Go back and watch Beyonce’s performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” from Monday’s inaugural. Do you see how Beyonce is making sure that everything is all about Beyonce? Do you see her 130 carats worth of emeralds? Do you see her Pucci gown? Do you see her special inaugural wig? Do you see how Beyonce pulled out her earpiece half-way through? Well, you were only supposed to be paying attention to all of that stuff and not the actual song. Because as it turns out, Beyonce lip-synched the National Anthem. Which seems like a really bizarre thing to do, right?
Beyoncé did not sing the national anthem live at President Obama’s inauguration.
Millions of viewers around the world were stunned by the singer’s spectacular rendition of the anthem but The Times has learnt that she was lip-syncing to a pre-recorded backing track.
A spokeswoman for the Marine Corp Band Kristen DuBois said it was standard procedure to record a backing track and Beyoncé decided shortly before her performance to rely on the studio version rather than risk singing it live on the Capitol.
The Marine Corps band director first told media outlets that Beyonce only had a chance to rehearse with them the night before the inauguration, which is probably when she recorded her vocals, don’t you think? The Marine Corps band spokesperson later confirmed that Beyonce pulled the plug on singing live at the last minute (DIVA!). Kristin DuBois said, “All music is pre-recorded for the ceremony because there are so many eventualities and conditions that day. We performed, live, the band. But we received last-minute word that Beyonce was going to use the pre-recorded vocal track. Those were the instructions we were given. We don’t know what the (sic) reason why.”
So, do you judge Beyonce for this? I’m of two minds. One side says she’s a drama queen diva who just wanted to be on stage with President Obama and she didn’t want to do the heavy lifting of singing live on a cold day. The other side of me says… maybe it doesn’t matter? I don’t know. Now that I know she was lip-synching, I find her performance theatrics to be much, much too much. I do think this makes her look bad. By the way, Kelly Clarkson sang live. And I thought her performance was the best, right?
Oh, so after I had written all of this up, it turns out that another “spokesperson” for the Marine Corps band is all “No, Beyonce MIGHT have sung live, we have no idea.” His actual statement is: “Regarding Ms. Knowles-Carter’s vocal performance, no one in the Marine Band is in a position to assess whether it was live or pre-recorded.” Hunh.
Photos courtesy of Kelly Clarkson’s Instagram, screencaps from performance.
Bitch was lip-syncing for her life… and she failed. Sashay away!!!
Agreed 100%. Yes, yes she did. Ugh….
A+
Whitney Houston sang to a pre recorded Tape of her voice at the Superbowl It is SOP a big events.Love ya B,my homegirl from H Town,Haters gone Hate Can’t wait to see B at Superbowl
But we know Whitney can sing and when she song “The National Anthem” for the troops it was live. Bey is no Whitney.
Let’s face it she Millie Vanilli’ed us.
Even Biden looked like he was saying this bitch ain’t singing but she got a nice ass from where I’m standing.
Beyonce was prerecorded and she still was meh. Man. Makes me miss real singers like Whitney.
It’s actually not SOP at big events. Pre-recorded vocals are usually done in case the weather is windy or there are factors which might effect the sound quality. But the actually use of the pre-recorded vocals is not the standard except in cases like parades (unless, of course, the weather will effect sound quality).
I knew it when she opened her mouth so wide,and shook her head for emphasis. You don’t do that when you’re concentrating on the sound coming out of your mouth instead of your movements. Extenuating circumstances would be the fact that it was freezing outside and it was a morning gig. But that didn’t stop any of the other professionals though. She lipsynchs even when conditions are ideal, so I don’t hold out any hope that she can sing great live.
super bowl is one thing, national anthen at a damn presidential inauguration, esp when you’ve been all “im soo BFFs with the Obamas”, is quite different. and if she did lip-sync, and that earpiece yank was just b.s., that is just, ugh. i have no idea if she sang live over a track or not, but i think the fact that she hasn’t made a statement yet is poor form. she, in general, is poor form lately. after the superbowl, she needs to go away for a while.
@ V4Real
Beyonce can sing too. She’s no Whitney but she’s absolutely capable of pulling this off live. Milli Vanilli never used their voice. She lip synced to HER OWN voice.
@ Rikki- take a listen and come back and tell me she could have pulled it off. Don’t blame me for you doctor bills.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZaIXmujt1g
@ The Original Tiffany
You do know that was a hoax right? That is NOT her voice. It was exposed as a hoax on The Howard Stern Show years ago. Get your facts straight.
Wall Street Journal is saying that she DID sing live over her own pre recorded vocals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2tCNth-N9Z0
She thought it was her day and it wasn’t, but she wanted it to be. Everything about her is fake and people are tired of it. She really needs to go somewhere and just sit down and be a mom to Blue Ivy. There was a time that I really liked Bey but now *sigh* please leave us alone.
YES!
Exactly! Did she even listen to the prerecord, cause she should’ve did another take if that was the case. The one she used was a tragic bore!
Yep! And according to Media Takeout she was upset to not be performing at the Inaugural Ball too. So right after her lip sync, she and Jay Z boarded their private jet and left!! Apparently even Obama was even surprised she was not at the Ball. Then again, it was not all about Bey.
Roseanne Barr would have been a better choice for the inaguration performance..she is brave enough to not lip synch.
Beyonce is mediocre at best and because of this she is annoying as hell to think herself a legend, but even with this, I can see that mama Knowles did not raise a fool.
Ugh.
She obviously recognized her vocal limitations and attempted to circumvent the inevitable fail. Kelly Clarkson shamed her!
Her performance was as real as her pregnancy.
Amen, girl.
Exactly what I was thinking!!
gee…is there anything the great Bey doesn’t fake?
