Lupang Hinirang Blunder

As seen in several news feed (see above videos), Christian Bautista made a mistake in singing our national anthem last Sunday, Sept. 16 in a boxing bout. He forgot to sing the mid-lines of the last four phrases of the song (see italicized words).

Lupa ng araw, ng luwalhati't pagsinta,
Buhay ay langit sa piling mo;
Aming ligaya, na 'pag may mang-aapi
Ang mamatay nang dahil sa 'yo.
Christian quickly apologized for the the said blunder, reasoning out fatigue and excitement over the whole event.

I don't blame Christian for such a mistake. I believe that Lupang Hinirang is one the most difficult songs to sing, especially if one has no practice. Not only that the melody sounds the same for the entire song, the words are even difficult to memorize. We always take the song for granted, believing that we have the words by heart. But wait till you sing it alone, on stage, with thousands of people gathered, and you'll realized that it isn't easy. That is not an excuse, of course. My point is, practice/rehearse the anthem before you sing it in front of the crowd.

As an anecdote, I, too, made a Lupang Hinirang blunder when I was in my third year high school. I was busy preparing for our play entitled Paraisong Parisukat which I wrote and directed. When the program (it was part of a Filipino contest during Linggo Ng Wika, I think) was about to start, our principal, Ms. Marasigan, suddenly told me to sing the national anthem. So there on stage I went, in front of the crowd consisting of my classmates, schoolmates, and teachers. So sing lang ako wholeheartedly. Lupang Hinirang lang naman, I told myself. Yakang-yaka. Until na-realize ko na I have forgotten the lyrics at bigla akong nag-short cut sa ending. Mas malala pa sa version ni Christian, pramis! When I went down the stage, galit na galit si Ms. Marasigan! Nevertheless, our class received the Third Place! Baka First Place pa kung tama 'yung lyrics ko ng LH. Hehehe.