National anthems are designed to stir up the emotions, to get patriotic blood flowing, and to unite those who sing it in chorus. They are not, usually, supposed to cause laughter and embarrassment and awkward or panicked glances between those who hear it.
So when South African musician Ard Matthews fluffed his lines when singing the anthem on national television at the announcement of the Springbok World Cup squad on Tuesday, people were understandably annoyed or amused.
And it was only inevitable that comparisons would be made between Matthews’s performance and that of Ras Dumisani, whose “unique” rendition of the anthem before a Test in France in 2009 was blamed by some for the Springboks’ defeat.
There is only so much that can be blamed on nerves (Ard) or sabotage (Ras). If you’re going to be singing the anthem in front of a huge audience, try learn the words and/or the tune. Life is not an FNB advertisement, you’re not a cute little girl, and the crowd will not help you out.
But whose performance was worse? We want to know what you think.