So fake, so phony. From the lip syncing, which no one else did that day, to the 10 pounds of doll hair with a Donald Trump combover and pageant gown.
The flinging of her in-ear is hilarious and over the top. She looks like Barbie and not in a good way.
Oh no, I just remembered about the ear monitor. Jeeze how embarrassing. I bet they weren’t even picking up her recording so she had to take one out to synch better.
@TOTiff —
My birthday’s in 2 weeks, and I gotta tell you — that made my year!
Where’s the circus these days?
Miami now, NYC next. The weather is great, I have no complaints.
My kids are born next month too. Happy birthday!
hahaha!
LOL Agree a million times over! Well said. Fake ass country hoe!Gosh she is a waste of space.And if her mama wasn’t a voodoo priestess she would have been squashed long ago. She had the lead in Dream Girls and newcomer J. Hudson showed her ass the door. Like, “bitch please, this is real singing and Oscar winning!” LMAO
lmao! 😀
Exactly my thoughts!
Sasha Fierce took a day off??
hahahahaha maybe she was feeling under the weather, I mean Miss Fierce ^^
Tired of hearing about it–I never realized people thought she was such a goddess. The earpiece move was over the top, right?
You mean “powerful” goddess…lol
The power of her mind, body and voice cannot even be comprehended by her infinite intellect, thus I am not surprised that us small, thetan-infected peons cannot see her greatness.
I don’t know why, but the image of Tom Cruise and Beyonce throwing down in a massive bitch fight (handbags and all) just popped into my head.
I’d love to see a power struggle in the Co$.
We’re not worthy. *hangs head*(eyeroll)
Her power was negated by the fact that she was not allowed to sing the National Anthem in a sporty crop top and some mismatched panties. It was cold out, Y’all!
@Amelia – handbags AND heels, beating each other over the head with high heels. beyonce would, clearly, kick tommy girl’s ass.
You guys are on fire. 🙂
@Agnes
Aah, but even if she can hand Tommy his own pretty and powdered derriere, Bey-bey lacks one fundamental piece of equipment to be Miscavige’s golden star.
@RocketMerry – indeed. tommy would take that prize.
She took the ear thing out because she couldnt hear herself , we can hear her singing LIVE along with the backtrack and hear an echo. Still a half lip sync!
I wonder what will her PR say…
There’s a washington post video that shows her singing the antheme live , but in all honesty the way she was singing doesn’t match the version we heard. Apparently the WSJ put there own mic on the stand.
She was singing over a prerecorded audio to make her voice stronger. Especially in the higher notes you can tell that she was allowing the prerecorded version to do the work. I believe we only heard the prerecorded version.
HERE’S THE VIDEO,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2tCNth-N9Z0
Honestly?
I think this is just ammo for people who already didn’t like her to have something to crow about.
I would have liked it to be live because of the ceremony and event. I read about Yo Yo Ma who also pretended to play for a previous inauguration on a backing track and that the cold weather was kind of bad news in general for that kind of thing.
Looks great…doesn’t always play out well in the cold.
Yo Yo Ma didn’t play live because the extremely cold weather made it almost impossible to keep his instrument properly tuned. Beyonce COULD have sung live, but probably didn’t want to risk a less than flawless performance, because god forbid she be anything less than AMAZING. Its not exactly the same.
Especially since she is almost always less than amazing.
It was several degrees colder last year and Aretha didn’t need to lip sync! Let’s be honest Beyonce’s talent is a mirage to match her face, facial features and body figure. Most people in the business know what she did and how she did it, used computer and engineering to make her voice hit the high note that she does not have the pipes to do. Aretha, Chistina Aguilara, Whitney, J Hudson just to name a few can do it, it’s a gift from God which JZ cannot buy for Beyonce.
I see your point, but when these celebrities make numerous interview statements that portray themselves as near God-like, it kind of takes the thunder out from under them when they do stuff that a normal person would do. Heck Britney could have “sang” the National Anthem at the inauguration! That would have been epic!
I liked Bey’s performance alright. But I sure ain’t gonna praise her vocal talents as though she is the best singer on Earth when other singers present at the event were able to do the work of singing live.
Beyonce is no Aretha Franklin. Aretha sang live at the inauguration 4 years ago and Kelly Clarkson used no backup tracks and sang live as well……..so If these singers can do it then Beyonce should be able to handle singing live,especially when she earns hundreds of millions of dollars for singing. Aretha never earned that type of money…………..and at 60 plus years of age,her performance 4 years ago was incredible.
Kelly Clarkson sang live. Did a wonderful job too. The cold weather didn’t stop her. Maybe they should have asked her to do it.
Even Mariah Carey might have been a better choice FFS, better voice, not as much about the bling, etc. And I bet she would have sung live. You wouldn’t see her ripping out an earpiece on national tv either, probably. She might be a drama queen but when she sings, she’s a pro.
Neutral feelings on Beyonce all around – just pointing out the obvious here – you couldn’t really miss it at the inaugural.
I agree with you. People are only making a big deal because they hate Beyonce. Whitney Houston lip synced what turned out to be the biggest performance of her career and no one says a word about that.
So Aretha Franklin hates Beyonce too?
I doubt it.
But even she commented on the lip synching.
Like I said I don’t hate Beyonce, but Mariah Carey has the voice with the octaves.
And Kelly Clarkson DID sing live.
I agree with Aretha on this one, she did a nice job with the recording…
Yeah and Beyonce also lip synced her Superbowl National Anthem a few years ago, but nobody said a word about it then either because people LIKED her. Ever since her pregnancy people have had a blind hate for her. I just think this whole thing is blown out of proportion. Especially when many other singers lip sync the anthem.
And I’m not even a die hard fan of hers.
Meh – I think she should have tried a little bit harder – I’m still with Aretha on this one.
