Legendary singer Chaka Khan kicked off Sunday's NBA All-Star game with a generous serving of "The Star-Spangled Banner." The average length for the national anthem is between 105 seconds and 115 seconds — for example, Demi Lovato's recent Super Bowl performance was 106 seconds. Chaka Khan's rendition, meanwhile, lasted an astonishing 142 seconds.
Khan took a few artistic liberties with the melody, which reminded many viewers of Fergie's anthem performance in 2018. Fergie ended up apologizing for her rendition, saying, "I’m a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn’t strike the intended tone. I love this country and honestly tried my best."
While Khan's performance probably does not warrant an apology, it was not well received. The vast majority of Tweets about her rendition were negative, with "national anthem," "Chaka Khan," and "Fergie" all in the top 10 for trending topics on Twitter.
Fergie and Chaka Khan’s national anthems: pic.twitter.com/zs7YqMrUmV
— 𝓝𝓲𝓷𝓳𝓪¹🐝 (@NinjaScottSZN) February 17, 2020
Fergie *butchers national anthem* creating endless memes for the internet.
Chaka Khan: hOooooLlLLLlldddDDDD.....mmYYYYYY BeeeeeeRrrrr #NBAAllStar2020 pic.twitter.com/80PSy8mxfK— Nishant Varughese (@NishKokoFish) February 17, 2020
Everyone who thought Fergie couldn’t be outdone hearing Chaka Khan just sing the national anthem. #NBAAllStar2020 pic.twitter.com/wyVu028OyW
— David Torrence (@davidtorrence17) February 17, 2020
Nobody...
Fergie watching this Chaka Khan performance pic.twitter.com/dERhpOLp4N— George Truly (@just_d0ug) February 17, 2020
First Fergie and now Chaka Khan. Whoever is in charge of getting singers to sing the national anthem on the NBA All-Star game needs to be fired lol. pic.twitter.com/xUcSNIrXvG
— MrESPNozaX (@ESPNozaX) February 17, 2020
Chaka khan and Fergie after singing the national anthem #NBAAllStar2020 pic.twitter.com/q2MzDlqVbc
— Alfredo (@BrutalXL) February 17, 2020
Chaka Khan taking the title of worse National Anthem Performance from Fergie pic.twitter.com/r1udpcgDgT
— 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝑩𝒐𝒚🐎 (@ZayBreezy6) February 17, 2020
The guy who chose Fergie and Chaka Khan to sing the national anthem at the NBA all star game right now..... pic.twitter.com/II2R7KTEgt
— Vinnie T (@vinnietes16) February 17, 2020
It should be noted that while the performances were similar, Khan gave the audience seven more seconds of anthem than Fergie, who clocked in at around 135 seconds. And unfortunately it appeared as though the players weren't prepared for the additional length because they started walking away before Chaka Khan even finished.
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