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Essentials in
Performance Skills
Sing the National Anthem with Confidence
Some tips on singing the best-loved songs of all time.
Updated: 9/16/2005 1:37:59 PM
submitted by Mike Borts, QCA President - (Quartet Champions Assoc. of SWD)
A great way for quartets and soloists to gain publicity for their musical offerings as well as experience singing in front of large audiences is to sing the National Anthem prior to sporting and other events. I have sung close to 350 National Anthems since 1978 and I'd like to share some of my experiences that you may find useful:
- Know the words COLD with NO hesitations. Practice the music as often as necessary until you are TOTALLY comfortable with the lyrics, melody and all aspects of your performance. If you have a doubt on ANY word, look it up at the public library or on the internet. If you perform well, you'll delight in the applause from thousands in attendance. If you miss a lyric, you could end up on the Sports Bloopers video along with other notorious characters like Carl Lewis and Robert Goulet.
- Sing it straight. Time constraints determined by the teams, network and local television do not allow you to add your own extra melodic interpretations. (Unless you're a major recording star at the Super Bowl.) Generally, I have been asked to keep timing under 1:20 for USA, 1:10 for Canada and 1:30 for Mexico.
- Follow the instructions of the event or team contact person exactly. Parking, tickets, when & where to be, attire. If the contact person isn't clear, ask questions.
- Look sharp. This is most likely going to be the biggest audience you will ever sing for. You'll want to make a favorable impression and who knows. You may be on TV.
- Be there at least One FULL hour before your performance. You'll need to get acclimated to your surroundings and find a place to warm up. (It may be a hallway, stairwell or rest room, since space at arenas and stadiums can be limited.)
- Don't be hard to find. Your event contact usually has a ton of other things on his/her plate like game or event promotions, operations etc. You need to be extra reliable because the least of his/her worries should be the location of the National Anthem singer.
- Clearly communicate to the contact person how you would like to be introduced. Include the name of your group and pronunciation. As an example, "Acoustix" were erroneously introduced as "The Todd Wilson Quartet" once before an NFL game because this wasn't covered.
- Schedule a time to rehearse with the organist or pre-recorded track if one is utilized. Make sure you go over everything. Tempo, key, held notes and releases, etc. Don't leave anything to chance. You'll be singing in front of a lot of folks.
- Be prepared to do a sound check if it is requested by the team. If it is not requested, be prepared to go out and sing without one.
- If the microphone fails, just keep singing as if nothing's wrong. Don't stop in the middle and make a big deal about it. For arena performances, you'll be surprised how far your voice will carry and people will start to sing along.
- For outdoor performances without monitors close by, be prepared to sing with ear plugs. Stadium sound systems often times have a one-half to two second delay from the time that you sing to the time the sound comes out the speakers. If you do not concentrate on your singing and listen to the sound system, you WILL get thrown off.
- Do not look at yourself on the Jumbotron. This is most shocking and will also throw you off. (Do I really look like THAT???)
- Don't worry about that person sticking a camera right in your face. Either pretend it isn't there or sing the song directly to the camera person with your biggest and most confident smile.
- Ask the contact person if your performance can be videotaped on the stadium or arena system. Bring a clearly labeled blank videotape for this purpose. You'll be able to use this tape to get other National Anthem bookings.
- Ask the contact person if the audience traditionally does any unusual team tributes as part of the Anthem. Examples: Baltimore Orioles fans scream "O's" during the lyric "OH say does that". Dallas Stars fans shout "Stars" during "broad stripes and bright STARS" and also at "oh say does that STAR Spangled Banner" (You should see me jump on the video when 43,000 shouted "O's" as I sang at Camden Yards.)
- Multiple Anthems are usually performed only when teams from two countries are playing though there are exceptions to this rule of thumb. In the USA, the visiting country's anthem is sung first with the Star Spangled Banner second. Once at a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Conference, I sang three Anthems. Mexico first, Canada Second, and USA third. The order was determined by the event management.
If you can do these things and perform at your peak ability, you will have the thrill of a lifetime performing in front of thousands not to mention a guaranteed standing ovation.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please feel free to contact me personally.
About the Author
Michael Ian Borts has performed the National Anthems of the United States, Canada and Mexico over 350 times since 1978 for 19 professional and collegiate sports teams including the Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, Baltimore Orioles, and Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball, the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association, the Dallas Stars, Hartford Whalers and Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League and the New York Metrostars of Major League Soccer. As a Barbershop Quartet lead, Michael has won two SWD championships with Inn's-N-Outt's in 1985 and Dallas Knights in 1994, is the President of the Quartet Champions Association of SWD, and has competed at International six times finishing as high as 12th. He's a featured soloist and active singer with the eight-time International Gold Medal chorus The Vocal Majority, and has sung solos accompanied by The Houston Tidelanders Barbershop Chorus, The Houston Pops Orchestra, The Texas Wind Symphony, The Richardson Symphony Orchestra and appeared in the 1998 Dallas Summer Musicals production of "Oklahoma."
Michael's uptempo rendition of the Star Spangled Banner reaches its melodic and emotional peak by his holding of the word "Free" for as many as 12 seconds. Fox Sports Network Hockey announcer Ralph Strangis used the term "stirring" to describe Michael's Anthem performances. Talk show host Mike Rhyner of KTCK radio in Dallas commented on the air that he wished "all National Anthems could be performed like the greatness of Michael Borts'."
In January 1999, Michael released his first solo CD of songs self-accompanied by guitar entitled "Y2K Reluctant".
For more information or bookings, Michael can be reached at 214-488-7464 or mike@dallasknights.com
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