“I’ve had some pretty big moments in my life… but this one, I don’t know why, makes me nervous.” That was Kristin Chenoweth, the Tony and Emmy-award-winning star, speaking to the Associated Press just hours before taking the court. She wasn’t talking about a Broadway opening or a Hollywood premiere. She was talking about singing the national anthem at Game 7 of the NBA Finals. For a proud Oklahoma native and a die-hard Thunder fan, this wasn’t just another performance. This was personal. And when she finally stepped up to the mic, she delivered a rendition that was powerful, passionate, and, for a huge portion of the internet, completely and utterly baffling.The choice of Chenoweth to sing the anthem was a no-brainer for the Thunder. She’s a hometown hero, an Oklahoma Hall of Fame inductee who grew up just down the road in Broken Arrow and attended Oklahoma City University. Her Thunder fandom is the stuff of legend. She once spent three hours bedazzling a team hat, her dog is named Thunder, and she told the AP, “I never miss a game unless I’m on stage.” So, when she walked out onto the court, dressed in a Thunder sweatshirt, you could feel the pride.She poured all of that emotion into the performance. Her voice, classically trained soprano, soared through the arena. But it was one note that stopped everyone in their tracks. On the word “free,” Chenoweth held a long, loud, operatic high note with a heavy vibrato—a signature of her Broadway style. But as soon as it was over, the internet exploded. The reactions came in fast and furious—as one fan bluntly put it on X (formerly Twitter), “That was an INSANE ‘free’ by the National Anthem singer. Sounded like a turkey.”(This is a developing story…)The post Everyone Is Saying the Same Thing About Oklahoma’s National Anthem Performance for NBA Finals Game 7 appeared first on EssentiallySports.