Okay, had DP of the mighty Poemcees not reminded me via their blog, I would have completely forgotten about Carl Lewis’ rendition of The Star Spangled Banner. Now, we know Roseanne takes the cake, but, Carl’s rendition was undoubtedly one of the worst renditions ever broadcasted in front of a national audience. On the flip side, Marvin Gaye’s rendition is arguably one of the best renditions ever recorded (other favs are Jimi Hendrix, The Jackson 5 and Whitney Houston’s). Ironically, both took place in New Jersey 10 years apart from each other (some recount Marvin's performance as having been in LA, but I believe the recount in his compilation CD "The Master"). Marvin’s was in ’83 @ the NBA All- Star game, and Carl’s was in ’93 at Nets game. I added Marvin, because I had mentioned his rendition not long ago; yeah, I know it’s not even a fair comparison, but I wanted to bring you the best and the worst and parallel them for you enjoyment…and entertainment.
I’ll let you be the judge (you’ll need to have quicktime and windows media players to hear both, which, most of you do, sorry; both are free though):
Marvin                              vs.                               Carl

Enjoy!