Beyonce 'Cannot Wait' to Sing Anthem

Beyonce Knowles didn't even wait for the sentence to finish.

During a meeting with Super Bowl organizers, Knowles was asked if she wanted to perform in the halftime show or sing the national anthem.

"Before they could even say it, I said, 'Star Spangled Banner, I have to do it,"' said Knowles, a Houston native. ``It's going to be a special moment in my life.''

Knowles, nominated for six Grammy awards, spoke Friday at a news conference along with Aerosmith, Toby Keith and Willie Nelson to promote the Super Bowl pregame show.

For Knowles, the opportunity to make the anthem memorable was too hard to resist.

``One of my favorite performances ever is Whitney Houston in the Super Bowl singing the Star Spangled Banner,'' she said. ``I cried when I saw that. I said one day, I have to do that.''

With an 80-piece orchestra accompanying her on the recording, this version should rank near the top.

``I cannot wait to perform it,'' Knowles said. ``Every time I do it by the end, I have chills, I'm sweating, because it just takes so much out of me.''

While Knowles said she doesn't have a favorite in the game, Boston-based Aerosmith has a strong rooting interest in the Patriots.

``We know the score, but we don't want to jinx it,'' singer Steven Tyler said.

Aerosmith has performed at the Super Bowl halftime show before, so they were asked why they came back.

``Did you ever eat one cheeseburger?'' Tyler said. ``How about good sex? It's just full of energy . . . we're addicted to adrenaline, and it's a great opportunity to get up there in front of, what, 80 million people?''

Keith, a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, played football until he was 24 years old, so he felt prepared to make a prediction on the game.

``Both these teams are the two best defenses in all of football, but I've got to give the edge to the Patriots on offense,'' Keith said. ``If you're talking about points, it's a toss-up. If you take them even, you've got to bet the Patriots.''

Joked Nelson: ``You mean you gamble on these things?''

All the musicians were clearly impressed by the atmosphere leading up to the game.

``Houston,'' Aerosmith bassist Joe Hamilton said, ``seems like a cat that's ready to pounce.''

Columbia tribute

Super Bowl Sunday marks the one-year anniversary of the space shuttle Columbia disaster, in which all seven crew members were killed.

The pregame show will feature a tribute to NASA, sung by Josh Groban. He will be joined on the field by 80 local high school singers, as well as crew members from the next shuttle mission.