We got a professional soprano to appraise Lady Gaga’s coloratura at the Super Bowl

8 February 2016, 16:29 | Updated: 10 February 2016, 14:18

We asked our very own Catherine Bott to cast a musical ear over Lady Gaga’s performance of the Star Spangled Banner at last night’s Super Bowl.

We could think of no-one better than our very own presenter and soprano with decades of experience, Catherine Bott, to pore over the nuances of Lady Gaga's latest grandstanding performance:

“There’s no doubt about it: Lady Gaga has a powerful, well-produced dramatic soprano voice, and admirable breath control, both of which were essential in the less-than-ideal surroundings of a giant stadium.

Diction, intonation and sense of drama were all exemplary and the microphone – essential for the occasion – was used intelligently. Perhaps there was room for a slightly more restrained approach to embellishment of such an emotive melody – Gaga’s pauses for effect slowed the anthem down too much, sentimentalising it: she was lucky that her piano accompanist was so well-attuned to her spontaneous decorations.

With the emotions reined in a bit and a stricter sense of tempo, this performance of America’s favourite patriotic song could have been even more effective. But she is a sincere and compelling artist.”