Singer Jennifer Hudson performs 'America The Beautiful' with the Sandy Hook Elementary School Chorus prior to the start of Super Bowl XLVII between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on February 3, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo: Getty Images)
More than a month after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, the school's choir gave a performance of "America the Beautiful" at the Super Bowl that, according to the Associated Press, had some of the players on the verge of tears.
Singing with award-winning recording artist Jennifer Hudson, the 26 children all wore green ribbons memorializing the tragedy.
The Sandy Hook Elementary School Chorus departs the field after performing 'America The Beautiful' before the start of Super Bowl XLVII between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on February 3, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
USA Today adds:
The students, whose community of Newtown, Conn. was rocked by tragedy after the mass shooting at their school in December, were all smiles on this day. They happily skipped their way from the end-zone tunnel to the sideline, where they high-fived one another and their backpack-wielding parents while they waited for their moment.They danced to the Southern University band performing right before them and waived to the majorettes as they jogged past the children on their way off the field. They posed for pictures with their parents, they shook hands with one of the game officials. They stuck their fingers in their ears as the crowd roared for both teams' entrances.
Finally, they made their way onto the podium in the shape of the NFL logo at midfield and struck the first notes of a perfect rendition of the song. Fans waved and wiped their eyes as the students sang the first verse unaccompanied. They swayed when Hudson, wearing a ribbon in honor of the victims, joined them.
The Atlantic Wire captured some top tweets:
(Twitter responses collected by The Atlantic Wire)
Watch the entire performance, below:
