Did Beyonce Lip-Sync The National Anthem At The Inauguration?
January 23, 2013 by Staff
Our President Barack Obama was inaugurated as the highest leader in the land on Monday and, during the Inauguration ceremony, Beyonce performed what many considered an uplifting performance of our national anthem in front of an estimated 800,000 people at the Nation’s Capitol, but did she lip-sync?
At one point during the anthem, Beyonce pulled out her ear piece and added some very emotionally driven body movement to her performance, which brought the crowd to their feet, and left those in attendance believing that Beyonce had stole the show.
However, after some analysis of the performance, many believed that Beyonce had lip-synced.
Captain Kendra N. Motz, the Media Officer of the United States Marine band, when asked whether or not the singer lip-synced, stated that she was not in a position to assess. However, Motz also released this statement which raised some eyebrows…”there was no opportunity for Mrs. Knowles-Carter to rehearse with the Marine Band before the Inauguration so it was determined that a live performance by the band was ill-advised for such a high-profile event. Each piece of music [used] for the performance in the Inauguration was pre-recorded in case of freezing temperatures, equipment failure, or extenuating circumstances. Regarding Mrs. Knowles-Carter’s vocal performance, no one in the Marine Band is in a position to asses whether it was live or pre-recorded.”
Master Sgt. Kristin duBois told ABC News that “We all know Beyonce can sing. We all know the Marine Corps Band can play. We do not know why she decided to go with the pre-recorded music at the last minute.” Du Bois further stated that, to her knowledge, Beyonce was not singing and that her performance was likely pre-recorded.
Neither Beyonce nor her reps have responded to the allegations at this time, although a source tells Us Weekly: “She didn’t think there was anything wrong with [using a backing track]. Pavarotti has done it! It was freezing out, and if she messed up just one note, that would have been the story. Everybody uses these tracks, and the music director advised it. Any big outdoor live performance is almost always with some kind of track. She did sing, but used a track. A technicality which everybody does took away from the beauty of the moment.”
What do you think? Do you think she lip-synced? And is it unpatriotic if she did? Either way, it was still a moving performance.