Alicia Keys’ live performance at Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday might have had a rocky start, but the NFL has come to her rescue — by quietly Autotuning the Grammy winner’s embarrassing moment away.
Keys performed as part of Usher’s celebrated halftime performance, and in the original, live airing of it, appearing onstage by herself she had an unfortunate and very obvious voice crack as she started to sing “If I Ain’t Got You.” But in the video of the full performance that is now hosted on the NFL’s official YouTube, the song starts off with an even, if slightly flat opening note that is far less distracting.
Don’t worry though, the voice crack hasn’t been shoved down a memory hole. For those who prefer unvarnished history, the original vocals are preserved via a YouTube short also posted by the NFL.
Not that the league isn’t trying to deter people from hearing it. The NFL “has blocked it from display on this website or application,” according to a message displayed when we tried to do just that. But you can go here to listen for yourself. Naturally you can watch the full version of the halftime show at the top of the page right now. Keys’ Autotuned vocal happens at right around the 4-minute mark.
Fortunately, a user on the social media site formerly called Twitter named Robert Komaniecki posted a compare/contrast of the videos, which you can see below.
Keys’ appearance was a surprise; she joined halftime headliner Usher in a duet on the 2003 song. Usher also drew praise for not lip synicng during the show despite an energetic routine that included dancing and rollerskating.
Reps for Apple also did not respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
