The Brooklyn Cyclones are offering disgraced singer Christina Aguilera the ultimate chance at redemption — inviting the fabled Genie in a Bottle to reprise the National Anthem, this time with the right lyrics, at a game this summer.
Aguilera famously flubbed our nation’s best-loved (and worse-performed) song at the Super Bowl on Sunday, singing, “What so proudly we watched at the twilight’s last reaming” instead of the actual lyrics, “O’er the ramparts we watch’d, were so gallantly streaming.”
She was pilloried around the nation, but Cyclones General Manager Steve Cohen offered the kind of sympathy that could only be offered by a man who has heard the national anthem sung by amateurs more than 350 times over the past 10 years.
“We’ve all made mistakes,” said Cohen, who hosts annual “auditions” to find new performers before every season. “But when most of us make mistakes, it’s not in front of 100 million people watching in every corner of the world.”
The typical Cyclone game draws 8,500 people — and they’ve proven to be a mostly appreciative crowd.
Nonetheless, Cyclones officials are skeptical that the Staten Island native Aguilera will accept the invitation (perhaps she’s a Yankee fan).
“I can’t imagine that it’s something that she would get involved in,” said Cyclones spokesman Billy Harner. “But if she would consider it, we would love to have her.”
Aguilera declined to comment on the Cyclones’ offer — but did wish to remind her fellow Americans of her feelings about the good ol’ US of A.
“I can only hope that everyone could feel my love for this country and that the true spirit of its anthem still came through,” Aguilera said.
