Celebrity

Kristin Chenoweth’s National Anthem High Note Shocked NBA Finals Fans

The Broadway star and Oklahoma native said she “just wanted to make Oklahoma proud” with her national anthem performance.

Photo Credit: Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

Kristin Chenoweth brought a bit of Broadway to the NBA Finals over the weekend.

As the Oklahoma native took center court to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” during Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, Chenoweth hit and held an impressive Broadway-style high note towards the end of her performance.

Videos by PopCulture.com

As the crowd at Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center immediately erupted in applause, viewers watching from home were just as quick to comment on the Wicked star’s national anthem high note. Reacting online, one person dubbed it “the best National Anthem ever,” as somebody else said it was “Perfect in every way. Ranks in the top five best ever renditions of The Beautiful Star Spangled Banner. Brought tears to my eyes.”

However, not everyone was a fan of Chenoweth’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” On social media, one viewer decried the performance as “the worst National Anthem I ever heard.” Somebody else simply said, “it wasn’t very good,” as another person commented that Chenoweth’s performance was “up there with fergie,” referring to Fergie’s 2018 performance at the NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles.

Addressing the controversy surrounding her performance and that high note, Chenoweth told The Oklahoman that she “just wanted to make Oklahoma proud.”

“I always take singing that song very seriously, because of the beautiful words, the lyrics of the song. So, I just wanted to make Oklahoma proud,” the actress explained. “And, yeah, I guess I did want to set the tone (and) just get everybody ready to really cheer their brains out to, hopefully, win.”

Chenoweth added that she “went up to the High C” for the note because “it’s the night to do it, you know? I’m an Okie. The Thunder is my favorite team. It’s the very final game; we’re at home; we want this championship. We’ve never been there. It’s our turn. All of those things are going through my mind. So, that’s the time to really sing it.”

Despite the controversy, Chenoweth shared on Instagram Tuesday that she is “not going to be over this night for a while.”

During the Sunday night game, the Thunder went on to take home the 2025 NBA championship with a 103-91 win over the Pacers. It marked the first time the Thunder’s have won a championship since relocating to Oklahoma City from Seattle in 2008, per NBC News.