It’s the Presidential inaugural, not the goddamn superbowl.
I’m now beginning to think they should have asked Aretha to sing it. Live. Like it should have been sung.
SPOILER ALERT: Beyonce will probably lip sync the superbowl halftime too.
Once again, this is just another example of how this self-proclaimed ‘extremely powerful’ diva is really just a no-talent hack.
Seriously? Lip-synching at the freakin’ Presidential Inauguration? While wearing some tacky look-at-how-rich-I-am ring on her finger?
What a fraud. I hope this story sticks.
Integrity. Look it up, Bey.
Sometimes scandals like this can cure an overinflated ego. The whole thing is a bit sad actually. I remember some years back when she sang “Dangerously In Love” live at the Grammys. She was AMAZING, and she was an AMAZING live singer. Something happened to her voice in the last year, she has lost it, but covering it up of course wont help.
not a chance
Maybe her pregnancy changed her voice. Hahahaha.
pillows will do that. hahaha!
No doubt about it Beyonce’s singing was as fake as her hair. She just can’t sing that well live and was being the true Diva she is. The girl was overdressed and I really think she thinks she will one day be first lady.LOL Newsflash to Beyonce your just a singer who hasn’t had a hit in ages and doesn’t have the best voice she doesn’t even have one of the top ten female vocals.
I don’t know why it matters. If she was cold and nervous, maybe she thought the pre-recorded track would sound better than shivering through a performance. Had she done that, everyone would be criticizing her for not being good enough. She can’t win.
Kelly did it.
Yes, and Kelly was a total pro. I’m just saying maybe Beyonce didn’t think she could cut it and didn’t want to embarrass herself. After all, she’s a control freak about image, performance etc. Kelly strikes me as the type to take it all in stride, and so it’s not the end of the world if she flubs (which she didn’t). I guess I just wasn’t surprised to find out that Bet lip-synced.
Lip syncing a song is nothing new, and she may have had good reasons for doing it. The problem is, her over-the-top histrionics in an attempt to “sell” the song, her contorted facial expressions – were all designed to make everyone believe she was really singing it. Her performance was a lie. When Jessica Simpson lipsynced at the 2011 Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, it was made clear she was lipsnycing, and no apologies were made for it – Jess didn’t think she could project the song live, so it was prerecorded. All Beyonce had to do was be up front and honest about the performance – let her people “leak” beforehand that the National Anthem was prerecorded – and everyone would have thought,” oh sure, it’s so darn cold, the frigid dry air could make it difficult to sing.” Everyone would have understood. You can always win, eventually, with the truth.
I am pretty sure all singers have bad days where they can’t perform to their usual standards. A few years a go Beyonce probably would have nailed that song without any problems. But at a presidential inauguration singers should sing live, this is not some cheap Hollywood TV show. If for some reason a performer is not up for it on that day, somebody else should do it. This day is not about the prestige hunger of some singing diva, but about the country and the president.
If said singer has been on tour doing 2 hour shows every night for weeks maybe. She hasn’t been doing anything. She has NO excuse to not have her voice ready to sing ONE song in the cold. Give me a break.
My husband sings and plays drums 10 shows a week and we just hit three years and 1000 shows on this tour. He hasn’t missed one yet. Most every vocalist is there in full force everyday. She is supposed to be this powerful performer, but can’t pull off one song?
Have you heard her vocal track pulled off the soundboard? She was out of tune the entire song with thin vocals. Not impressed. Would the world miss her music if she just went away? No-when was her last hit? Sorry, I just can’t buy into this woman, her career or her life and lifestyle. So out of touch, so on display, so manufactured.
The Original Tiffany, very well said. I agree with you completely. And you’re married to a drummer? I’m jealous! I always wanted to be a drummer. It turns out that my brain is incapable of making my hands do one thing and my feet do another, so I stick with other instruments, ha ha.
@The Original Tiffany…the out of tune sound board track was a hoax.
Actually, it does matter when someone pulls their earpiece out, makes these orgasmic-looking gestures like its coming from her diapgragm…when really she is LIP-SYNCHING!!!
Yes, integrity DOES matter.
Who cares? At least she didn’t run around pointing at her ring finger, flipping her weave, and dancing in a unitard with 5 inch heels on. Which I’m actually shocked she didn’t do.
She’s saving that for the SuperBowl
Tacky, tacky– so out of place to try to upstage the FIRST LADY. Kiddo, this event and those peopel were MUCH mreo important than you, and, all the money an diamonds inteh world cannot equal respect or humility or even good taste. *snuff*
she is so fake. fake. fake.
Who cares about Beyonce, how AMAZING was Kelly Clarkson?!
Girl has an incredible set of pipes, I bet she had a giggle that Beyonce even HAD to choose between floundering through an average live performance or just half-assing it with a backing track.
Kelly completely stole the show, good on her!
Yeah! After she finished singing, she told Biden/Obama “I voted for y’all!” ahahaha that was so cute!
And Beyonce snubbed Joe and Jill Biden. Didn’t acknowledge them.
Skipper: I noticed that too, and thought it was pretty rude on her part.
Agree! Kelly Clarkson is pure talent wrapped in a charming, down to earth person. Love her.
Could not agree more. Kelly is the bomb!
Waiting for Lainey’s spin on this.
Me too! I love that site, but she’s so far up Beyonce’s that it’s just become ridiculous.
I heard on the NBC national news last night that her spokesperson said she used a backtrack, which means that the song was pre-recorded. I don’t dis her for lip synching, but the theatrics while she sang were over the top!
Kelly Clarkson was fabulous live! 🙂
I’m crushed. Didn’t she just tell us that she was Super Woman?
