Ranking all 52 Super Bowl national anthem performances

If you just listened to this anthem performance, you'd likely think Kathie Lee Gifford did a perfectly good job performing the anthem. And you wouldn't be wrong. That said, if you watch the video, you'll notice that about halfway through the performance, Gifford starts staring into the camera with bugged-out eyes and is lit with a red glow that makes her look like a demon. This gave me nightmares, and I'm not OK with it. 

Despite his legendary status in Dallas, Tommy Loy's anthem performance was a dud. It was a straightforward and imperfect one, with the trumpet squeaking midway through the piece.

Helen O'Connell, an iconic big-band singer, really disappointed in her rendition of the anthem. It was a robotic performance that ranged from loud to really, really, way too loud. Maybe she should have stuck to swing.

This pains me because I do love Herb Alpert, but his anthem performance was a stinker. No matter how good the rest of the performance was, it could not disguise the fact that the whole shebang started off with Alpert making a fart sound with his trumpet.

Carrie Underwood might be the face of "Sunday Night Football" today, but her performance at Super Bowl XLIV left a lot to be desired. Underwood doesn't have the voice to carry the anthem without accompaniment, and she was off pitch at a couple of key moments.

The NFL really loved the Grambling State University Marching Band. This was more or less the same show twice, and although marching band versions of the anthem are never quite bad, they're also rarely great.

"Laverne & Shirley" star Leslie Easterbrook performed the national anthem solo in the lead-up to Super Bowl XVII, and she performed admirably — that is, until she went up an octave on "land of the free-EEEEEE" and stayed up the octave for the rest of the song. It was odd, and jarring, and I don't like it.

Ooouch, Barry. Manilow's performance of the national anthem at Super Bowl XVIII was lackluster in a few different ways. Manilow made odd vocal decisions, he was off pitch multiple times, and he just looked uncomfortable during the whole performance.

This one's hard to judge. Neville performed a truly unique, soft and emotional version of the anthem for Super Bowl XXIV, but his voice does break at a couple of key moments. He recovers as best he can, but at the same time, the performance really did suffer because of it.

There were plenty of trumpeters who performed the national anthem solo at the Super Bowl, and the Washington National Symphony Orchestra's Lloyd Geisler's performance was perfectly serviceable, though it lacked some of the emotion of the better trumpeters on this list.

I'm really between a rock and a hard place here. Like, am I really supposed to judge a children's choir made up of kids who don't look older than six years old against Lady Gaga? It doesn't seem fair. In the interest of being an objective ranker, however, I must. The Little Angels do their best, and they are all just so incredibly cute, but they do get a little pitchy at times, so I have to deduct points.

For three years in a row, the Super Bowl was introduced by a solo trumpet player. Super Bowl IV, however, switched up the formula by having Doc Severinsen and Pat O'Brien perform together, pairing the trumpet melody with a spoken-word version of the anthem. It was weird, but it worked. Kind of.

For Super Bowl XII, the NFL tried to go for some local talent, enlisting University of Louisiana at Monroe's (then known as Northeast Louisiana University) Phyllis Kelly to perform it. She lacked the star power of previous performers, and her performance ended up being sadly forgettable.

This one is weird. Vikki Carr performed "America the Beautiful" instead of the national anthem at Super Bowl XI, leading off with an odd spoken-word reading of the first verse of the song. She does a perfectly fine job, as does her backing chorus, but something about it is...off. It seems oddly sinister somehow.

It really could have been anybody singing the anthem at Super Bowl XXIII. If you weren't watching, you wouldn't know it was Billy Joel. The performance was muted, and though it didn't need to be an epic six-minute piano rock ballad, it would have been nice to see Joel put at least some of his personality into the performance like he did when he performed at Super Bowl XLI.

The Broadway star seemed a bit out of her element at Super Bowl XLIX. She was unusually pitchy given her talents and pedigree, and she also made some odd tempo decisions that messed with the pace of the performance.

