Lizzie Marvelly opens up on anthem 'nightmare' before Lions - Maori All Blacks rugby game

Lizzie Marvelly was mortified after technical issues interrupted her singing of the national anthem in Rotorua on Saturday night. Photo / Doug Sherring

Singer Lizzie Marvelly has opened up about her "worst nightmare" during the singing of the national anthem, saying the mishap caused her to shed a "few tears".

Marvelly was singing the anthem before the Maori All Blacks game against the touring British and Irish Lions in Rotorua on Saturday night.

The 27-year-old posted to Instagram to say a sound malfunction caused her to falter during the performance.

"So last night my worst nightmare happened," she wrote.

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So last night my worst nightmare happened. This was taken the moment everything went wrong. We wear in-ear monitors so we can hear ourselves when we're singing at games, and last night mine failed during the song I sang before the game. We switched them over before the anthem, hoping that would fix the problem, but when I got out there to sing they started crackling pretty severely before they cut out entirely. In-ears that are fitted correctly have a kind of seal in your ear, so you can't hear anything else. It's a bit like wearing earplugs. When mine went, I couldn't hear anything, and I lost my place in the anthem while my brain tried to figure out what was going on. I ripped them out and found my place and carried on but I was utterly devastated to have been thrown. Gave it everything I had to finish it off, but I felt like I'd let everyone down, and there were a few tears after. I've worked with the events team and Oceania sound for years, and they are wonderful, so we're all gutted and investigating exactly what caused the in-ears to fail so that we can all take those learnings forward. We suspect it's a frequency issue. You can imagine how many radio frequencies are competing at stadiums. I've been overwhelmed by all of the very kind comments people have sent through. I'm one of those people who absolutely hates letting anyone down, so I felt that misstep deeply and wished more than anything that I could go back and do it properly (without in-ears!). Thank you for your understanding, your aroha and your fortifying words. I am so very sorry. But sometimes these things happen, unfortunately, so I'm dusting myself off and moving forward. Onwards.

A post shared by Lizzie Marvelly (@lizziemarvelly) on Jun 17, 2017 at 3:30pm PDT

"We wear in-ear monitors so we can hear ourselves when we're singing at games, and last night mine failed during the song I sang before the game.

"We switched them over before the anthem, hoping that would fix the problem, but when I got out there to sing they started crackling pretty severely before they cut out entirely."

She said she couldn't hear anything and lost her place in the anthem.

She removed the ear monitors and was able to carry on, but said she felt "utterly devastated".

"Gave it everything I had to finish it off, but I felt like I'd let everyone down, and there were a few tears after."

She said event organises believed the cause of the disruption was a "frequency issue", and she had been overwhelmed by messages of support since the anthem.

"I am so very sorry. But sometimes these things happen, unfortunately, so I'm dusting myself off and moving forward."

Marvelly also took to Twitter to apologise, saying sorry to "New Zealand, and especially the NZ Maori".

New Zealand, and especially the NZ Māori, I am so sorry. The sound dropped out, I lost my place. I have let you down and I'm devastated.

— Lizzie Marvelly (@LizzieMarvelly) June 17, 2017

All Black Jerome Kaino sent her a message back, saying "You were Amazing Lizzie!!!".

It's not the first time this year technical issues have had an impact on the presentation of a rugby game.

Sky Sport host Andrew Mulligan had difficulty pronouncing words during a live halftime interview with Stormers player Robert du Preez.

He joked that he was "Drunk AF" on Twitter afterwards, before revealing the real cause to be feedback coming back to him through his earpiece.