Lauren Alaina Shares Emotional Post After Singing at the World Series
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On Sunday night, American Idol alum Lauren Alaina performed the national anthem at Game 5 of the World Series in Atlanta. Alaina, a Georgia native, previously sang the anthem at a football game when she was 17 years old, and it didn’t go nearly as well.
What made this week’s performance so emotional was that Alaina messed up the lyrics the last time she performed the National Anthem, and she was bullied so much that it took 10 years for her to tackle the song at another sporting event. The singer posted about the experience on Instagram.
Lauren Alaina Reacts to Performing at the World Series
Alaina posted video of herself singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Sunday’s game. She wrote: “There are no words to really convey what this performance meant to me. This performance was for 17 year old Lauren.”
The singer shared how she was “viciously bullied” online for her lyrical slip-up. Because of this, she’s avoided singing the song at any other events for 10 years, explaining, “I’ve been asked probably 50 times and declined. The fear had been too much for me to overcome.”
However, when the Atlanta Braves ended up in the World Series against the Houston Astros, she decided to face her fear and perform the national anthem once again. As she wrote on Instagram, “It took me almost ten years to conquer my fear, and I could not be more proud of it. The best part was getting to call my dad and tell him he was going to attend the World Series.”
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The ‘American Idol’ Runner-Up Delivered a Beautiful Performance
Alaina performed the song beautifully on Sunday, without missing any lyrics. She was joined on the field by her guitarist Adam “Tico” Hernandez. She thanked him on Instagram “for standing up there with me and giving me the courage to sing.”
We’re used to hearing so many vocalists perform the national anthem with epic orchestration. While that’s definitely great to listen to, having a simple guitar accompaniment added something unique and intimate to Alaina’s performance.
To make things even sweeter for the singer, the Atlanta Braves ended up winning the World Series on Tuesday night for the first time since 1995.
Lauren Alaina was the runner-up in Season 10 of American Idol, losing to Scotty McCreery. In the years since, the 26-year-old has released three studio albums and won several awards for her music. She also placed fourth on Season 28 of Dancing with the Stars.