I kind of feel like if you’re invited to sing the National Anthem at a presidential inauguration, you should probably…sing it. Unless she physically couldn’t (lost her voice or something), and in that case it should have been offered to someone else.
I agree; if she wasn’t feeling up to it she should have stepped back. I believe Bey knows that’s a hard song to sing but instead of admitting to it she tried to yet pull another fast one over our eyes. I’ll admit the girl can hold a note but her voice isn’t the greatest or strongest, therefore she pre-recorded the track which could be fine tuned during recording to make her sound great. Alcoholic Christina Aguilera would blow Bey out of the water if you pitted them up against each other. JLO came out in defense of Bey but I’m not surprised since JLO knows what it is like to be criticized for not being able to sing.
Kelly did a wonderful job and I doubt she wouod have lip-synched “The National Anthem”.
Christina publicly flubbed the anthem -forgot the words.
Yes but at least it was live. I was comparing voices, not lyrics.
c’mon – i don’t believe this lipsynching thing. she definitely sang it and did an amazing job. i was blown away by the whole thing. will be so disappointed if it wasn’t her singing live.
Why would the marine band lie about this? They don’t give a crap either way. Believe that she lip-synched and prepare to be disappointed.
How could the Marine Corps Band have been playing live if it was decided at the last moment to use the previously recorded protection copy.
It’s already been said on The Today Show that the leader or whoever is over The Marine Corp Band said yes it was a pre-recording and that they were not actually playing live.
Sorry MooHoo your disappointment starts in 5,4,3,2,1 go.
They record the vocals and the music separately. They played the pre-recorded vocal track at the inauguration and the marine band played live.
This woman’s ego knows no bounds. Was it necessary for her to take out her earpiece if she was frickin’ lipsynching?! JESUS.
It’s still her vocal people, so please give it a rest. If you don’t like her, then just say so and bang on that.
Yes, but if we simply said “we don’t like Beyonce,” that begs the question “WHY don’t you like Beyonce?” So what we’re doing here is discussing why we don’t like Beyonce. And we don’t like her because she is a phony, and has a large ego that is disproportionate to her moderate talent.
I was watching some morning show, the one with Al Roker (sorry I don’t follow morning shows and it was just in passing) and they were all gushing over Beyonce and Jay Z, saying that after she “sang” the anthem he offered her a scarf and a cough drop or something. They figured she was sick.
That will probably be the reason!
or maybe she’s preganant.
Guess she wasn’t feeling powerful that day.
Look, everything about Beyonce is phony – her hair, her allegedly “blissful” marriage, her auto tuned voice, her pregnancy – and who knows, maybe she really is lying about her age. That she would lip sync our National Anthem strikes me as being right in character.
Damn…they were my exact thoughts and you beat me to the typing of them. 🙂
Summed it up more concisely than I did. Hats off!
Hey Chat-good to see you back here!
Hi Tiff…I hope to be back more often~
My uncle was shocked to hear her age. He was like THIRTY ONE! He thought she was at least mid 40’s. With all her money and high end skin care, you know? It must be the lifestyle, makes you ragged.
To be fair, Whitney Houston who had a much more powerful and amazing voice at the time, also sang the National Anthem on a pre-recorded thing. And it’s not like she couldn’t sing. Same goes for Beyonce, it’s not like she can’t sing either, so may be it’s a standard protocol in case something goes wrong. Either way, no big deal… I’m not a fan of hers but try to be rational on the matter, I think it’s just an open gate for those who want to add fuel to the fake/not fake pregnancy and the whole fake Beyonce issues methinks, thus headlines making a big deal out of it…
I hadn’t realized Whintey’s was pre-recorded until this Beyonce story came out. I’m less impressed with that performance now too.
But it was STILL Whitney’s vocals, just like it’s STILL Beyonce’s vocals as someone pointed out upthread. It’s not a Milli Vanilli situation here. Singers perform to pre-recorded tracks all.the.time. Why is it that when Beyonce does it, it’s this huge scandal?
When any singer does it, I’m disappointed. The only time I really think it’s okay is when they have a backing track during a concert so they can dance as well. This was simply a singing gig.
Kelly’s performance had more emotion because she was in the moment, singing for the president and a huge crowd. Beyonce was in a warm studio with perfect acoustics and no audience so her vocals are not as impressive. Everyone sounds better in a studio. Sounding good live is a challenge.
Look on youtube for Whitney singing the NA for the troops. Thats live and better. Beyonce was pre recorded and still bored..
I thought it was fairly common knowledge she using backing tracks to strengthen her vocals. She’s a performer…a good singer, not a great one. The hype on her is disproportionate to actual talent but what else is new in Hollywood!
Kelly didn’t use backtracks and if other sIngers weren’t using backtracks then Beyonce should have refrained from using them as well.
You will get no argument from me. I guess I am just surprised that people seem surprised. Beyonce is a manufactured product through and through, she deserves every bit of critisizm she is getting mostly because she likes to front that she is something more than that.
Search on youtube for Whitney performing yhe NA for the troops. She sings it live and even better than the superbowl.
They asked Aretha Franklin about this. Franklin sang the anthem live 4 years ago, if I’m not mistaken. Franklin laughed it off, said that she might do that herself next time around. Didn’t seem to think it was a big deal, and as far as I’m concerned that’s good enough for me when it comes to the subject of lip synching the anthem at the presidential inaugeration.
I think what’s going to haunt Bey is the whole DRAMA she threw into it. She really over-played it, throwing out the ear peice and all. Makes her seem just plain dishonest, like she’s perfectly comfortable, and experienced, with being dishonest. Not good. Not at all, not with all the other speculation surrounding her…
And yes Kelly was fabulous. Stole the show!
