Comedienne Maya Rudolph ‘performs’ national anthem during Tulane speech

The season of celebrities, first ladies and former presidents giving college commencement speeches is about finished.

But before they wrap up, Maya Rudolph, a former “Saturday Night Live” cast member, gave Tulane University graduates a performance to remember — or at least something to laugh about.

As her talk neared its end Saturday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Rudolph asked the graduates, “Would you mind rising one more time for the national anthem?”

The “Bridesmaids” actress then started singing “The Star Spangled Banner” from the podium, channeling the facial expressions and vocal inflections of artists like Christina Aguilera and Beyonce. Tulane grads got a kick out of it.

You’ll see that the above video is more than four minutes long, and that’s about the time she took to “sing” the national anthem, which usually concludes in less than two minutes.

Not everyone appreciates the national anthem being performed in unconventional ways, but take a look at the video and see if the payoff is worth the irreverence.

You can see the full speech here.