Milwaukee Bucks ‘good luck charm’ will sing the national anthem at Thursday’s Game 6 against Brooklyn
Good Thursday #GoodThursday
To say Thursday is a big game for the Milwaukee Bucks would be an understatement. Good thing Ben Tajnai, who’s been called the team’s “good luck charm,” will be there for it.
He’ll be belting out the national anthem before the Bucks take on the Brooklyn Nets at Fiserv Forum in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
As his wife, Sarah, drives him to the arena from Oconomowoc, Tajnai will be in the passenger seat doing vocal warmups, singing his “heart out” to theater and church tunes, running through “The Star-Spangled Banner” about 10 times, and chugging a lot of water.
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He’s developed this routine of sorts after singing at approximately 40 Bucks home games since 2014.
Even though Tajnai has sung backup for the Rolling Stones, was the lead in “Les Miserables” and has auditioned for TV singing competitions, he still gets nervous.
“The national anthem, to me, is important, and I obviously am a big Bucks fan,” Tajnai said. “So I really want to do my best.”
When his name is announced and the crowd starts cheering, he’s put at ease “a little bit.”
“Once I open my mouth to sing those first words, ‘Oh say can you see,’ it just goes into performance mode,” he said.
There’s a routine for after he finishes the anthem, too.
“He yells ‘Go Bucks’ and the fans go nuts,” said Johnny Watson, executive producer of arena and event presentation for the Bucks.
During a typical year, between 200 and 500 acts audition to perform the national anthem for the Bucks, according to Watson. About 25 are chosen.
“To get that gig doing the Bucks national anthem was like sort of a dream come true,” Tajnai said. “I was able to combine the two loves of my life: sports and singing.”
Tajnai — whose whole family is into singing — grew up performing at Pewaukee’s Spring Creek Church, where he continues to lead worship a couple of times a month. He did his first solo, The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song, at a school talent show in second grade.
“I kind of fell in love with it,” Tajnai said.
During his freshman year at Arrowhead, he performed with the high school’s Broadway Company and played on its basketball team. He stepped away from the team the following year to dedicate the rest of his high school career to performing.
He went on to get his bachelor’s of music degree with an emphasis in vocal performance from Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts, where he graduated in 2013.
“One of the coolest things” Tajnai did while in Chicago was sing backup for the Rolling Stones for three shows at the United Center during the band’s 50th anniversary tour. He recalled how “surreal” it was meeting the members and getting to hang out with Mick Jagger.
“It was completely packed and I had never seen that many people in the audience before,” he said. “I actually feel like that kind of prepared me for the Bucks’ national anthems. … I was like ‘I can do this; I’ve already done this.’ “
Tajnai was the first person to sing the national anthem at Fiserv Forum when it opened in 2018. He sang it for a special dinner at the arena, at the inaugural Bucks home game, and also for the first playoff game held there.
“I’ve kind of done a lot of the firsts there, which I’m really proud of,” he said.
“He’s an incredible person,” Watson said. “He’s a very, very humble, very genuine guy … I know he’s very appreciative of the opportunity.”
Tajnai also appreciates the nickname he’s gotten called by Bucks personnel: “Good luck charm.”
“I love it,” he said.
“Knock on wood, he’s got a very good record,” laughed Watson, who said he “may be” one of the people who call Tajnai that. “We have a very good home record when he performs. … When we need to get a win, he usually comes through for us.”
And it couldn’t hurt to have a little extra luck since the Bucks need to pull out a win Thursday to get to a game seven.
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“I think they’re going to win for sure,” Tajnai said. “I feel really good about it.”
In addition to Bucks games, Tajnai also performs the national anthem at Brewers home games (and is still working on getting the Packers to let him sing at Lambeau Field).
But singing is much more than a hobby for Tajnai — it’s also his career. He teaches voice lessons to more than 50 students, ranging from ages about 6 to 70, at Hartland Music.
“I really enjoy helping people with whatever they need, whether it’s singing for a theater tryout or singing for a wife’s anniversary,” he said. “I’ve done it all.”
Tajnai continues to do professional theater work, oftentimes with the Third Ward’s Skylight Music Theatre. In 2015, he won BroadwayWorld Milwaukee’s “Best Actor in a Musical” award for his performance of Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables” with the Waukesha Civic Theatre.
“(Tajnai is) a remarkable singer, one of the best I’ve heard in my sports career,” Watson said. “He’s absolutely fantastic.”
The other thing right up there with sports and singing for Tajnai is family. He said he’d never be where he is without the support of his wife, three kids, parents and siblings.
And the Bucks, especially Watson, have become “like a family” to him over the years, too, Tajnai said.
That feeling is mutual.
“It’s one thing to be a talent — and he’s very talented and he’s done a lot of really, really incredible things in his singing career — but he’s just an even better person,” Watson said. “And, he loves the team.”
Contact Hannah Kirby at hannah.kirby@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HannahHopeKirby.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Bucks ‘good luck charm’ will sing the national anthem at Thursday’s Game 6 against Brooklyn