I've heard the entire Anthem sung before. There are four stanzas that were written by Francis Scott Key (the first two are traditionally the only two sung) It was really cool to hear the entire song being performed. I'd hadnt realized till then that there was more to the song.

There's also a fifth stanza, that was written by Oliver Wendell Holmes. He added that stanza (well, I think people selling songbooks added it) at the start of the American Civil War. From what I read, he was mad about the start of the Civil War, and so he wrote the fifth stanza. I've never heard that part performed tho.

If Aguilera had tried to sing the entire song with the extra stanza and screwed it up, then I might have been able to give her a pass.

This is the way I would sing it..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHmdu_I_0zI

That's been my favorite rendition of the Anthem for years. (I still have my cd single of it) Did anyone else notice in the video she's not all dressed up in a gown. Looks like she's wearing designer exercise clothes. Still she was really beautiful that day and had the voice to match.

She had such a great voice. You could clearly hear all the words without the fancypants-showing-off-how-long-you-can-hold-a-note-and-make-it-warble that a lot of singers seem to do now.

Whitney Houston seemed to sing that song effortlessly.

I havent heard any new music from her for years. Just looked on iTunes and she had an album in 2009 that the samples show she can still sing. Makes me wonder if she'll ever be as big a star as she was back when she sang the Anthem.