On a night for all-stars, there was one performer who stood out like a sore thumb — and he just happened to be tasked with delivering a piece of Canadian national pride.
Alexander Stewart, the singer/songwriter of I Wish You Cheated, was tasked with singing O Canada prior to Tuesday night’s MLB All-Star Game in Philadelphia. But when you line up the 26-year-old Toronto native against the singer who performed the Star-Spangled Banner, it was no contest.
Patti LaBelle, Philadelphia’s own ‘Godmother of Soul,’ was tapped to sing the U.S. national anthem — and baseball fans watching in Canada certainly noticed the lopsidedness in terms of star power between the singers.
“Hold on while I Google “who the f’ is Alexander Stewart,” one user commented on X.
“I’m sorry, he tried really hard, but the U.S. absolutely anthem-mogged him,” another user wrote. “He stood no chance.”
“I’m sure they could’ve got somebody else besides him God, pathetic,” a third X user commented.
Another user posted a tip for MLB: “If you’re going to feature O Canada, maybe ask a few Canadians who they’d actually recognize. And you really matched this poor bastard up against Patti LaBelle? You did him dirty.”
In fact, according to Google Trends, search traffic for ‘Alexander Stewart’ rose by more than 5,000% on Tuesday evening, proving that the singer has a ways to go before coming a household name.
How was Stewart’s performance?
Many viewers also noted that while Stewart’s performance appeared in full on the game’s international feed on Sportsnet, it took place during a commercial break on Fox’s U.S. broadcast — which is typical during these types of events.
As for Stewart’s rendition of O Canada, while he had a rough start — his voice cracked on the first “O Canada” — overall it was an alright effort.
“Relax, the start was off pitch but he recovered quickly,” one user replied on X, also noting that “you have no idea how nerve-wracking it is to perform in front of millions of people.”
Was Patti LaBelle’s anthem good?
But while LaBelle had the home-field advantage, her performance left many American fans fuming on social media. Many viewers felt that the legendary singer was “disrespectful” for putting some personal flair on the song.
“TERRIBLE! This is NEVER the song to put your personal LOOK AT MEEE jazzy twist on, disrespectful,” one user wrote.
“Patti LaBelle is one of our greatest singers, however why people think they have to add their own twist to the National Anthem boggles my mind,” another wrote on X. “Leave it alone. It was not meant to be sung with runs or ‘making it your own.’”
“It was horrible. Completely disrespectful to our anthem,” a third user agreed.