Did or didn't she? Beyonce questioned on lip-synced anthem
WASHINGTON (AP) - There's no question Beyonce's rendition of the national anthem was a roaring success. The mystery: was it live or lip synced?
On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Marine Band told news outlets that Beyonce had lip synced at President Barack Obama's inauguration. Master Sgt. Kristin duBois said the band was notified at the last minute that Beyonce would use a pre-recorded voice track.
But by late afternoon, the Marine Corps backed off that statement.
Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Gregory Wolf said that because there was no opportunity for Beyonce to rehearse with the Marine Band, it was determined that a live performance by the band was ill advised. Instead they used a pre-recorded track for the band's portion of the song.
"Regarding Ms. Knowles-Carter's vocal performance," Wolf's statement continued, "no one in the Marine Band is in a position to assess whether it was live or pre-recorded."
A representative for Beyonce did not respond to requests for comment.
DuBois declined to answer further questions. Earlier in the day, she told The New York Times that the rest of the inaugural performance was live and they did not know why a recorded track was used for the national anthem.
"It's not because Beyonce can't sing. We all know Beyonce can sing. We all know the Marine Band can play," she said.
Kelly Clarkson's representative said she sang live to perform "My Country, 'Tis of Thee."
Inaugural organizers did not respond to requests for comment.
All inaugural music is pre-recorded in case weather conditions or other circumstances could interrupt the program.
The use of a recording is typical in big events. In 2009, cellist Yo-Yo Ma was questioned about "hand-syncing" for Obama's first inauguration. Ma said instruments weren't functioning properly in 19-degree weather.
Even in good conditions, producing good sound can be a challenge in a large open space.
Some artists choose to lip-sync. Whitney Houston's memorable performance of the national anthem in 1991 at the Super Bowl was sung to a track.
Does it really matter?
Much ado about nothing, just like most of the ignorant comments regarding the President below. Seriously, people, you act like one man is responsible for all the woes in the nation, when you should be blaming (and doing something about) our do-nothing Congress. You all sound like a bunch of whiny brats who had to be forced to share their favorite toy with someone else. Waaaa Waaaa Waaaa. Jeez, if your life is so frikkin' bad, do something about it instead of sitting around of your fat behinds complaining.
Considering all the BS that goes on in DC, this is not news-worthy.
I'll be one fraud singing  for another fraud. 4 more years of the big give away to the very wealthy and the illegals to bring down the wages of the working person and increase the wealth of the wealthy
I don't get why they think performances have to be perfect. Sing in the conditions you are given to sing in.
 @Portlander29 Narcissism, the same thing BO suffers from.
What monumental event? The innaugeration? HAH.
She's a disgrace to singers. Anyone singing the National Anthem should sing it the way it was written, majestically and not like a funeral derge. I have no respect for her or anyone who doesn't sing it properly. When I sing it at a sporting event, at my tempo, while it is being sung by a so-called professional, I tear up, so I couldn't sing it, like at a Blazer game without tearing up. (tears as in crying)
@Bdou We don't know what kind of mood Francis Scott Key was in when he wrote it, so we can't really say how it "ought" to be sung. She sang it reverently, I thought. This isn't a football game, after all.
 @tcm  @Bdou Key wrote the words. The music came from a song sung in pubs and beer halls. I'm sure back then it was sung with drunken fervor!
@73challenger503.....Thank you. I believe you're right.                                     Â
 @tcm  @Bdou She didn't sing it, is the problem. She got paid over a million dollars to lip synch herself.
A fake performance for a president that's been faking it for 4 years. How fitting.
THE LAND OF THE FRE FRE FRE FRE FRE FRE *smack* Â FREE, AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE!
I can understand why she did it.She wanted her performance to be flawless.She might have known ahead of time that extreme cold weather negatively affects her voice.Also performing at such a monumental event as the inauguration would make even the more seasoned performers nervous.I'm sure she is also a favorite of the Obama's.Iv'e always admired Beyonce.She's a classy woman who is a inspiration to aspiring young women.
 @noneofyourbizzness The problem is that she's the first person to do it. Others have sang it just fine in weather as bad or worse than yesterday.
Was anyone really expecting anything more than this?
So what. It was a great song - live or not.  Now, if it was a Milli-Vanilli issue, that would be a totally different problem.  Â
 @Justanother1 I wish I could get paid over a million dollars to lip synch my own national anthem and then try to cover up the fact that it's recorded.
Even the entertainment was a sham !
@Rob C 503 If you don't like living in a country where the majority rules there are plenty of places where you can move. Like it or not, the majority reelected Obama. He will be in office for four more years. Are you going to keep sniping at every opportunity for four more years? Time to move on.
 @I812 You are depressing me. He may have been put into office in some way, elected or not, but you can't convince people that they have to like him.
