When the Valley’s own Jordin Sparks sings the national anthem before today’s Super Bowl, she has a chance to make a memorable impression — good or bad — on the nation’s collective conscious.

Everything about the Super Bowl, from media attention to TV ratings, is a big deal: There’s even an over/under (1 minute, 42 seconds) on betting Web site Bodog as to how long it will take the reigning “American Idol” to sing “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Will Sparks go straight-ahead with the anthem, or put her own stamp on it like late Motown superstar Marvin Gaye, who (controversially) sang the anthem with funk and soul elements at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game?

Everybody has heard the song a million times, performed beautifully or horribly. Here’s a countdown of the most memorable national anthem moments.

5. Carl Lewis

Where: New Jersey Nets game, East Rutherford, N.J., Jan. 21, 1993

Anthem: Olympic hero Carl Lewis is one of the greatest athletes in American history, but he’s also remembered as the creator of one of the worst renditions of “The Star Spangled Banner” ever. With his voice cracking, missing the high notes and uttering “uh-oh” in the middle of it, Lewis was so bad that ESPN anchor Charlie Steiner was laughing so hard he could barely get through his segment after video of Lewis’ abomination was shown on “SportsCenter.”

See a video of the performance

4. Jose Feliciano

Where: World Series, Detroit, Oct. 7, 1968

Anthem: Feliciano’s slow, folksy acoustic guitar-strummed rendition of the national anthem before a World Series game in racially tumultuous Detroit in 1968 is considered the first alternate rendition of the song ever performed. Feliciano’s version was so controversial — the crowd at Tiger stadium booed lustily — that the Puerto Rican even faced calls to have him thrown out of the country.

See a video of the performance

3. Jimi Hendrix

Where: Woodstock, N.Y., Aug. 17, 1969

Anthem: As the sun dawned on the final day of Woodstock, the mother of all rock festivals, the crowd awoke to Jimi Hendrix, the greatest rock guitarist of all time, playing an instrumental version of “The Star Spangled Banner,” complete with machine-gun runs and dropping-bomb effects on his Stratocaster. Often imitated (Glen Campbell played a similar version before a Diamondbacks game a few years ago), but never topped.

See a video of the performance

2. Roseanne Barr

Where: San Diego Padres game, San Diego, July 25, 1990

Anthem: When comedian and sitcom star Roseanne Barr stepped to the mike to sing the national anthem before a Padres game, many in the crowd didn’t realize that she was a singer. Turns out she wasn’t. Singing off-key, snarling through the lyrics and grabbing her crotch and spitting, Barr was vilified afterwards for having basically performed her own little flag burning in the face of America. She has still not lived it down.

See a video of the performance

1. Whitney Houston

Where: Super Bowl XXV, Tampa, Fla., Jan. 27, 1991

Anthem: With Operation Desert Storm not yet two weeks old, America was riding on a wave of patriotism when pop soul singer Whitney Houston stepped to the mike to sing what is considered to be the greatest version of the anthem ever sung — a swooping, heartfelt performance that sold nearly a million copies in the weeks after the performance. It turns out that Houston lip-synced to a prerecorded tape, but heck — it was a great performance of the song, in the studio or otherwise.

See a video of the performance