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title: Watch Maya Rudolph's National Anthem at Tulane's Commencement
description: It's the national anthem plus "Drunk in Love"
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# Watch Maya Rudolph Sing an Insane National Anthem at Tulane's Graduation

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JP7GaDCj.m3u8" -->
## Video: Worst National Anthem Performances

[Watch (HLS stream): Worst National Anthem Performances](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JP7GaDCj.m3u8) (2:13)

![Worst National Anthem Performances](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/JP7GaDCj/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2014-09-12. Worst National Anthem Performances_


by 

[Esther Zuckerman](https://time.com/author/esther-zuckerman/)


## Esther Zuckerman


Zuckerman is a contributor for TIME.

May 18, 2015 7:18 PM UTC

by 

[Esther Zuckerman](https://time.com/author/esther-zuckerman/)


## Esther Zuckerman


Zuckerman is a contributor for TIME.

May 18, 2015 7:18 PM UTC

Maya Rudolph was giving the commencement speech at Tulane, but Pamela Bell also showed up. Rudolph brought her [_Saturday Night Live_ character](https://screen.yahoo.com/national-anthem-000000827.html) to life behind the podium in New Orleans Saturday, doing a wild take on the national anthem.

Speaking [to _Entertainment Weekly_ in 2009](http://www.ew.com/article/2009/06/20/maya-rudolph-on-her-snl-greatest-hits) Rudolph explained that the Pamela Bell character was inspired by _American Idol_: “I was making fun of this new style of singing that people seem to do, where not only do they lay it on thick, they have, like, 20 different voices in the same song, which I find so incredibly strange.”

Some of Rudolph’s [excellent](http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/jay-z-and-beyonces-baby/n13401) Beyoncé impression also snuck into the rendition, as Rudolph veered from the national anthem to snippets of “Single Ladies” and “Drunk in Love.”

\[h/t [Vulture](http://www.vulture.com/2015/05/maya-rudolph-did-beyonce-in-commencement-speech.html)\]


## Transcript

[ UNKNOWN ] from Cobell, Texas, Harper Gruzin in the performance of our national anthem. Oh say can you see. See by the dawns early light, what so held the twilight at the last gleaming [ UNKNOWN ], whose broad stripes and bright stars [ MUSIC ] oh. I'll make up for it now. [ MUSIC ] Sorry. [ LAUGH ] Hey that's mean. [ LAUGH ] That our flag was still there. Oh say. Does that star spangled banner yet wave o'er the land [ MUSIC ]

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