Dang. So Lee DeWyze was supposed to sing the National Anthem today at the Bears/Packers NFC championship game in his hometown of Chicago.
But, after fans, media and some members of the team bitched that they would accept no other than an opera singer, Jim Cornelison for the job, Lee wisely stepped aside.
The kerfuffle had something to do with Conelison being The Greatest Opera Singer in the World (OMG. He’s not. Check his National Anthem after the jump) or Good Luck (so much for THAT the Bears are losing) or tradition… I dunno, I thought the whole thing was overblown, to tell you the truth.
Instead of the anthem, Lee performed two songs at half time’ “Sweet Serendipity” and “Live it Up”. Unfortunately, less than a minute of Lee’s performance was featured on live TV, although his performance was audible underneath the annoying FOX color team yakking about the game. Geez.
Anyway, props to Lee for handling the entire silly situation graciously and with class. I’ve got Cornelius’s Anthem, and Lee’s live snippet after the jump. Check it out. Hopefully, somebody at the game captured Lee’s entire performance.
UPDATED: Added full performance from inside the stadium. Unfortunately the audio quality is low. Via ekg614
Video after the JUMP…
Lee DeWyze – Snip of Sweet Serendipity
Jim Cornelison sings the Anthem
Entire set from inside the stadium