Singing is Beyonce and Kelly’s business. People will compare the two voices and it is not fair that one uses modern technology to boost her sound whereas the other one goes out and does it live with no assistance. I am glad that Beyonce’s charade was exposed because it is not fair to compare her performance with an artist who actually sang live.
I agree–Beyonce is a fraud
And I think Queen Aretha said it was even colder 4 years ago. LOL! I’m actually waiting for Bey’s people to say something about this.
You all realize that Whitney Houston’s version was lip-synch, too? No one complained about that.
In 1991, the technology didn’t exist to alter a bad voice, and make it sound great. Yes, Whitney was prerecorded, but that was HER voice. With the advent of Autotune, and other technologies, even the worst singer can be made to sound as good as Whitney. Why do you think we’re stuck with so many mediocre talents these? Rhianna, Bieber, One Direction Katy Perry, and yes Beyonce – can be packaged by a record company and marketed to a target audience. Talent is the least of their worries, because Autotune can make them sound like stars.
I don’t even argue about that whole auto-tune topic, but that doesn’t take away the fact that both of them lip-synched and one gets much more criticism as the other and I don’t think it’s fair. (No one knows if auto-tune was involved btw). I am not even a Beyonce fan (in fact, quite the opposite).
@ epiphany
It was STILL Beyonce’s voice. She doesn’t use autotune. I don’t think you know the definition of it. Jennifer Hudson lip synced at the Superbowl. Most of the time it’s pre recorded.
Whitney was asked to do it because of helicopter noises. She sng the national anthem live at a concert. Can Beyonce do that?
Exactly. Whitney sang the National Anthem again for the troops and even started the song off acapella. She sounded just as good as she did during the superbowl. Only this time, it was live. Beyonce could never.
I thought so. Watch an old Ed Sullivan show and you can see that lip syncing use to be the norm. I just don’t think that she is all that when it comes to singing. Yep she can shake her butt but so can lots of people and auto tune seems to make people like her and others into better singers. Not a fan of hers but I don’t dislike her either. She is just sort of bla to me.
Thank you…my musical theater friends would agree with you as well. This is a common hot topic of discussion amongst truly talented singers who get eclipsed by talentless hacks who enjoy ridiculous commercial success because of successful branding strategies and big money.
Total lip sync. She made sure to cover her mouth with her microphone the entire time to hide what she was doing.
Isn’t her entire life lip synced?
I propose next time just bring Jessie J to sing it. American or not, she would of sang the shit out that song and then some without any backing vocals, lol!
If she did, and I believe she did, there is no excusing it, because Kelly sang it live.
They were both there to sing, and Kelly did. Beyonce did not, and you cannot defend that.
OMFG why is this like…a thing that bothers people? It’s so silly.
its not silly, she should sing live–she obviously aint all that good
LMAO OK. You’re right. She is the first person ever to lip sync.
#getoverit
I agree, it is completely silly. She’s not the first person to sing to a pre-recorded track, she won’t be the last. But because it’s Beyonce, it’s akin to Watergate.
Lindsey it bothers people when they are deceived. No one likes to be lied to. Everyone expects the talent to be live at an event like an inauguration because that has been the standard in the past.
I personally thought lip-syncing the national anthem was extremely disrespectful to the president. Rather than risk a vocal mistake to POSSIBLY mar her performance, Beyonce chose to risk THIS happening–his inauguration being tainted by a media fueled singing scandal. It’s completely self-absorbed, thoughtless behavior on Beyonce’s part and people are understandably disgusted by it.
I seriously doubt that when people look back at this inauguration their recollections will be marred because of this “great deceit.”
People who are that bothered realllly need to get a grip.
Lindsey I’m sure you are correct about the impact Beyonce Knowles will have on posterity. But the backlash is happening right now, isn’t it? This story is on the top of every major news organization’s list today. Everyone is weighing in on it–from John Stewart to Diane Sawyer to Celebitchy! So clearly, most everyone needs to “get a grip”, huh?
Jon Stewart was OBVIOUSLY facetious. And as for any major news org. that reported on this as if it were a thing worth reporting on, well that’s more telling of those major news organizations. And yes, as I said before, “ALL ya’ll need to get a grip.”
Jon Stewart is ALWAYS facetious. That’s his schtick.
Beyonce is a singer, hired to sing live at a live national event where all the other singers performed live. And she didn’t do that.
If pointing out that her lip-syncing was deceitful is worthy of having to “get a grip”, then where does stubbornly defending her fall in the “get a grip” spectrum?
It doesn’t fall anywhere on the spectrum because I’m neither defending her, not lambasting her. I think this whole thing is ridiculous and if you’re really that broke up about it, might be time to get a life.
I’m not “broke up” about it. I am simply responding to your many posts. The number of which speak to the fact that you are just as invested in this topic as the people you are urging to “get a grip” and “get a life” because they are discussing it as well. You started this thread by asking why lip-syncing bothers people and I answered your question. And then you continued to argue your point ad nauseam. I mean, if it’s so silly for me to discuss why lip-syncing is deceitful and wrong, why is not silly for you to continue to beat this dead horse? Do you really not understand the hypocrisy in telling people to “get a life” when you are engaging in the exact same behavior? Maybe not. Because clearly you also don’t understand that pretending to sing live at a presidential inauguration— when in fact you are just mouthing the words— is wrong.
ugh, she’s so tacky.
If she had been upfront about it, it would be nbd, BUT since she got all dramatic with the ear piece….
In her defense – Yoyo Ma did it in 2009, but he didn’t lie about it. In some venues you are better off using a recording.
yo-yo ma four years ago :
– i remember that they were fairly open about it
– it was because in such cold weather the metal and wood of the instrument change and it won’t stay in tune
– also i wouldn’t want to try to play a stringed instrument with half-frozen fingers.
what totally sinks beyoncé here is that both kelly clarkson and james taylor sang live, no gimmicks, in the exact same conditions she did.
