Scoring the National Anthem

2010-07-11T15:24:00.000+10:00

Australia /New Zealand Netball final 11 July

Following the surprise elimination of the NSW Swifts, losing both finals matches after not being beaten at all during the regular season, final was played in Adelaide between the Adelaide Thunderbirds and the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic. AAF was sung by Shannon Noll, former Australian Idol runner-up to a fingerpicked acoustic guitar. He didn't try to fancy it up at all, and it was done with appropriate gravitas but there was a bit of rock singer swallowing of words which annoyed me a bit and I couldn't go past a 7.5. The daughter gave it a 'solid 8' and herself was impressed to an 8..5

2010-07-11T15:12:00.001+10:00

Third State of Origin Rugby League match, 7 July

In the light of the debate about racism in sport, the NSWRL obviously decided to make some kind of reconciliatory statement by having the National Anthem sung in both an indigenous language as well as English before the game. The first verse was sung in what was announced as the Eora language by Corey Kirk, a 19 year old Aboriginal singer accompanied by digeridoo and boomerang clap sticks and then followed by an un-named tenor backed by a childrens choir and a different prerecorded backing track. Ms Kirk suffered from a thin quavery little voice, but I am sure there were some nerves in there as well. The tenor was, at best, bland and I haven't even been able to find out who he was. We could only manage a 5.

What has been more interesting than the performance itself has been the flurry of controversy about what language the first verse was actually sung in. The words were translated by Richard Green, a Darug man who apparently rejects the idea of an Eora language at all. A bit a googling quickly establishes that there is little agreement about what languages existed in pre-white settlement days or where the boundaries might be between them. The Eora people lived on the southern side of Port Jackson, out to around Balmain and south to the Cooks River. It seems likely that they were part of a larger grouping, the Gadigal, who may or may not have been within the Darug language group. The Darug area extended out from Parramatta westward to the Nepean River and no-one is really sure how different the language of the people around Sydney Cove was to those further west or even across on the northern side of the harbour. I would be interested to know how Green translated "girt by sea".

2010-06-28T12:09:00.000+10:00

Australia /Ireland Rugby Test, Brisbane 24 June

It was interesting to hear the Irish anthem, or maybe it wasn't if they had players from Ulster in the team. Whatever it was, it was bland and unexciting. The Australian anthem was sung by Kate Gordon, about whom I know nothing, can't even find a MySpace page. A big solid contralto voice, more leagues club than opera and sung to the standard backing track. All OK until the last note where she drifted off key, but she did come back by the end. Maybe I was just feeling grumpy, but I couldn't be inspired beyond a 4.5, while herself manged a 6.

2010-06-17T12:42:00.000+10:00

Wednesday 16 June The 2nd State of Origin Rugby League game

AAF was sung by a 12 year old from the Gold Coast whose name is Straalen McCallum. He smiled a lot as if auditioning for a role in a musical (Glee has a lot to answer for) and got through it OK. I suppose there was some reason for him getting the gig - the Courier Mail says he hopes to have a CD out later this year - but it escapes me. You can't say anything cruel about this sort of thing, its a bit like kicking puppies. The daughter gave it a 4, I could just manage a 5 and her indoors played Sodoku on the computer and ignored the whole thing. Shame about the NSW team though the biff was good

2010-05-26T20:16:00.002+10:00

Wednesday, 26 May, first State of Origin

A fairly standard performance from Sam Moran, announced as a Sony recording artist, but who is the current yellow Wiggle, and who has just released his first solo album. He has a pleasant tenor, in the style of a music theatre singer, did a satisfactory job, and held a great last note. After Katie Noonan stunningly different take a couple of weeks ago it was back to business as usual with the standard backing tape, but a 7.5

2010-05-10T09:39:00.000+10:00

Australia/ New Zealand Rugby League Test Friday 7 May

At last something different. Katie Noonan accompanied by a children's choir sang a cracker of a version. Fingerpicked acoustic guitar,, an understated reading on the song and an interesting arrangement for the choir made this the year's standout performance so far. The daughter and I gave it a 9, herself only an 8.5

2010-04-29T22:02:00.003+10:00

Boxing on Foxtel Thursday 29 April
Random surfing on Foxtel discovered live boxing on one of the sports channels for one of the middleweight titles between Rubin 'Mr Hollywood' Williams, an American from Detroit and Australian boxer 'Lock & Load' Les Sherrington, who has his sponsors names and phone numbers texta-ed, if not tattooed, on his back. Sherrington entered the auditorium, somewhere on the Gold Coast, preceded by a rapper performing a song about him. Very medieval, like a herald introducing a knight or something even older. Homer, Troy?