@Pointblank I am not trying to convince anyone to like anyone else. I don't like any of the politicians in Congress. They have put themselves and their party far above this country and its citizens. The all need to go. It is not just a group of politicians acting badly, it is a toxic culture that can only be changed through massive turnover.Â
@I812 .....thanks for the lecture and the cliche.
@Rob C 503 Your are most welcome.
The majority does not rule. This is a representative republic, not a democracy (mob rule). I will say that the majority of people in this country are dumb. BTW I voted independent, both parties are a joke.
@randomdude I don't know if the majority of people are dumb but the majority are certainly ignorant in many ways, and most are simply not engaged in the processes that govern their lives.
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No argumaent from me on the two major political parties in this country. Their intransigent polarization is destroying this country's ability to solve problems and the voters are simply too fearful of dramatic change despite the fact that Congress has a dismal approval rating. Insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. We need to throw every one of them out of office. It is just those we elect that are the problem, it is the culture.
@I812 The extreme bitterness of these people has no boundaries.They will always find a way to attack this President regardless of how petty the reason.
 @noneofyourbizzness You are delusional.
@Rob C 503 Still smarting from your electoral defeat I see.Everyday I wake up in the morning,one of the first thoughts that I have is that you and your ilk lost the popular vote and a huge electoral loss which resulted in another four years of our fantastically wonderful President.The fact of our victory will result in uncomfortable realities for youI'm afraid.Because of our clearly decisive win against you and your increasingly party that soon will be extinct.You can now expect that we are not going to have a Supreme Court that will overturn Roe versus Wade. There will be no more Antonin Scalias and Samuel Alitos added to this court. We`re not going to repeal health reform. Nobody is going to kill Medicare and make old people in this generation or any other generation fight it out on the open market to try to get themselves health insurance. We are not going to give a 20 percent tax cut to millionaires and billionaires and expect programs like food stamps and kids' health insurance to cover the cost of that tax cut. We`re not make you clear it with your boss if you want to get birth control under the insurance plan that you're on.We are not going to redefine rape. We are not going to amend the United States Constitution to stop gay people from getting married. We are not eliminating the Department of Energy or the Department of Education or Housing at the federal level. We are not going to spend $2 trillion on the military that the military does not want. We are not scaling back on student loans because the country`s new plan is that you should borrow money from your parents. We are not vetoing the DREAM Act. We are not self-deporting. We are not letting Detroit go bankrupt. We are not starting a trade war with China. We are not going to have, as a president, a man who once led a mob of friends to run down a scared, gay kid, to hold him forcibly cut his hair off with a pair of scissors while that kid cried and screamed for help and there was no apology, not ever. We are not going to have a Secretary of State John Bolton. We are not bringing Dick Cheney back. We are not going to have a foreign policy shop stocked with architects of the Iraq war.You are a dying breed.You might want to stick into yourself so you can actually realize that you're cooked.Your nasty,arrogant stance is no longer palatable to the American people.You are a relic that's a dying breed thank goodness.I'm so impressed with our younger generation who now affects the outcome of election .The time has arrived when you and your ilk is being put out to pasture along with your backwards,ignorant ideals that we will never allow you to foist onto us.Were finally moving forward.I'm so glad to be a part of the winning team for the grater good for the American people.So put that in your pipe and smoke your ignorant self into oblivion.
 @noneofyourbizzness  @I812 they said, as martial law had been declared and they were taken away in handcuffs to the FEMA camp.
@noneofyourbizzness .......and maybe just knowing that someone can get under your thin skin and expose how just intolerant and unaccepting your mind sets are, we'll let's just say its fun !
I can understand that the cold can affect instruments. But the cold was not a factor yesterday. If Beyonce was not up to it she should have said so the day before. There are real singers out there who can sing without musical accompanyment that i am sure would have loved to do it on short notice. Shame on you lady for disrespecting such a solem occasion. You suck.
 Auto-pitch correction and digital processing have allowed producers to take ordinary (or even BAD) artists and dress them up and make the final product sound reasonably 'good'. However, the days when a female could go into a session and record a vocal track in the first take and nail it, are pretty much over (*noting that there are truly gifted artists in the classical, jazz, etc realms that still do possess enough skill to master their craft).  Personally, I don't think any of the big-name female vocalists of today come remotely close to what the women from Motown did in the 1960s -- they sang their hearts out and nailed the tune -- day in/day out and in the studio too.
Look what they did with Justin Beiber
Oh, and most of those Motown artists could actually read and even write music and had some basic understanding of theory.
 @wvboy she sucks. makes sense. i bet she can't even sing. sounds like you would be better suited. oh, and i am sure the logistics are no sweat to find someone to replace beyonce at the inaugural. or, you are a moron. I am betting on the moron part.Â
 @Van Tucko  @wvboy Well, she made a million bucks in about four minutes whether she sang or not. It's not like they couldn't find somebody who knew the words to the National Anthem.
Milli Vanilli?