Why bother even showing up if you’re going to lip synch.
Just like a lot of you have said, it’s quite normal for singers to have a prerecorded performance to sing along to, which I’ve also noticed on concerts or awards shows. But I also agree that the problem was her “theatrics” to convince us it’s live. This is the first time I saw her performance and honestly I would have thought it was lip synched even if I hadn’t known about the hoopla now. The quality of her voice just doesn’t matched the live “atmosphere” of the stage. I think, she did decide about it last minute when she learned that the band won’t be playing live anyway…
BTW, Lea did it live, and she was inside a hockey arena. LOL! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SW1lWm8AKY
Lea is a Tony award winning singer and sings live for 8 shows a week and knows how to project. Comparing her to Beyonce is apples and oranges.
I was actually listening to my Disney playlist in the shower this morning and I started it off with “A Whole New World.” That is a great song to start your day off right.
But that’s her schtick though,right? She’s all overwrought, face scrunching, arm flailing, eye squeezed shut theatrics. It’s not new…it’s how she rolls.
She didn’t lip sync after all… she sang with her pre-recorded track.
THIS!!!
the lady gets paid millions –SING LIVE or let someone else do it.
My guess she didn’t know the words very well…so many artists sing the anthem and screw it up. Its pretty pathetic when singers are to lazy to learn the the US anthem…seriously.
Whitney was singing at a sporting event and later donated proceeds of the recording to charity. Beyonce was singing at a presidential inauguration and is very unlikely to donate any proceeds to charity.
So comparing the two performers and performances is really just comparing apples to oranges.
To me, it’s not that big a deal that she lip synced. It’s just the fact that she went out of her way to act like she was singing live (like taking the ear piece out) that it makes me question her past performances as well.
i feel like everyone is making a big deal out of this largely because of the person beyonce paints herself to be – a perfect being us peasants can’t even begin to touch. with the performances of others, like yo yo ma (who had legit reasons for not going live in freezing weather), the general reaction would be “meh”. beyonce is a drama queen who can’t even fess up to lip syncing (she might have had legit reasons, who knows). as usual with her, “show me the receipts.”
I wouldn’t say she has no talent but she doesn’t have the greatest voice out there. She gets by on her looks and a very good PR machine. My homegirl from Philly Jazmine Sullivan can sing circles around her, but how many of you have ever heard of her?
This is true. Ms. Sullivan is amazing!
I think it’s ridiculous for Beyonce something like this when she has sang the national anthem many times before. This woman took a very stupid move.
If you want to lip-synch do it without making people think you are doing it. Too many singers do lip-sync and everybody loves them because they don’t make the damn thing obvious!
Beyonce is a good singer, go watch her singing acapella. If you think she is awful everyone else should be bad, because she is one the very few very popular vocalists who do it well acapella. She is a limited singer in some aspects and but who isn’t?
I’m baffled by the stupidity or ignorance of people. Every vocalist uses all the audio technology available during the recording of music in studio. C’mon! You won’t see anybody well known going to work at a studio with poor or few resources because they all know how much is important to sound great. Every known recording studio is amazingly well equipped and with amazingly great sound technicians.
I didn’t think it even sounded like Beyonce, so I’m not surprised she was lip syncing.
Fake as the orange fingernails, hair, voice too. She might want to fess up right away to make things straight. This is totally gotten out of hand.
also, and this is a genuine question for the B fans (who are no doubt going to be all over this commenting about “the haters” and “haters gonna hate” and other extremely intellectual arguments), which is, has beyonce done anything that makes her something more than a successful pop star who can sing? b/c she clearly sees herself as some of history-making living legend, but as far as i’m aware (and i may have missed something, im not all up on my B studies), she has done nothing ground-breaking, nothing no one before her hasnt done. from what i know of her, there’s no reason for the living legend routine. she’s maybe approx a la janet jackson, but B has a bigger singing voice, where janet has a more distinctive singing voice. she doesnt have some inspiring life story or superstrong or distinctive voice like a tina turner, she’s not a pop culture phenomenon like a madonna, she’s not a really amazing voice like a whitney or mariah, sooooo…..????? i mean, successful, talented, beautiful, good head for business, certainly, but i don’t see the groundbreaking/living legend aspect.
”the haters” and ”haters gonna hate” and other and other extremely intellectual arguments….
Bahahaha!!!! Yep
to be clear, i think if she sang live over a recording of the band or whatever b/c she didnt have time to rehearse with that band or whatever, that’s fine.
she probably hasn’t made a statement yet b/c she thinks Barack himself is going to call a damn breaking news press conference on CNN to defend her and confess how the only thing he regrets in life is marrying michelle before he got a chance to meet the almighty B.
it’s a good time to be kelly clarkson
So earpiece-pulling drama queen Beyonce can lip-sync, but Kelly can be a professional and simply perform her piece live. What a contrast.
Remember when Ashlee Simpson was caught lip syncing on SNL and she was rendered the laughing stock of the music industry? Ashlee was laughed out of a career.
Why does her Majesty Beyonce get any other treatment? (Because she’s made a career out of lying and has a very well connected spouse to help shield her from any constructive criticism.)
This was an extremely high profile event. As a performer, and as the highlighted performer, she owed it to the country to bring her A-Game. Beyonce treated the event as nothing more than a personal a photo op. Nothing more!
Its rude to all those Marine Band performers, out there in the cold, no theatrics, no falsehood to their performance. Think of all those years of training with their instruments, tireless practice and effort without the promise of wealth or fame. Just a commitment to the instrument and to good music, and here is their opportunity on the national stage and Beyonce gets all the performace attention – and she couldn’t even sing live?
