There was no coming back after Alexis Normand's mess up of the American national anthem. The Canadian singer performed "The Star Spangled Banner" at the game between the Portland Winterhawks from Oregon and the Halifax Mooseheads from Nova Scotia.
The first two lines started off on the right note but after that everything went south for the singer. Normand clearly forgot the words singing the wrong lyrics at wrong time and at one point began mumbling words. After a couple of stumbles and awkward pauses the audience helped her finish the song.
Normand then sang the Canadian National Anthem without a problem. Normand took to her Twitter page to offer an apology for the national anthem blunder.
The Star, a Toronto newspaper, said that Normand was asked the morning before the game to learn the song.
"I was asked (Saturday) morning and I agreed," she said. "I'm usually a quick study and I've been learning songs for a long time. I had learned all the lyrics, but nerves just got the best of me and I got really nervous and it all unwound from there."
Normand is not the first, and probably won't be the last, professional singer to butcher the national anthem. Some well-known singers have stumbled their way through the song. Christina Aguilera skipped a line and missed a few words at the Super Bowl XLV, singer Keri Hilson tried to start the song over after missing a line at the NBA Lakers versus Hawks game. Cyndi Lauper flubbed through the song at the U.S. Open tennis tournament and "American Idol" contestants Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery both messed up during their performances.
