Sporting events tend to attract some high-profile names to sing the national anthem before the competition gets underway – from Lady Gaga’s take on the “Star Spangled Banner” at the 2016 Super Bowl, to Homeland actor Damian Lewis singing “God Save the King” at Sunday’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Yes, really.
Taking over from Eurovision runner-up Sam Ryder, who performed it at the F1 race last year, the Wolf Hall star decided to deliver a jazzier rendition of the song alongside a saxophonist in sunglasses.
As Lewis - who released his debut album Mission Creep last month - dragged out almost every word of the well-known chorus, one spectator was caught on camera letting out a small laugh, before the performers finished up their song with a flyover from the iconic Red Arrows.
At least that offered some pre-show entertainment for those in attendance.
Meanwhile, those watching at home decided to have some fun with some memes, because of course they did:
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In amongst all this ridicule, one Twitter user joked The Simpsons – the iconic animated series which has become famous for seeming to ‘predict’ cultural events – managed to see Lewis’s cringeworthy performance coming:
Taken from the season two episode “Dancin’ Homer”, in which the dysfunctional dad becomes the team mascot for the Springfield Isotopes baseball team, the musician picked to sing the American national anthem is that of “Bleeding Gums” Murphy – the jazz singer and saxophonist who is Lisa Simpson’s idol.
As he takes to the mic to sing the “Star Spangled Banner” at 7:30pm, Murphy proceeds to deliver a version which – like Lewis’s – stretches out every word and has a more soulful feel to the melody.
However, taking 26 minutes to finish his performance, the Simpsons family (all except Lisa) and the rest of the crowd can be seen getting more and more exhausted as the song progresses, to the extent they all collapse back in their seats as soon as he finishes singing.
Ouch.
And this wasn’t the only bit of drama to emerge from Sunday’s British Grand Prix, as Suicide Squad actor Cara Delevingne was slammed for her “rude” response to an interview request on the grid from Sky Sports F1 presenter and racing legend Martin Brundle.
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