Before the World Series Game 3 even got rolling at Dodger Stadium, country star Brad Paisley lit up the stage with a guitar-powered version of the Star-Spangled Banner. Well, that really had the crowd buzzing in a good way. However, when Toronto’s JP Saxe came up for Canadian national anthem, his performance drew widespread attention, and not exactly in a flattering way. Saxe had a tough summer that saw his tour canceled because of low ticket sales, and when on Monday night, he stepped up for “O Canada”, he had fans cringing over it.

Netizens slammed his off-key vocals and weren’t thrilled about him tweaking the lyrics to the 145-year-old anthem, either. Social media lit up with criticism almost instantly. Meanwhile, as the game started, no one had a clue where this game would go.

The Blue Jays looked to be in a great spot early in the second inning. That was only until a bizarre moment flipped everything on its head on Monday night. Apparently, Bo Bichette got caught in a tough spot on the bases after he took off for second, thinking the pitch was ball four.

The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter from Toronto got the call to perform “O Canada” ahead of Game 3 at Dodger Stadium on Monday night.

But then home plate umpire Mark Wegner called it a strike instead. At the plate, Daulton Varsho looked just as confused — he took a high pitch, stepped toward first, then hesitated when he heard a different call. Moments later, he started walking again, tossing his bat and adjusting his elbow guard as if the walk were official. The mix-up left everyone in the stands and on the field unsure of what had actually happened, and just like that, the Blue Jays blew a golden scoring opportunity.

As confusion lingered on the field, another kind of awkwardness hung in the air. Fans were still talking about Toronto’s own JP Saxe, whose rendition of “O Canada” had drawn cringes earlier in the night. This isn’t the first time an artist has faced backlash for stumbling or straying from the anthem on a major stage.

From Fergie’s infamous 2018 NBA All-Star performance to Rachel Platten forgetting the words to “O Canada” in 2016, even the smallest misstep can ignite outrage. Saxe’s lyric change and shaky delivery reignited that same tension between tradition and artistic expression — and on the World Series stage, every note and every call felt magnified.

As if that weren’t enough drama for one night, things only got worse once the game started rolling.

Blue Jays fans are losing their minds over JP Saxe’s ‘O Canada’ Rendition

A common theme ran through all the reactions. “Yeah, that rendition of Oh Canada was so awful it ruined the vibes of this entire game, now the umpires are rigging it, man. Scherzer sucks again, it’s over.” Blue Jays fans felt like JP Saxe totally butchered the anthem. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Blue Jays’ star had a clean first inning with no runs allowed. However, in the second, Teoscar Hernández hit a solo homer off him. Then, in the third, Shohei Ohtani did the same. When Scherzer gave up two home runs, fans vented out their frustration in real time.

Another fan noted, “0 Really? Wow, this is the world stage. Is that the best we could do?” Yes, it was really that baffling for Blue Jays nation. The Toronto-born Grammy-nominated artist is well-known for the duet “If the World Was Ending.”

But the way he performed at Dodger Stadium on Monday made everyone overlook how solid he had been. “@Absolutely disgraceful. How was this even allowed?”

The backlash just wouldn’t let up. “That man woke up today, sang in the mirror, and said Gawd damn, ima a kill it.’ And then went out and butchered the fuck out of a beautiful anthem.” Many criticized Saxe and even questioned his Grammy-nominated status.

“As soon as he said, ‘Our home ON native land,’ I switched it off!” Another fan quipped. Apparently, he changed the lyrics from “our home and native land” to “our home on native land” to honor Indigenous territories. But it somehow triggered many Blue Jays fans.