GEtty Demi Lovato performs onstage during the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards at STAPLES Center on January 26, 2020.
Demi Lovato will be performing the National Anthem at Super Bowl 2020 today, joined by Christine Sun Kim who will be signing the National Anthem. Lovato is the latest in a line of many highly talented performers who have opened the Super Bowl with this solemn and inspiring song about America.
Demi Lovato Is Performing the National Anthem Today, Joined by Christine Sun Kim Signing the National Anthem
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Lovato is only 27 and already being honored with such a coveted opportunity. This is the fifth time that she has sang the National Anthem on national TV, AJC.com reported. She sang it for the World Series in 2011 and 2015, at an NFL game in 2008, and at a Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor fight in 2017.
Christine Sun Kim will join Lovato for the performance and will be signing the national anthem, CBS Sports reported. Kim, 39, has gained a lot of acclaim from her text paintings charting degrees of “Deaf Rage,” Artnet reported. Next month she will debut a new work at the MIT List Visual Arts Center. She said about the opportunity: “I was a bit stunned that they even considered me. Honestly, I’m not exactly big on watching signed songs or interpreted music. The Deaf community has this amazing group of poets who can really sign with so much rhythm; however, the ones who sign songs written by non-deaf people get so much more attention because that’s the kind of content the hearing world values.”
Kim said she accepted the offer because she’s very patriotic. “Compared to other countries, America has it good—although not perfect—when it comes to disability laws,” she said.
Here’s a look at some other inspiring Super Bowl anthem performances in the past.
In 1991, Whitney Houston performed the Star Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl. Her performance is considered among the best.
In 1994, Natalie Cole gave a moving performance.
In 2005, the NFL did something different. The choirs of the Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, Military Academy at West Point, Coast Guard Academy, and Army Herald Trumpets performed.
And here’s a performance by P!nk.
And here is Lady Gaga’s performance from 2016.
And here is Cher in 1999.
Here is Super Bowl 49 and a performance by Idina Menzel.
Do you remember this Backstreet Boys performance from 2002?
Rolling Stone compiled a video of what they believe are the 10 best Super Bowl National Anthem performances, which you can watch below.
There are many more videos of Super Bowl National Anthem performances that you can view on YouTube but are not embeddable.
The Super Bowl this year features a matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. The game begins at 6:30 p.m. Eastern (3:30 p.m. Pacific) at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, and the National Anthem will be performed shortly before the game kicks off. A pre-game show will take place starting at 2 p.m. Eastern.
During halftime, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira will perform.
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