The mayor might be wondering what the hell happened to the National Anthem?

Well all the hours of writing Denver Mayor Hickenlooper's state of the city address went right out the window after singer Rene Martin decided to leave the mayor flapping in the wind along with the flag. You see something happened on the way to the microphone. That's where Ms. Martin decided to change things up a bit. While she kept the flavor or the cadence of the national anthem, she interjected the words of "Lift Every Voice and Sing"also known as the Negro National Anthem - honey hush!

Now, Rene has said she understands why the audience was a bit confused by her performance-which would explain the awkward, lackluster applause she received from those in attendance. She goes on to say "...art is supposed to make you think. I wanted to express how I felt being a black woman living in this country." Well, Rene you should have thought to tell the mayor before you changed that song at his event.

Let me be the first to say that as an African American, we are a creative folk. We can make the national anthem sound like a #1 hit on the billboard charts-remember Whitney Houston back in 1991 at the Super Bowl halftime show or Marvin Gaye back in 1983 at the NBA All Star Game? I am all for artistic expression especially from someone who has a beautiful voice (like Rene) but not when I am a guest in someone else' "house"-which is what Ms. Martin was. She was asked to sing the national anthem but instead she chose to not fully disclose her intentions and make a melodic statement instead.

For those who are calling for Mayor Hickenlooper to apologize or step down-you all have fallen and bumped your heads...hard! Why should the mayor apologize? He didn't know the woman was going to get up there and have a moment of artistic flatulence. I understand why so many people are upset but an apology connotes some form of culpability. The mayor is not at fault here. He had no idea Rene was going to lift up her voice and water down the national anthem.

But here's where this story starts to really work my nerves-the mayor's staff didn't know she was not going to sing the national anthem. Why? Because she did not tell them. So, why didn't she tell them? That's the problem and therein lies the rub. Artistic freedom can come in all forms but when you are at someone else's house and they ask you to sing a certain song and you agree to sing that song-you sing that song! Allow me to illustrate further, if you come to my house and I ask you to remove your shoes, you remove your shoes-if you want to come in! Now, if you want to stay outside with the rabbits - keep your shoes on and get ready to pat and turn. Translation: get ready to pat your feet and turn those corners on the way back to your house.

It's too bad that all the hard work that went into the mayor's state of the city address is being drowned-out by a woman with a beautiful voice who chose to sing the wrong song. I bet from now on anyone who wants to sing at Mayor Hickenlooper's events will have to audition first and sign a promissory note second - honey hush!

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