounding their chests to the beat of empty patriotism and national anthems and failing to provoke any thought in the audience beyond wondering who can run the fastest?

Then again, perhaps this spirit of (hopefully) friendly competition gives athletes and fans a chance to put aside their difference and escape the harsh political realities that plague their countries and simply enjoy the games. And there is certainly value in that.

Let’s hope that this Olympic season—a particularly important and potentially volatile one at that, as has already been shown by the violence in China—inspires some thought (and perhaps some legitimate diplomatic progress) within the global community.

Are the olympics important during times of war and political turmoil? Leave a comment and tell us what you think.