To me, this Beyonce snafu represents a larger problem. Celebrities are glorified and praised for doing little to nothing of merit or quality, while the average American works hard and recieves no praise, no accoladates, no credit. The Marine Band: The Unsung Heros of the Inaugeration.
@Grace: We must have been typing at the same time–I posted just below you. 🙂 To be fair, the “President’s Own” Marine Band is an amazingly prolific and accomplished group that has played 1,000s of gigs like this. They are literally the premier military band in the WORLD. You need at least a Master’s degree in music performance to even get in. The inauguration may seem like the gig of a lifetime to most, but it’s pretty much just another day at the office for this band–as a military musicians I can tell you we can all do gigs like this in our sleep. 🙂 Other than an eyeroll or two over Ms Knowles choosing not to take the time to rehearse with them enough & deciding to use a backing track I’m sure they’re over it already.
“To me, this Beyonce snafu represents a larger problem. Celebrities are glorified and praised for doing little to nothing of merit or quality, while the average American works hard and recieves no praise, no accoladates, no credit.”
AY-MEN.
I’ve been a musician and vocalist in a military band for 15 years, and have done many gigs like this. I’ve played outdoors for several Governor’s inaugurations, have played for 3 US presidents, played in foreign countries, sporting events, and had the honor of playing for President Ford’s funeral–which took place in Michigan in January. Cold weather can be a pretty scary factor. For example, the police officer tasked with playing bagpipes for President Ford’s funeral was thrown off by the delayed arrival of the casket, didn’t keep his instrument warm enough, and just a few notes into “Amazing Grace” his pipes just STOPPED. The silence was deafening, and there was nothing anyone could do but just stand there. My first Governor’s inauguration in Michigan I was completely unprepared for how damn cold it was, and during the first march we played my horn valves froze up one after the other, so I basically had to lip synch the entire gig. I’ve done vocal performances where the sound guy blew it and we’ve almost crashed and burned because we couldn’t hear each other, even tho we’d rehearsed/performed the song 100 times. Our band has also accompanied many performers (including Aretha Franklin) and if anything goes wrong it always winds up being the band’s fault. So, I don’t really blame the Marine Band for agreeing to a backing track. If Beyonce blew it they’d be the scapegoat. And, even tho I’ve been a musician for over 20 years I still get stage fright. Every single time. I’ve done gigs where I have been nearly paralyzed by fear–nothing closes up a throat quite like terror of f*cking up.
All that being said, I have never been involved in a National Anthem performance that was lip-synched (and I have played/sung it HUNDREDS of times–and it still chokes me up every time!). So I’m having a hard time understanding why Ms Knowles decided to go that route, unless it came from a place of simply wanting so desperately for it to go well. Think of how much people around the world would rag on her if she’d pulled a Christina Aguilera and screwed up. I’ve witnessed my fair share (and even been involved in) crash & burn performances. So, perhaps she chose to use the backing track out of trepidation that something would go wrong and she would feel like she ruined a special day.
One more thing–maybe some of y’all feel like she’s earned it, but I was so damn stoked to meet Aretha Franklin when I played for her several years back, and she was a major diva bitch. I was SO disappointed. Hell, ‘Dubya’ was a heck of a lot nicer.
Sincere question: why all the criticism for removing her earpiece? Is this a known diva move or something? I’m legitimately curious because I wouldn’t have given it a second thought until I saw all the comments about it.
Meh, I knew she was lip-syncing when she walked up in nothing but a gown and everybody else had on coats and scarfs, etc because it’s cold in Washington. No one taking care of their voice would do that. EVER. It still sucked.
So if she faked her performance, does this mean the Inauguration was invalid? Somebody better alert Orly Taitz.
You KNOW – I have a feeling that this may have been an accidental can of worms. Looking at a few of her other ‘live’ performances, it seems all or most of them may have been ‘lip-synched.’ Not to say the woman can’t sing, surely she can, but maybe this has been her way of putting on ‘live’ shows all along!
Personally, for me it was the damn DRAMATICS she put on as she was performing. If you’re gonna fake it to make it, keep it low key. Damn.
+1
Could not believe Anderson Cooper defended her the other day. I think it’s deplorable if she lip synched the National Anthem for the inauguration. Disrespectful too. Kelly Clarkson should have been asked to sing it. Ugh Beyonce. So phony. And tacky. I tend to believe the lip synch rumors.
Excuses, excuses, excuses. Yep, all to defend her. Cold weather, blah, blah, blah. Sing it live or don’t sing it at all! Simple folks.
If that was a lip-synch, it was pointless because it sucked anyway. I thought her voice sounded really weak, like she wasn’t doing the breathing correctly. If you’re going to lip-synch, what’s the point if it doesn’t sound perfect?! I thought it was sickening that she was there anyway. She, like Rihanna, is a great beauty who cannot carry a tune and should just stick to modeling.
PLEASE watch FLOTUS when Beyzus is done. It’s priceless- lady can seriously give a Look! And sit down crazy lip syncing lady…you don’t have to kiss the First family twice in fact don’t kiss them at all- you’re the hired help! none of the other performers did the hugging and kissing. How long until she publicizes her handwritten thank you note to them? All the money in the world can’t buy talent. Kelly and James were humble and heartfelt and look who came out on top? And WTF Anderson if you’re live on the scene..you better be really there, not standing in front of a green screen. It’s called integrity!
omg, how about the pic of beyonce kissing barack and the faces sasha and malia have on? they obviously got their facial skillz from their mother.