In any case, a male singer, someone called AJ The Entertainer, sang The Star Spangled Banner to a backing track, cribbing the words off a card in his hand, and then a young, very petite, female singer, Deb Sage, warbled her way through Advance Australia Fair unaccompanied. A thin little voice, more or less in tune, but I suspect that she was holding herself back from adding lots of wobbly bits at the end of each line. The audience joined in enthusiastically, including the barely dressed and well endowed young woman holding an Australian flag in the ring. A 5/10 performance

I was still writing this when Sherrington won the fight in the fourth round,opening up a big cut over the eye of Williams. Fascinating theater, in a strangely disturbing way.

2010-04-25T18:23:00.002+10:00

Storm vs Warriors, 25 April
The Melbourne Storm's first rugby league game after the wonderfully scandalous revelations about years of rorting the NRL salary cap. Played on Anzac Day against the New Zealand team it meant all the Anzac Day formalities and both national anthems. AAF was sung by an unidentified young female singer who sounded as if she wanted to be somewhere else. Uninspiring, not in tune and lackluster at best. I gave it a 5, herself (a harder marker!) couldn't be excited past a 4.5

2010-03-09T08:53:00.001+11:00

Saturday March 6
The final of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) between the Canberra Capitals and the Bulleen Boomers. It was on the TV, but we were driving up to Sydney and only got it on the radio. AAF was sung by a female duo, unaccompanied. Pleasant enough, with some well thought out, if predictable harmonies, but spoilt a little by the modern custom of singing two or three notes were only one is required. This became more noticeable and irritating in the last couple of lines and so a 7/10.

2010-02-15T18:09:00.000+11:00

Saturday 13 February
The first televised Rugby League match of the season, and it was the Indigenous All Stars playing the NRL All Stars chosen from the rest of the NRL teams. The anthem was sung by Leah Purcell, an indigenous actor and playwright who sang it is an simple, but heartfelt manner. Annoyingly, the phone rang just as it was about to start so I was not able to listen closely, so I might have missed some bits of it. At least an 8 out of 10

2010-01-31T19:37:00.000+11:00

Sunday night, the Men's Final at the Australian Open Tennis, and AAF gets performed by The Jersey Boys, who are appearing in a musical of some sort in Melbourne. Unaccompanied four part harmony, in a late 50s doo-wop style, adding some unexpected and non-standard chords, and taking the brave step of singing the last couple of lines with a falsetto lead an octave up and all heading stratospherically to the last chord. Could have been nasty and ending in tears, but they pulled it off.

Somewhere between 8.5 - 9 was the considered opinion.

2010-01-30T19:32:00.000+11:00

Jessica Mauboy at the Australian Open Tennis before the Women's final

All three of us scored it a solid 7/10. She didn't muck around with it too much and stayed in tune and on key.

And we get another one tomorrow night. Whacko!

What the blog is about

2009-12-09T14:16:00.002+11:00

We watch a fair bit of sports on TV in our house, and over the years my wife, daughter and myself have developed a habit of scoring public renditions of Advance Australia Fair, Australia's national anthem. It gets sung before most major sporting events, often unaccompanied, sometimes with a military band or to a standard pre-recorded backing. It is done by opera singers, country musicians and entrants from things like Australian Idol in a wide variety of singing styles, some appropriate, some not as much so.

We score it out of ten, usually in half-point increments, and we invite others to add their points to ours when we post them, or write in with scores for performances we miss. The postings will be a bit random, we don't sit by the TV every day waiting for a rendition of The Anthem.

If you don't know what it sounds like, and I suspect most non-Australians don't, you can download an mp3 here or have a look at this site for as much, if not more, info as you might need.