Beyoncé lip-sync gate is in full swing.
Yesterday (January 22), reports surfaced that Bey might not have been singing the National Anthem live at Obama’s swearing-in ceremony.
A spokeswoman from the Marine Corp Band told news outlets that the band was notified right before Beyoncé was to sing that she would be using a pre-recorded voice track.
“We performed, live, the band,” she said in a statement. “But we received last-minute word that Beyoncé was going to use the pre-recorded vocal track. Those were the instructions we were given. We don’t know the reason why.”
Though Queen B has yet to comment on the allegations, other stars are speaking out on her behalf.
On The Daily Show last night, Jennifer Lopez commented on the lip-syncing scandal, saying that sometimes it happens.
“When you’re in certain venues or stadiums they do pre-record things because of the terrible slapback,” she said.
She also brought up the fact that Whitney Houston pre-recorded her rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” for the 1991 Super Bowl, which is one of the most famous versions of the song.
Four years ago when Yo-Yo Ma performed at the Inauguration, he also used a backing track during his performance due to the the bitter cold.
Aretha Franklin also spoke out telling ABC News Beyoncé did a beautiful job, but she “laughed” when she heard the reports that she didn’t sing live.
“When I heard the news this evening that she was pre-recorded I really laughed,” she said. “I thought it was funny because the weather down there was about 46 or 44 degrees and for most singers that is just not good singing weather.”
So does the Queen of Soul, who performed “My Country ‘Tis Of Thee” for Obama four years ago, blame the singer if she did use a pre-recorded track?
“I think it’s optional really, it’s up to the artist,” Franklin said. “In 2009, I wanted everything to be live and on the real side for the moment as it actually happened. Those were my feelings for my performance, but having come face to face with 28, 22 degrees I am not surprised she pre-recorded. She wanted her performance to be what she wanted to be and she realized it wasn’t going to be the way she wanted it to be or she was going to be running a risk. That’s probably why she pre-recorded exactly how she wanted it to be heard.”
Anderson Cooper admitted he really doesn’t care whether she sung live or not, he was more interested in her gorgeous emerald earrings.
Who cares if @beyonce didn’t sing live at Inauguration. She looked and sounded amazing! More tonight in #theridiculist.
— Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) January 23, 2013
Later on CNN, Cooper responded again to the allegations with a “so what,” explaining that another statement was released by a Marine band spokesperson who said that no one in the band was “in a position to assess whether Beyoncé sang live or not.”
Anderson quipped, “I am releasing a statement right now saying, ‘I just don’t care.’”
The host went on to say that Francis Scott Key, the composer of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” would have sent her a fruit basket after hearing her beautiful voice and fans should thank her for looking and sounding so good.
As for whether anyone should feel betrayed by her performance, he simply stated: “It’s Beyoncé’s world and we’re all living in it,”
What do you think about the allegations that Beyoncé was lip-syncing?
- Shannon Carlin, Radio.com
