The next time Memorial Cup organizers are looking for an anthem singer, they might want to find one who can remember all the lyrics.
Saskatoon singer Alexis Normand appeared to have a bad case of nerves when it came time to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" prior to Saturday evening's Portland Winterhawks-Halifax Mooseheads showdown.
Three lines into the song she forgot the lyrics. Normand fumbled her way through the rest of the U.S. anthem with long pauses and mumbled words.
The YouTube video shows the crowd at Saskatoon's Credit Union Centre amused at first, with some players and fans bowing their heads and giggling. However, the 8,000 person crowd eventually came to her rescue, cheering her on and helping her with the words.
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A mortified Normand took to Twitter following the performance to apologize.
"I'm embarrassed and deeply sorry. I wish I'd had more time to learn the American anthem. Thanks so much for the crowd's help! #memorialcup," she tweeted.
Normand, a French-Canadian jazz singer from Saskatchewan, is probably not called on very often to sing the U.S. anthem. The Saskatoon Blades only face the U.S. division teams in the WHL every other season. To be fair, she is very talented when performing her own music on her own terms, as seen in her video below.