NORTH GREENFIELD, Ind. (AP) - Steven Tyler says he meant to sing
the national anthem like that.

The Aerosmith frontman and "American Idol" judge endured
plenty of jabs after his rendition of the anthem at the AFC
Championship game last month, but Tyler says he doesn't understand what all the fuss was about.

"I don't know. As I said before, I put emphasis on, `In the
land of the free' and I went up," Tyler explained. "Oddly enough
I hit the note so I don't know what they are talking about. I
emphasized `free' which was for freedom. It was well thought out
prior to. I wasn't messing with American tradition."

Enduring negative criticism at that football game did not stop
Tyler from enjoying pre-Super Bowl festivities with Carrie
Underwood. The duo is in Indianapolis for CMT's "Crossroads,"
which brings acts from different genres together to perform. It's
not the first time the two have sung together: They performed a
duet at the Academy of Country Music Awards last year.

"I just love to sing and I love her stuff. A good friend of
mine writes songs with her. When I heard `Undo It,' I said, `What
is that?' That is an Aerosmith song, right? I am going to finish
recording that with you. He said, `No, I wrote that with Carrie, it
is coming out in a week,"' he said. "I met her and it was all
over after that, once I looked into her eyes. She opened her mouth
and sang and she is that good. I loved singing with her."

The two rehearsed Thursday evening in North Greenfield, just
outside of Indianapolis, ahead of their scheduled Saturday show (it
will air the same night on the network). The former "Idol" champ
says she enjoys working with the lively Tyler because he "makes
everybody all warm and fuzzy."

While Tyler, closely connected to Boston for years, made clear
he was rooting for the New England Patriots in Sunday's game
against the New York Giants, Underwood demurred when asked to name her pick. In her house, she says hockey is the main focus, since
husband Mike Fisher is a professional hockey player in Nashville.

"He is Canadian so I have had to switch his focus from so much
hockey to a little football because we watch a lot of hockey," she
said. "I love watching him and I love watching the Predators."