I HATE Affected Singing.

I nearly died last night when I game into the room to fuss about Aaron Neville butchering the National Anthem at the start of the Super Bowl, only to find Aretha Franklin singing it! For a second there, I really thought it had been Aretha that whole time, warbling the song in that horrid, ought-to-be-illegal-to-sing-that-way Aaron Neville styling. I think the blood fell out of my face during the time it took me to confirm that Aaron Neville had in fact been the "singer" who was making a mockery of our anthem. It was like the earth would have stopped spinning if Aretha had finally gotten so old and fat that she no longer sang soulfully but instead warbled ridiculously like Aaron Neville. What's the Queen of Soul doing allowing herself to do a public singing gig with that man anyway? Has her agent given up on her? I mean, she's admittedly older and heavier now, but she's still got it...maybe not as plainly as in the 60s, but Aaron Neville should never have been allowed on stage with that woman even at the peak of his so-called "talent." I wonder if he can even sing a song-- just SING it--without doing that obnoxious thing he does to it. I really don't think so. I think he's been doing that for so long that he just can't "interpret" music any other way. His "style" makes my skin crawl. The NFL could have anted up for someone better than Aaron Neville. Of course, all modern singers would jerk around with the song in Jessica Simpson's famous move-your-mouth-like-you're-chewing-the lyrics-not-singing-them way, or the squeeze-in-as-many-notes-as-possible-that-aren't-written-in-the-music way of everyone else. They can't just sing the notes with a nice voice...NO...have to contort the tune until it just sounds annoying...er, I mean "artistic." Drives me crazy. Screwing it up like that in the name of "artistry" is as disrespectful, in my opinion, as rubbing the American flag around on the fifty yard line, running across it and hollering "Go America!" would be. Why can't someone just SING it and therefore respect it and its significance and symbolism for our country. Singing the National Anthem is not about YOU. It's about taking time out to honor our country. But we can't hear and reflect on the words for the warbling! Just SING it. Don't "interpret" it or "stylize" it. JUST SING. Of course, that would mean bearing your raw "talent" for all hear. And we might just discover how little of it there is. That's why you all hide behind your "style," even when being afforded the honor of singing the National Anthem at a nationally-televised event. It's pathetic.