Oh Say, Can You Sing? The Worst Botched National Anthems of All Time

Short of being stripped naked in the middle of the field, nothing could be more embarrassing than completely butchering the national anthem in a nationally televised event.  

Living it is probably embarrassment enough, but thanks to YouTube and other online streaming sights, the performances can live on forever.

This year, Kelly Clarkson will give it a go in Super Bowl XLVI.

For all you prop-betters out there, BetUS says it will take Clarkson one minute and thirty four seconds to finish the anthem.

However, this can seriously be affected if she joins the long list of people who have messed it up in the past.  Hopefully she can save herself and nail it.

Otherwise she will end up the subject of scrutiny like these five people.  Let's take a look. 

5. Michael Bolton, 2003 ALCS

As if there wasn't enough pressure to sing in front of Red Sox and Yankees fans, Michael Bolton made it even worse on himself.  

Before a game in the 2003 ALCS, Bolton started off strong before completely forgetting the words.

Lucky for him, Bolton had written the words to the song on his hand prior to his performance!

What a relief!

The fans didn't think too highly of his blunder, or his cheating, and really let him have it.  He finished off the song well, but not before the damage was done.  

Bonus: check out the face on the serviceman in the background.  It makes the video that much better.

4. Christina Aguilera, Super Bowl XLV, 2011

Christina Aguilera, normally known for her powerful voice and good looks, was slated to sing the national anthem prior to the Super Bowl XLV matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.  

She started off with her traditional exaggerated runs and powerful notes, but it went very wrong very quickly.

Not only did she mess it up, she slaughtered it.  

The whole middle of the song was jumbled up as if she cut up the lines, threw them up in the air, and taped them together in the order they fell.  There isn't much you can say after a performance like this, but at least she got a decent ovation afterwards.

3. Rosanne Barr, Jack Murphy Stadium, 1990

There is very little one can say to even begin to describe the brutal murder that Rosanne Barr committed on the "Star Spangled Banner" at a San Diego Padres game in 1990.  

It was almost as if she purposely tried to sing it as poorly as possible.  

It has probably been said hundreds of times, but she clearly didn't set the "Barr" very high with this performance.

Somehow, Rosanne managed to finish the anthem amidst the shower of "boo's" from the crowd.  Toward the end of the video, Rosanne's shrill voice can barely be heard from underneath all of those boo-birds, as hard as that may be to believe.

2. Caroline Marcil, USA/Canada Hockey Game, 2005

Usually, butchering the national anthem is embarrassment enough.

But at a United States versus Canada hockey game in 2005, Caroline Marcil managed to embarrass herself that much worse.  

Marcil was scheduled to sing both the American and Canadian anthems.  However, when she began the "Star Spangled Banner" she quickly was in over her head.  

Marcil began to sing the wrong words around the fourth line, and then just forgot them all completely.  She quickly scampered off the ice to get a cue card to finish it off, but when she came back out, it somehow got worse.  Marcil wiped out flat on her back to a roar of laughter from the crowd.  Needless to say, she didn't finish the song.

1. Carl Lewis, New Jersey Nets Game, 1993

Carl Lewis will go down as one of the best Olympic athletes in American history.  

He should have left it at that, however, because apparently Lewis thought it would be a good idea to sing the national anthem at a New Jersey Nets game in 1990.  

Well, he was wrong.

Lewis was lucky to get off fifteen words.  

He immediately started off-key, but it only got worse.  After the first line, he somehow skipped to about the seventh.  He must have realized his mistake when the boo-birds started flying, so he vowed to make up for it.  

At that point, he somehow decided to skip right to the end of the song and butchered that too. 

Thankfully for the crowd, it was over just as quickly as it began.