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New artist to replace Luther Vandross on 'One Shining Moment'
The last time a TV network hired a new artist to update "One Shining Moment," the backlash was swift and considerable.
Jennifer Hudson's 2010 version of the NCAA tournament's cheesy anthem was panned not because of her vocal performance but because the montage featured more airtime for her than it did college basketball's biggest stars.
Six years later, Turner Sports may be poised to make the same mistake that CBS did with Hudson. Turner Sports intends to have a new artist perform the song this year, a network source confirmed to Yahoo Sports on Tuesday.
Who will the new artist be? That's still unclear. The source said to expect more information sometime prior to Monday's national title game.
One Shining Moment has become an improbable March staple since singer David Barrett scribbled the lyrics on a napkin over brunch in spring 1986. His insipiration was a beautiful waitress, a clumsy pick-up attempt and the dominance of Larry Bird in his prime.
The night before, Barrett had tried to make conversation with an attractive waitress at a now-defunct bar in Lansing, Mich. The only subject the soft-spoken folk singer could think to talk about was the Boston Celtics highlights airing on TV.
"I was trying to explain to her how magnificent Larry Bird was, how he was at a unique moment in his life where he could do almost anything he wanted on a basketball court," Barrett told Yahoo Sports in 2012. "Eventually I turned around for a second and she just walked away without a word."
Barrett's stammering attempt to win over the waitress may not have landed him a date, but it did serve as the impetus for one of the most enduring songs in sports today. For more than 25 years, CBS has made "One Shining Moment" synonymous with college basketball's title game, playing it over a montage of highlights from the NCAA tournament as the winning team's players cut down the nets.
CBS aired Barrett's version of One Shining Moment from 1987 to 1993 and again from 2000 to 2002, but remakes by Teddy Pendergrass and Luther Vandross have helped popularize the song as well. It's the Vandross version that has aired in recent years, aside from the 2010 Hudson debacle.
The problem with trying to update One Shining Moment is that its appeal is its schlocky charm. Just like "White Christmas" sounds better when sung by Bing Crosby than Rihanna, One Shining Moment is best when left to Luther.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