This one is hard to judge, because all the surviving recordings of the anthem seem to have been destroyed and then replaced with versions played through a drive-thru speaker. From what I can gather, though, Charley Pride does a perfectly serviceable job — no forgotten words and no slip-ups.

The Colgate Thirteen are an a cappella group from, appropriately, Colgate University. Their performance at Super Bowl XIII was pitch-perfect, but it was also, unfortunately, bland and forgettable. Perhaps it's not fair to judge these performances against the spectacular anthem performances of today, but that's the way it goes.

This one is going to be divisive. If you like Neil Diamond, you probably love this anthem performance. If you've lost patience for his schtick, as I have, you'll find the performance annoying and forgettable. 

Harry Connick Jr.'s performance of the national anthem was a perfectly serviceable one. Connick was on pitch and didn't make any errors, but at the same time, the performance was generally slow and uninteresting.

Billy Joel gets points for playing the piano while singing here and injecting his personality into the performance. He truly did perform the anthem as only he could. The only problem is that he did get a bit pitchy during the performance.

Christina Aguilera's performance of the anthem at Super Bowl XLV has been pointed to as a prime example of what happens when vocal riffing goes a bit too far. Aguilera has a great voice, and the performance itself was good, but it was all a little…much and might have gotten into her own head, given her slip-up during the performance.

A perfectly middle-of-the-road anthem performance by Luke Bryan here, with minor (and typically unnecessary) vocal embellishments that don't quite detract from the delivery but, then again, don't really add anything. Probably more indicative of the era than anything else, but Bryan's performance here is more than adequate.

For Super Bowl XIX, the NFL rounded up a truckload of children's choirs from around San Francisco and the Bay Area. Despite their sheer number, the performance itself was remarkably tight. Well done, kids.

Cheryl Ladd did a surprisingly powerful rendition of the national anthem at a time at which she was probably best known for being a Charlie's Angel. That's no small feat. Extra points for well-executed vocal flourishes.

This was a good one, both for historical reasons and because there are just so many people playing and singing. It's powerful and appropriate for the first Super Bowl.

Jordan Sparks' performance at Super Bowl XLII was a good one — not too long, not pitchy, smart vocal choices. That said, she didn't do much to set herself apart. It was, all in all, a solid B-to-B-plus effort.

P!nk gave a solid performance at Super Bowl LII, but what's especially notable was that she was sick with the flu while doing so. Eagle-eyed viewers noted that the singer removed what appeared to be gum or something else before beginning her rendition. It was later confirmed by P!nk herself as a throat lozenge. Bonus points for performing while ill, though the sickness clearly affected her vocal range at times.

Garth Brooks was no slouch during his performance at Super Bowl XXVII. His version of the "Star Spangled Banner" was passionate, unique and full of personality.

It might surprise you that near the height of their popularity, the Backstreet Boys decided to play it fairly safe. Their arrangement of the anthem wasn't incredibly poppy; it just took advantage of the group's natural ability to harmonize. Well done.

The anthem just seems more powerful and meaningful when it's sung by a service academy chorale, doesn't it? I'd deduct more points because at one point the anthem was drowned out on the TV broadcast, but I can't bring myself to do that because it was drowned out by a bunch of awesome fighter jets.

Jewel's performance here is solid, if a bit awkward. Vocally, she does a good job, but as she begins, she rocks back and forth with her hands behind her back. She seemed very uncomfortable, until she decides, about five seconds in, to put her hand over her heart. It doesn't take away from the vocal performance, but it's just…awkward.

Kelly Clarkson made the decision to sing the anthem backed by a children's choir, and it paid off handsomely. The performance was straightforward and beautiful. Personally, I thought she could have done without the vocal runs at the end, but that's just me.

The legendary Luther Vandross did America proud at Super Bowl XXXI. His performance was, overall, pretty straightforward with minimal vocal flourishing, but it also allowed Vandross to show off his amazingly mellifluous voice in a very powerful way.

