Joan Rivers Reams Christina Aguilera Over Star-Mangled Banner

By Rob Shuter Posted Feb 7th 2011 10:35PM

EXCLUSIVE: Christina Aguilera has pipes of steel, but her memory failed her on Super Bowl Sunday when she flubbed the ramparts out of the Star-Spangled Banner. With great gaffes come great amounts of criticism, and although the singer has tried to explain herself ("I lost my place"), she couldn't escape the wrath of Joan Rivers.

"How stupid can you get?" Joan asked when I talked to her on Monday. "Christina must have been thinking about food, that's why she forgot the words."

Before the big game, Christina belted out "What so proudly we watched at the twilight's last reaming" instead of "O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming." It was the second time she sang the "What so proudly" line, but before she used the word "gleaming" instead of "reaming."

The 'Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?' star continued using Christina's oft-fluctuating weight to rough up Christina, and offered a line she thought she could have used, "O say can you see ... french fries." Joan snarked that there was an upside to Christina's fluctuating weight. "She's gotten so big," -- here's where you say how big is she? -- "She looks like she could eat Lady Gaga. Great way to get rid of competition."

After 'The Star-Spangled Banner' wrapped, Aguilera headed backstage where a source told me that the singer was "devastated" by her mistake.

Aguilera addressed her performance in a statement to the press. "I got so caught up in the moment of the song that I lost my place. I can only hope that everyone could feel my love for this country and that the true spirit of its anthem still came through."

Joan made her own appearance during the Super Bowl as well. She's the new Go Daddy girl and starred in their big ad this year. Jillian Michaels and Danica Patrick spend the :30 ad introducing their newest model, but you don't catch a glimse of her face until the last second.

"They were looking for someone stupid to be their new spokesperson," she tells me. "I'm now Joan.co. It couldn't be any easier."

She added, "Those 2 Go Daddy girls are haters. Jillian kept looking at my body, and I said, 'Oh please, Jillian.'"

Though she's joked on Twitter that it was actually her 77-year-old body in the ad, the buxom figure reportedly belongs to model Tabitha Taylor, who starred in a popular Go Daddy ad for the 2009 Super Bowl.

PopEater got the word on the street about Christina's Super Bowl performance -- check it out:

Follow Rob on Twitter for Scoop All Day Long!

Tags: Christina Aguilera, joan rivers, super bowl

Comments

(409)

Monday 07 February

By DAVE WALLACE

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..........enough already!!!!!!!!!!!

By donna v

You are so right!! Talk about beating a dead horse.....

By Lily

Hey!... as someone in the Military i think its horrible people who are asked to lead us in the National Anthem cant even do it correctly. She mangled it and deserves to be told so! We are risking our lives so people can live a better life the LEAST Christina couldve done was sing it correctly.... SHE SUCKED...

By gdwn411

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Lighten up Lily, Id like to see you try and stand in front of all those people on Super Bowl Sunday, the most watched televised broadcast in the country, and sing the national anthem. She was probably so focussed on the performance, because sung properly its not easy, she lost her place. Get over it! Anybody who is offended by this mistake needs to get a grip! Its not like she mucked it up on purpose like others have. As for Joan Rivers... SHUT UP!

By snoshuuz

She SUCKED!!! She should have sung our National Anthem the way it should be sung. Instead she tried to turn it into her own version of a pop song by warbling every available note and word, and dragging it out from a 90 second song to a 2 1/2 minute song. That is why she lost her concentration and forgot the words. Our National Anthem is what it is, and not something that egotistical stars should be changing the musical arrangement to in a vain attempt at personnal glory. BTW she is not the only one guilty of that endeavor.

By themeeker

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I hardly think what Christina did was offensive. She didn't steal jewelry (a la Lohan) or drive drunk (a la Lohan) or violate parole several times (a la Lohan). She forgot some words while under a pretty intense spotlight. It wasn't disrespectful or unpatriotic or any of those other red-stater accusations. Let it go...there are far more important offenses to scrutinize.

Tuesday 08 February

By sway

I agree. Leave it alone already, it is over and done and can not be redone.
Even if I thougth Christina did a bad job, I would support her 100% just because of big mouth Rivers...I mean really who the h*ll does she think she is? Trash talking trash

By Cutie

.......I already gave negative remarks so I won't repeat them but it would have helped if these arenas placed the words on the screens that surround the stadiums or she could have had an Obama teleprompter in front of her, it works for him each and every time!

By Peg

I have to wonder if her flub was the result of feedback? I've heard singers say it's easy to mess up the anthem in a stadium because they can clearly hear the echo of what's just been sung as they're trying to continue with the next line. Joan, STFU until you sing the National Anthem at a Super Bowl Game and do it FLAWLESSLY.

By bphesseco

I agree we've flogged the dead horse enough already. I think Cutie has a good idea, but for a different reason. The National Anthem shouldn't be a spectator event. It should be like the Pledge of Allegiance: everybody takes part. Plus, if everyone tries to sing a song with the range of a perfect twelfth, they might appreciate how hard it is to sing, even on your best day.

By roy

Why is it that EVERYONE who does the National Anthem nowadays has to sing it so slooooowly and do all those annoying melismas?? ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!! What's wrong with singing it at a decent tempo, in tune as well as with the right words?? God! If she had concentrated on the SONG instead of her interpretation maybe she wouldn't have forgotten the words!!! Oh, yes! the America the Beautiful rendition also stunk! No sense of intonation at all. And it's a MUCH easier song to sing!!

By Tired of singers who can't sing.

SNOSHUUZ is exactly right! Our Anthem is a 90 second song. None of these pop performers can sing...unless they're in the studio with an "AutoTune" to hit the notes for them and three back-up singers doing every word with them. Warbling is a trick no talent singers use to make-up for their not being able to sing. Check-out the Bears vs Packers play-off game National Anthem if you want to see how our anthem really should be sung.

By max

Lily, thank you for your service in the military. I also want to say...anyone can screw something up. This was not an intentional flub...so I think we should all just let this go. This does not mean she doesn't respect her country...it means she made a mistake. We all do it.

By JILL

I agree that this should end. How are we to expect the younger generation to stop "bullying" when Joan Rivers attacks Christina about her weight when the issue has to do with the words of the song. People need to understand that this is not acceptable, even if you are rich and famous.

By sirboss

yea Christina Aguilera stunk the place up. It was about her not the song. hehe what a looser

By bob

Hmmmm, maybe you should learn to spell if you're gonna be so snarky! Loser!

So she forgot the words, it happens. And Joan the-pig-faced-boy Rivers needs to STFU!

I'm just sayin'!

By NoDoubtGirl

What's a looser?

By sue

Joan has the nerve to open that big, stupid mouth of hers! She critized stars years ago about plasic surgery. What part of that big mouth has not been replaced,, oh its that big mouth!!

By gregziglar

When you're 30 years old, and you wake up and realize that Joan Rivers is way hotter, you're bound to feel bad and maybe forget a few lyrics.

By diane

actually, it's spelled "loser".

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