Christina Aguilera Explains National Anthem Flub at Super Bowl

Christina Aguilera rushed to defend herself after messing up a line while performing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl on Sunday.

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Twitter Explodes After Christina Aguilera Messes Up National Anthem at Super Bowl

The pop singer said she got lost in the moment -- and lost her place in the song.

"I can only hope that everyone could feel my love for this country and that the true spirit of its anthem still came through," she told the Associated Press in a statement.

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Aguilera, who sang The Star Spangled Banner ahead of the start of Super Bowl XLV in Arlington, Texas, mistakenly repeated a phrase early in the song. Instead of singing "O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?" the pop star sang "What so proudly we watched at the twilight's last gleaming?" (changing "hailed" to "watched" the second time around).

Many people immediately took to Twitter to criticize Aguilera over the flub.