I think… a little faster tempo would have been better. Not quite so jazzy. Her style would have been fine for a MLB All-Star game or the Stanley Cup finals, but I don’t think it was right for an Olympic opening ceremony.

I first saw Niki Yanovsky when she was 13 and, even then, her talent was extraordinary. However, I think it was a complete mistake to try to make the National Anthem about her and her talent, rather than about the event and the crowd.

A national anthem belongs to the people; not the singer or arranger. To use an analogy that is frequently employed in team sports, winners never forget that the name on the front of the sweater (in this case, Canada) is more important than the names on the back – whoever decided to take it upon themselves to modify the national anthem to suit doesn’t appear to understand that concept. One of the things I love about Canadian sporting events is that the anthem is usually done straight up and the crowd loves to participate. Doing a novel version deprived them of that possibility.

Just bad. American Idol performance and arrangement of the song.

That arrangement was completely unacceptable. You’ve got a stadium full of Canadians and over 200 athletes who’ve been waiting years for this; what a great moment to show patriotism as they all belt out the anthem together. But no, somebody decided the moment had to be all about her, not about Canada. Did you see the looks on the faces of the soldiers in Kandahar? How about some of the athletes they showed, looking down? What a disgrace. This is not about Nikki’s singing; rather, it’s about whoever made the decision to either allow her to, or tell her to, sing it in that fashion.

That was the best O Canada rendition I have ever heard!! Amazing talent!!! Well done!!!

That rendition was horrible, horrible, horrible. The song – I can’t call it the national anthem – was unrecognizable. Who would have been able to sing along with it. No one! It diminished the pride and patriotism I normally feel during the song – a real disappointment and an embarrassment that it came from a Canadian. Niki Yanovsky and VanOc- you should apologize.

Apologize? Give your head a shake! It was the best version of O’Canada I’ve ever heard… the 20 other people watching it with me all agreed. It may not have been your preference…but ‘awful’ ‘horrible’….a little extreme don’t ya think?

Clearly a straight forward plain version of the anthem would have made the night FAR MORE patriotic!

God forbid anyone shake things up a little and have some fun.

I first saw this girl sing at the Montreal Jazz fest and couldn’t believe what I saw and heard; a little girl singing like a seasoned professional. I was brought to tears, and I can’t think of anyone more appropriate to sing our national anthem!
She sings like an old soul, goes to school, is very humble, always gratefull, who better to represent the Canadian way? My hat is off to her, and her supportive, and I am sure very proud parents.
Shame on everyone who put this rendition down, imagine how this hurts a 16 year old girl!
Get a life and issue an apology to this young prodigy right now!

Thanks for the video. I like her here a lot. I think Nikki Yanofsky is a nice singer. Not long ago I downloaded her album at shared files SE http://filecraft.com and I liked it a lot. Nikki is very young now, I can imagine what a success she’ll have when she becomes more experienced.