Grace Potter gives national anthem a final flourish at Kentucky Derby
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Grace Potter to sing the National Anthem for the Kentucky Derby
Grace Potter will sing the National Anthem, for the Kentucky Derby said the "the way the music moves through the crowd, it was emotional."
On a gloomy Kentucky Derby Day, Grace Potter wowed the Churchill Downs crowd with a slow but showy version of the national anthem.
The Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter wore a cream cowboy hat she customized with feathers and a gold, waist-cinched dress with gold accessories for her performance at the 151st race in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 3. Potter kept her performance measured until the very end, when she did some showboating on the final word "brave."
The performance came ahead of the release of her "lost" album, "Medicine," recorded in 2008 with T Bone Burnett and out May 30. She'll support the album on tour with Chris Stapleton in July.
What did people think? Many loved Grace Potter's version of the national anthem at the Kentucky Derby.
Many fans praised Potter as a "powerhouse" vocalist, and one shared quite the compliment: "My grandma said that it gave her goosebumps."
One brave fan called Grace Potter's a cappella performance the best since Whitney Houston.
But "before you lose your minds," the fan noted, "I did not say better than."
"Very nice job," another said. "Never heard her before. I was impressed."
Others thought Grace Potter's rendition of the national anthem was too slow or not to their liking.
One viewer called it a "miserably slow" and "selfish" version.
"Don't they have try outs for the national anthem anymore?" another wondered. "Wince, wince."
"You let me down," one fan tweeted. "Zero Inspiration. Darn."
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