Nikki ventured so far off the tempo and melody that she denied tens of thousands of proud Canadians the opportunity to participate in the singing of their own national anthem!

Precisely - the point of a solo singer at a sporting event ought to be to lead the rest of the crowd to sing it.

Maybe the problem is that there is this tendency to follow the example of the US in these things. The trouble with that is their national anthem is a little bit harder to sing than many, and too many Americans are (mistaekenly) frightened to risk it, which has led to the practice of treating it as a solo event, and as an occasion for showing off by singers - who at times unfortunately don't have too much to show off.