A singing quartet comprised of both active-duty and retired military members, Voices of Service charmed America’s Got Talent viewers and judges throughout their season 19 run. Caleb Green, Ron Henry, Christal Rheams and Jason Hanna forged their path to finale night, ultimately placing fifth. NFL viewers saw them take the stage once more when Voices of Service performed the national anthem ahead of the Chiefs-Steelers game Wednesday (Dec. 25.) While the foursome performed beautifully, many furious fans accused Netflix of dropping the ball when it came to the audio. Wednesday (Dec. 25) was a big day for Netflix, as the streaming giant broadcast its first-ever live NFL games on the platform. However, it hardly went off without a hitch.
Defending Super Bowl champions the Kansas City Chiefs faced off against the Pittsburgh Steelers for the day’s first matchup. America’s Got Talent fan favorites Voices of Reason kicked off the event with a special performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Just last month, Netflix’s highly-promoted boxing matchup between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul was rife with technical difficulties, including buffering, poor image quality, and audio problems. And it seems those problems resurfaced during Voices of Reason’s national anthem performance, sending infuriated viewers flocking to social media.
Another X/Twitter user added, “[Netflix] just ruined the National Anthem at the start of the Chiefs vs Steelers NFL game. No audio and only an echo from the ambient stadium mics. [Netflix] shouldn’t be allowed to stream any other major events until they get their act figured out.”
Still another added, “LOL Sounded like Netflix just had someone hold up an iPhone in the crowd for the audio of the national anthem.”
Design Miami 2015: traditional automotive brands “don’t need to be scared” of upstarts including Tesla and Apple – and the cars of the future may not be electric, according to Audi’s head of experiential marketing. Other power sources including fuel cells may turn out to be more effective than batteries, Bernhard Neumann told Dezeen, although he said “the end of the combustion engine will come for sure.” When asked whether brands like Audi felt threatened by the hype around battery-powered electric vehicles being developed by American companies, Neumann said: “I don’t think we need to be scared. We are very aware and we are adapting very fast.” Californian company Tesla has led the charge towards electric cars, launching the Tesla Roadster in 2008, and Apple is widely expected to follow suit.
Mainstream rivals have since raced to catch up and develop battery-powered vehicles. BMW launched its first electric car, the i3, in 2013 while Porsche unveiled its first all-electric sports car in September.
But while petrol is on its way out as a fuel source, its replacement is not yet certain, Neumann added. “That is the million-dollar question. Everybody is thinking now that it is electric, but I also see alternatives. For example the fuel cell.”
Neumann spoke to Dezeen at Design Miami in Florida last week, where the brand presented its forthcoming E-tron Quattro electric sport-utility vehicle. This will be the German car brand’s first all-electric car when it goes on sale in 2018. Yet Audi is hedging its bets, and will also next year showcase a version powered by fuel cells, which convert energy from fuels such as hydrogen into electricity via a chemical reaction rather than combustion.
Audi is also joining Tesla, Google, Apple and others by developing concepts for driverless cars, adapting its RS 7 performance cars to travel at speed around race tracks without a driver. Sven Schuwirth, vice president of brand strategy and digital business at the brand, told Dezeen last month that autonomous vehicles could “disrupt the entire business of domestic flights” as business travellers sleep in their cars rather than fly.
