They say that in life there are no second chances, but it would seem that for singer Alexis Normand, there just might be.
Last Saturday night, Normand famously flubbed the lyrics to the U.S. national anthem in front of a crowd of thousands at a MasterCard Memorial Cup hockey game in Saskatoon.
Video clips of her somewhat cringe-inducing performance went viral within hours and the singer has been hanging her head in shame ever since, even publicly apologizing for not having enough time to learn all the lyrics.
On Tuesday night, Normand was able to redeem herself.
Once again, she took to the ice to sing the anthem. With her voice ringing out clearly through the Credit Union Centre, Normand earned the crowd’s applause and then walked away with a smile on her face.
Of course, this time it was a little easier: because the game had the Halifax Mooseheads facing off against the London Knights, there was no need for the Star-Spangled Banner; both teams were Canadian.
It was a far cry though from Saturday when Normand began to sing the "Star-Spangled Banner" and drew a blank, froze up, and began to mumble and hum as she tried to figure out what to do.
Much to Normand’s relief, the crowd came to her rescue, piping in loudly with the lyrics so she could finish singing the anthem.
Normand, who is more used to singing folk or jazz songs, later took to Twitter to apologize. Within hours, though, news outlets across Canada as well as CNN and CBS were calling to ask for interviews.
Of course, Normand is not the first to flub the national anthem ahead of a big game. Professional pop singers such as Michael Bolton and Christina Aguilera have famously jumbled up the words.
And who can forget actress Roseanne Barr’s ear-splitting version of the American anthem that many have dubbed "the star mangled banner."
Even our own national anthem has been botched, most memorably when Las Vegas lounge singer Dennis Park attempted to sing it ahead of the CFL’s first game in the U.S. during an attempted expansion.
His version was so off-key, it sounded more “O Tannenbaum” than “O Canada.”
For Normand, she’s determined not to let her gaffe get her down, despite the less-than-kind comments the YouTube clips of her bungled singing have received.
“It’s online and it’s a public forum so people can say what they want to say,” she said Tuesday ahead of the game. “But I know where I stand. I know this doesn’t define who I am or the type of performer I am.”
With a report from CTV’s John Baglieri and Jill Macyshon
