Fans were left divided over an unorthodox rendition of the national anthem prior to Game 1 of the MLB World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.
Prior to the game at Rogers Centre, gospel choir group The Voices of Fire, featuring singer-songwriter Pharrell Williams, took to the field for their performance.
The choir group delivered a stirring rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner before then performing the Canadian national anthem in a unique move ahead of the game.
The group was also assisted by members of a local Toronto orchestra as they performed O Canada in front of the packed out stadium.
Footage of the performance – which showed the entire choir on the field as they performed – quickly began circulating social media, with opinions clearly split.
Some fans were full of praise, with one writing: ‘Pharrell and Voices of Fire just set the tone absolutely electric national anthem before Game 1! The #WorldSeries energy is unmatched’.
Gospel choir group The Voices of Fire performed both the American and Canadian national anthems prior to Game 1 of the MLB World Series on Friday evening
The group was also assisted by members of a Toronto orchestra as they performed O Canada
Another, clearly emotional, fan wrote: ‘This is the best national anthem performance I’ve seen for the longest time throughout my sports watching life.
‘The choir was excellent — omg… the arrangement when it dipped a bit to minor for the US the harmonies. Honestly choirs should be doing national anthems more’.
Another said: ‘Is this #WorldSeries National Anthem in the conversation for best anthem performance ever? It has to be right? That was Incredible! #Dodgers #Jays’
However, others were not so convinced. One disgruntled fan wrote: ‘Biggest waste of time ever’.
In a series of blunt posts on X, fans wrote: ‘This was embarrassing’.
Others said: ‘Worst pregame gimmick ive ever seen’ and ‘Just muted it’.
Despite some of those being underwhelmed by the display, others were simply pleased that neither anthem was boo’d by fans in attendance.
Some fans were full of praise for the performance and took to social media to praise it
Meanwhile, some fans labelled the rendition of the anthems as ’embarrassing’ in a brutal post
At a hockey game between the two nations earlier this year, the Star-Spangled Banner was jeered by Canadian fans in attendance.
Fans lined up by the hundreds to get into the arena more than 90 minutes before start time and also booed every time a US player was shown on video screens during pregame warmups.
The crazed atmosphere in the stands clearly filtered its way down to the ice because complete chaos broke out before the game had even started.
