A singer has apologised to English fans – and the viewing public – after she 'butchered' God Save the King.
Italian-American star Ellynora managed to stagger through the performance of the national anthem before England’s 2-1 victory over Italy in Euro 2024 qualifying last night, but there were plenty of things that went wrong.
She lost her way a few times, much to the embarrassment of fans both in the stadium and at home, as well as seeming to miss the very first note of the performance.
Ellynora did try to wrestle it back, but broke down afterwards and issued an apology to those who had been watching.
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The 28-year-old singer told MailOnline: “I'm just so angry with what happened because I wanted it to be perfect but what happened wasn't my fault.
“I want to say sorry to all the England fans who were at the stadium and watching on TV, I'm mortified for what happened and I want people to know that I wasn't being disrespectful.
“It was such an honour to be asked to sing the national anthem and I was so excited about it.
“I've never sung anything like that before.”
Don’t worry – at the end of the day it’s only a song.
Still, she felt the need to explain what happened further.
Ellynora continued: “I'm more of a pop artist but at the ground there was a sound issue.
“I had rehearsed the anthem twice the day before the match and then on the night three times but when it came to the actual performance, I had a problem with my earpiece.
“I had the music in my ear and then it stopped and started again, and I was hearing it twice, so it meant I was out of sync, and it was hard for me to catch up.
“I really tried my best to solve the problem but there was nothing I could do and I'm so angry about it.
“I was trying to adjust my singing to catch up with the anthem in the stadium, but it was too late.”
Anyway, whilst the England players won’t exactly have been spurred on by a rousing rendition of the anthem, they did eventually win the game 2-1.
Harry Kane also became England’s all-time record goalscorer, beating Wayne Rooney’s tally of goals with a penalty to put England two goals up.
Still, some fans could only concentrate on the national anthem performance.
One said: “Whoever this is singing the national anthem for England is embarrassing. Disgraceful.”
Ellynora added: “This was so annoying and upsetting for me, the fans are right to be angry and I'm so, so sorry but like I said earlier I wasn't being disrespectful. It was completely out of my hands.
“I've seen the reports and that just makes it even worse for me because it was such an honour to sing the national anthem for England because it's a piece of history.
“I had prepared myself with my outfit and even had shoes with the England flag on them because I wanted to do my best and make England proud.
“Instead because of this mistake it all went wrong and I want to apologise again to fans for what happened but it really wasn't my fault, it was issues with the ear piece that caused the problems.”
Tom Wood