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Idina Menzel: I'm Nervous to Sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl

The "Frozen" star says she calms nerves by pretending she's singing to her son.

Will Idina Menzel be able to let her nerves go when she sings "The Star Spangled Banner" to kick off Super Bowl XLIX Sunday?

The Broadway queen of "Wicked," "Rent," and now big screen "Frozen" fame told NBC's "Today" that she still gets stage fright, even at this stage of her career.

Menzel said Friday that she “got chills,” when she was invited to sing in front of the 110 million people projected to watch the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks battle it out at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. 

The "Glee" star said she was brought up on football, watching games every Sunday with her father. After hearing she would perform the national anthem, he told her, “This is a big gig, honey.”

Just last week when she was singing on stage, she said she got emotional, came in a beat late, and nearly “choked on [her] own snot.” To overcome her nerves, Menzel tries to imagine singing to her 5-year-old son.

Of all the past national anthem singers, she admires the version Whitney Houston belted out at the Super Bowl in 1991 the most.

“When she did that actual rendition of the anthem, I’ll never forget it,” Menzel said.
 

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