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More Superbowl betting prop bets from Bodog focusing on the off field activity surrounding the game.  Like the halftime show, the Superbowl national anthem has also become a big deal with major recording stars providing their unique renditions of ‘The Star Spangled Banner’.  From Garth Brooks to the cool soul of Luther Vandross, from the Dixie Chicks to Billy Joel the national anthem has recently featured big name talent.  This year it’ll be Carrie Underwood doing the honors.

Like much of the other pageantry surrounding the Superbowl, the national anthem wasn’t always a big deal.  The first couple of games featured marching bands performing instrumental versions, with Anita Bryant becoming the first big name celebrity to sing the song.  For most of the 70’s, it was either sung–or in some cases played instrumentally–by major recording artists but on a few occasions they still reverted to the time honored marching band version. Whitney Houston started the latest wave of big name superstars, and her version of the song actually became a popular hit single.  Like everything else surrounding the game, its now ‘go big or go home’.

Not surprisingly, the Anthem singers now try to make it a special experience and to put their unique twist on what most vocalists consider a very difficult song to perform. The Bodog prop bet is as follows:

How long will it take Carrie Underwood to sing the National Anthem?

OVER 1 minute, 43 seconds +100
UNDER 1 minute, 43 seconds -130

Since I’m not a singer myself, I figured it best to go to an expert.  I consulted with a friend of mine locally who is a classically trained musician and singer.  He’s played with a number of symphony orchestras and generally knows his stuff.  His immediate take on the bet was that the 1 minute 43 second time was a ‘bad line’.  In the vocal world, the National Anthem is referred to as ‘the most difficult two minutes in vocals’ and any rendition of the song that isn’t rushed through comes much closer to that time figure.  Last year’s anthem, performed by Jennifer Hudson weighed in right around the two minute mark.

I reviewed as many of the previous Super Bowl anthems as I could find on YouTube, and based on that research it looks like his assessment is correct.  We’ll look for Carrie Underwood’s performance to go Over the 1:43 second mark and we’re getting it at a good even money price.  The video below is of Jennifer Hudson’s performance last year. If you’re interested, you can review the complete list of Superbowl National Anthem performers.

PLAY CARRIE UNDERWOOD NATIONAL ANTHEM OVER 1:43 +100