Look I find comedy in everything …. The funny thing about this BEYONCE LIP-SYNCING thing is …. She declares herself KING BEY … she comes out in a Pucci Gown and thousands of dollars worth of emerald earrings and all the lace front wigs Washington D.C could muster up Looking like she was headed to the Golden Globes and she was just “GOOD” not “GREAT” not “AMAZING” just”Good” …. The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir came out in good old church robes and KILLED …(even the unnamed sista slayed) … Kelly Clarkson looked like she was going for a walk in Central Park and she was AMAZING …. … James Taylor was genius as always and played the mess out that acoustic guitar … I could care less that she pre recorded the track … blah blah blah …She was not trying to protect her voice coming out in 30 below weather with her chest and throat out … save it …. LOL
But all in all I had a great laugh as always
TACKY TACKY TACKY TACKY!
At least kelly can really sing live and shes not a diva. Shes as pro unlike bey. Kelly made bey look bad ha. I like kellys music better anyways.
I guess I’m the only one that heard her singing over the backtrack, she was literally seconds off with the track hence her pulling out the earpiece to hear herself because she was singing live but not in “time” with her pre-recorded track. Get over it people, it’s really not that big of deal. Singing over a backtrack is NOT the same as lip synching. Plenty of singers do this at venues with large open spaces which can create an echo in the singer’s ear and it throws the timing off with the band/music. Why do you think singers wear ear pieces when they perform live? It’s to stay in tune and Beyowolf was simply off. Learn the difference between lip synching and singing over pre recorded track.
Thank You! You can hear she’s singing along with the pre recorded track.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2tCNth-N9Z0
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2013/01/beyonce_lip_syncing_at_the_inauguration_musician_mike_doughty_says_she_was.html
Yeah, but why in hell did she even need to use a backing track? She came out overly confident, without her coat, looking all tacky with that orange nail polish and I thought she was mediocre at best. Then to learn that she had actually used a backing track was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I’m officially done with Beyonce. Why can’t you just be humble and show up with your A-game like Kelly and James did. Her career is on the downward slope. She can think she’s powerful all she wants to, but when it’s all said and done, she’s going to be one of the saddest stories Hollywood has ever seen and trust, she will live through every agonizing moment. I hope she has a skilled therapist on hand. She’s going to need him/her in the coming days.
LMAO at “Beyowolf!”
Why are the Obama’s so obsessed with Beyonce and vice versa? It seems unusual. It reminds me of JFK and Marilyn Monroe.
Beyonce is fake, fake, fake.
Someone at CDAN posted a old clip of Beyonce singing “live” on The Today Show.
http://www.hark.com/clips/jpjnxkzygk-howard-stern-exposes-a-screeching-beyonce-from-board-feed-on-today-show
Yikes.
Anyway, kudos to talented Kelly Clarkson for keeping it real!
Holy shit. Everything about her is fake and carefully, carefully orchestrated. Wow, someone shouldn’t have fired her daddy manager.
It’s really bizarre that people are in such a rage that maybe Beyonce lip-synched. This happens all of the time at events like this. I’m baffled why all of the sudden this is a scandal. Also Beyonce sings live all of the time. Now people are claiming she can’t sing and her career is fake. What’s funny is there are other singers, like Britney Spears, who sing live a handful of times their entire career but who never received half of the criticism that Beyonce is getting.
Now is Beyonce a singer or actress…? Apparently neither.
I feel like there are several factors that have lots of people feeling that this is qualitatively different from Whitney, Britney, Aretha, whatever else.
Nobody thinks Britney (and similar) can really sing and no one really expects her to do. AND Britney/similar don’t act like they are the amazizmg singers of epic proportions. Beyonce does. People expect her to sing.
Whitney lipped at the superbowl, apparently announced it in advance. Beyonce was at a freaking inauguration. AND that of a president she acts like she’s BFFs with. She thinks she’s BFFs with the Obamas and allies herself with them (i’m certain, at least in part for self-promotion reasons) and signs up for an historic national event and then Kelly goddamn Clarkson outsings her?
She showed up dressed in a way that was disrespectful/totally clueless as to the larger context, her hosts. Every other person of note in attendance got the memo about appropriate dress, but Beyonce had to show up flashing dollar signs.
Beyonce probably gargles her alpine spring mouthwash made of tears of mermaids in a solid gold chalice. This is her JOB. That she gets paid OBSCENE amounts of money to do. This trick got on her private jet filled with emeralds ten seconds after her performance and lives in the lap of major luxury while most people – the people that PRESIDENT we were inaugurating who SHE campaigned for – are working their asses off and still struggling – and she can’t even be bothered to prep this thing right? For chrissakes, MAKE time to practice with the goddamn band. Maybe if she’d cut some time from the trashy hoochie GQ photo shoot with Uncle Terry, she’d have more time to spend on something a *tiny* bit more important. A “powerful woman” might have put her damn clothes back on, put down the football helmet and gotten her ass to rehearsals with the freaking MARINES band.
And overall she’s just kind of sucked lately with the conspicuous wealth-flaunting, the trashy GQ, the stupidass self-adoring comments about childbirth and all her other bullsh*t, none of this stuff was the case with Whitney, Britney, whomever.
And to top it all of, she’s chosen to respond to what she obviously KNOWS has created a shitstorm that some out there will say reflects poorly not just on her, but on the freaking newly re-elected president she claims to love so much, by posting BOASTFUL pics of her looking like The Serious Singer and hasn’t said a single work.
I think, like many before her, she was genuine for a while, but has started to believe her own (overblown) hype and has just kind of become an as*hole. It’s been a barrage of Beyonce Has NO Clue Or Class and she can shove her giant emeralds up her arse and spin.
Rant. Over.
*am typing on a computer with a broken screen that has several blacked out blind spots, apologies for typos/wonkiness
I know there is a lot of Beyonce hate these days,and people seem to be experiencing Beyonce fatigue but, I just read an article that I thought looked into the lip-synch theory rather well.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/8219389/Beyonce-wasn-t-lip-synching
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