We all remember Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” during the Super Bowl Half-Time Show in 2004. It was a controversy that is still talked about seven years later. And that was before social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter became a dominating effect on how news circulated.

 

Well it has happened again, and this time news hit the stands within seconds. Christina Aguilera performed the National Anthem, a song that I’m sure she has sung a million times over, and botched it. She reworded it like a sixth grader alters a fairy tale to have a happier ending.

 

On Twitter and Facebook, people were updating statuses and tweeting within moments of her debauchery of our beloved anthem, and wondering why and how she could do something so stupid.

 

Looking at it from a PR prospective, we speculate that she may have done it for the limelight. It has been rumored that she is jealous of her pop starlet counterparts i.e. Gaga, Britney, Taylor etc. She is no longer top of mind in her field as she once was. Britney smashed a window in with an umbrella. Janet exposed herself, and Kanye West stole the spotlight from an innocent 17 year old. Everyone has done it. And now Christina can be on that list of attention seeking pop stars as well.

 

With tools like Facebook and Twitter, her name is certainly going to pop up everywhere, but not for a gratuitous high five. Social media takes a toll on all of us, especially if you are (were) an A-list celebrity.

 

Sources have commented that although Aguilera has been singing our national hymn since she was seven years old, she was caught up in the moment of the meaning behind the ballad, thus losing track of where she was. Kind of like when I was in the play Pride and Prejudice as Mr. Collins, and I forgot my words to thy beloved Elizabeth because I was so caught up in the moment. Wait a minute, still my fault right? Which inevitably is still Aguilera’s downfall, whether she was feeling moved or forgetful. Her attempt was futile and unfortunately unmemorable, and in the end, pernicious to her credibility as a pop culture icon.

 

I have definitely sent out my tweets and updated my status about this moment, so Aguilera’s mission was not successful, but definitely accomplished. She wanted people to talk about her and so we are. Social media once again has prevailed.

 

Jeremy