Simple and tight three-part harmonies never make for a bad performance of the national anthem, and if there's one thing the Dixie Chicks know (besides possibly getting grisly revenge on domestic abusers named Earl), it's three-part harmony.

Tom Sullivan, a well-known blind singer/songwriter/musician/athlete/author/what didn't this guy do, did a great job at Super Bowl X. This is one of the earlier Super Bowl anthem performances that actually included some vocal flourishes and may have started the trend of Super Bowl performers going up the octave on "land of the free."

Interestingly enough, Sullivan would later also act in the football-themed disaster pic, "Black Sunday" where he played, you guessed it, the anthem singer. 

Vanessa Williams did a great job at Super Bowl XXX, putting together a pleasant, relatively straightforward performance of the anthem to kick off the game's festivities.

Cher really went all out for Super Bowl XXXIII. She had no patience for straightforward performances of the "Star Spangled Banner" and instead decided to, in essence, turn it into a Cher song.

This wasn't just an amazing anthem performance, it was an important one. Legendary New Orleans artists Dr. John and Aaron Neville joined Aretha Franklin to perform a truly moving rendition of the national anthem in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The U.S. Service Academies knocked it out of the park with this one. The arrangement of the anthem was incredibly tight, the harmonies sounded great and it's always special to hear the anthem being performed by men and women in uniform.

So much vibrato! Jennifer Hudson's Super Bowl anthem performance was tonally wonderful, but she did make the (understandable and small) mistake of pausing for breath in the middle of her words. That doesn't take away from the fact, however, that the performance itself was a very strong one.

Queen Bey performed admirably at Super Bowl XXXVIII, even if some of her vocal choices didn't end up sounding as great as they probably did in her head. That said, she ended the anthem as strong as anybody else did — ever.

Wynton Marsalis, one of the most legendary musicians to ever play the trumpet, was pegged to play the anthem for Super Bowl XX, and he did a fantastic job with a silky-smooth version of the "Star Spangled Banner" that had just a sprinkle of swing.

This is one of the classics. Diana Ross's performance of the national anthem at Super Bowl XVI is proof that you don't need to go on an extended vocal run to have an engaging, emotional and powerful performance. Sure, it helps, but it's not mandatory.

Mariah Carey has a gift, and she took full advantage of it during her performance of the national anthem at Super Bowl XXXVI. Again, some won't like the sheer amount of riffing she did, but she backed it all up by having a voice that is simply amazing.

Lady Gaga's performance at the Super Bowl was as much a singing of the anthem as it was an introduction to the new, piano-ballad-y Lady Gaga. Now, that's not a bad thing! Gaga did a great job with the anthem, showcasing a vocal talent I'm not sure many of us knew she even had.

Oh my god. Bagpipes! Faith Hill's performance of our anthem at Super Bowl XXXIV was nothing if not unique. Synthesizers, brass, bagpipes and an incredibly loud snare drum don't seem to be things that work together with Hill's voice, but somehow it all came together in a wonderful, chocolate-and-peanut-butter kind of way.

Alicia Keys gave us an at-once gentle, beautiful, jazzy and powerful rendition of the anthem prior to Super Bowl XLVII. It was a performance worthy of Keys' musical genius and a classic Super Bowl anthem performance.

Some will say that Natalie Cole's gospel-tinged, over-the-top medley of patriotic songs performed prior to Super Bowl XXVIII was too much. They're wrong. Natalie Cole absolutely killed it.

This is one of the most unique anthem performances ever at a Super Bowl. For Super Bowl XLVIII, the NFL chose to have a full-fledged opera soprano perform the anthem, and we were rewarded with one of the most beautiful renditions of the "Star Spangled Banner" ever.

This is the most famous version of the anthem for a reason. Houston's performance of the "Star Spangled Banner" perfectly toed the line — it was full of expression and flair without becoming annoying or overwrought. Her performance is not only No. 1 on this list, but it was so successful it was released as a single.