Grammy-winning singer Lady Gaga opened Super Bowl 50 on Sunday with her rendition of the national anthem. Sportsbooks offered a chance to wager on the over/under for the performance, with the total time set at 2 minutes, 20 seconds.
Gaga's performance initially went over that mark at 2 minutes, 22 seconds as she held the final note and took a breath before finishing with another long note. But as far as Vegas is concerned, Gaga's rendition also could have ended when she said "brave" for the first time, as you can see here.
She repeated it to extend the time, but it could be argued that doesn't apply to the prop bet. As a result, some books are paying the OVER and some are paying the UNDER. Notably, Bovada is among those paying the under, while 5Dimes and others seem to be paying the over. Bovada says the official time for those going with the under is 2 minutes, 9 seconds.
A year ago, Idina Menzel went over by three seconds in a deliberate pace. On the other hand, two years ago, opera star Renee Fleming came in well under thanks to a much more hurried pace. The anthem singers are generally notable stars, but even stars can get nervous when it comes to something like singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl.
The best example of that might be Christina Aguilera. In 2011, she was well on her way to the OVER when she skipped a verse. Her performance resulted in a PUSH for many casinos. Some elected to refund customers as nobody had noticeably flubbed the lyrics in that manner. Aguilera's performance also resulted in the addition of the wager on whether the singer will miss a word. Menzel did not miss any words in her performance a year ago, and the bet is not available this year.
The average over the last 10 years was one minute, 57 seconds, but a couple have come in way over or way under. In 2012, Kelly Clarkson completed the song in a mere one minute, 34 seconds, while Alicia Keys took two minutes, 35 seconds in 2013.
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