Who is Sailor Sabol? Internet mocks teen’s ‘off-key’ rendition of anthem at CPAC, calls it ‘Star-mangled banner’
The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) had a number of noteworthy moments as it took place in Florida this weekend, one of them being the Republican college student who literally had a "crack" at singing the national anthem just days before the arrival of former President Donald J. Trump.
Sailor Sabol, a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Central Florida and a member of the school's College Republican group, won an opportunity to perform 'The Star-Spangled Banner' at the start of CPAC this weekend. However, her amateur performance became the subject of mockery on social media. Many took to YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter to poke fun at Sabol's shaky rendition, calling it "off-key," "tone-deaf," and even "horrendous."
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if I had to hear the second half of the CPAC national anthem you have to hear the second half of the CPAC national anthem pic.twitter.com/QG1j6LULbp
— isaac (@sleazy_slav) February 27, 2021
Observers noted how Sabol had started off well enough, but began changing keys several times as the song progressed. "I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur of bad national anthem performances. This one has it all: inexplicable key changes, devastatingly flat notes, dogsh*t rhythm, strained holds, and confusion between "or" and "o'er". Whose niece is this?" one tweeted.
"Overheard: The national anthem was painfully off-key at CPAC, but no one there noticed because the GOP is notoriously tone-deaf," another added. "To the CPAC National Anthem Talent Selection Committee: What? Was Roseanne Barr already booked?" asked another, recalling Barr's notorious 1990 NFL rendition.
"I played this and my cats started fighting and my dog tried to kill herself. Give a brother a warning," one joked, while another chimed in: "That’s more key changes than an ex-wife with a restraining order."
"Oh my..quite the star-mangled-banner this," lamented one more. "To be fair they do the same when they render the constitution, democracy, voting...mangle it."
I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur of bad national anthem performances. This one has it all: inexplicable key changes, devastatingly flat notes, dogshit rhythm, strained holds, and confusion between "or" and "o'er". Whose niece is this?
— isaac (@sleazy_slav) February 27, 2021
Overheard: The national anthem was painfully off key at CPAC, but no one there noticed because the GOP is notoriously tone deaf.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) February 28, 2021
To the CPAC National Anthem Talent Selection Committee:
— Land Snark (@snark_land) February 28, 2021
What? Was Rosanne Barr already booked?
That’s more key changes then an ex-wife with a restraining order
— BensonBlazer (@benson_blazer) February 28, 2021
Oh my..quite the star-mangled-banner this. To be fair they do the same when the render the constitution, democracy, voting...mangle it, and make it very white.
— Simon campbell (@thewiltonweigh) February 28, 2021
However, Madison Rising's former lead singer Dave Bray, who sang the National Anthem at CPAC last year, was one of few voices who defended this year's performer. "'The Star-Spangled Banner' is an incredibly difficult song to sing, and that at least she gave it a go," Bray wrote on his Facebook page. "This girl had the guts to grab a microphone, walk out onto a major stage and sing the National Anthem all by herself. That alone is no small feat."
"There’s only a handful of super famous 'singers' that would even dare to step up and sing it live or on TV for those very reasons!" he added, "So...Before any more of you social media hyenas jump in on bullying this young lady for your 'lol's and your 'likes'...please take a moment to recognize that this young lady had more courage than most for even getting up there."
Who is Sailor Sabol?
Sabol has also received pushback for a certain YouTube video she made railing against Walt Disney World's decision to change the theme of its Splash Mountain log flume ride due to its apparent "racist" origins.
"The most disgusting decision, and I'm only being partially sarcastic, is that they're redoing Splash Mountain," she said in the video titled 'Destroying Splash Mountain = Destroying America (a rant)'. "I got really really really triggered about this yesterday [...] It really shows that nothing is safe. It's symbolic of America as a whole."
"Like Splash Mountain, even though they got rid of Song of the South, even though they said 'You know what, we don't support the ideas of Song of the South, but the ride is still fundamentally good,' that's not good enough," she continued. "We have to redo Splash Mountain. We have to start all over, we have to start all over with America, we have to change our history, we have to change our statues, we need to change everything, we need to change all the road signs. We don't."
She added: "This is ridiculous. It's too far, it's too revisionary [...] We are fundamentally good [sic] country. We have problems, but not as many as many countries are today. We were founded with problems, but today we are very good. And many other countries today? Awful. Absolutely awful."