Beyonce lip-synced 'The Star Spangled Banner,' reports say
Halfway through her rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at President Barack Obama's inauguration on Monday, Beyonce dramatically did away with the earpiece that singers use to hear themselves and their bands in a live setting.
One viewer likened it to the gutsy move Luke Skywalker made in the dramatic chase scene in the original "Star Wars," tweeting: "Taking out the earpiece is Luke turning off the targeting system in the Death Star trench."
But now a rep for the United States Marine Band has confirmed to The Post that Beyonce was not even singing the song live.
She was lip-syncing.
The rep said that the multi-platinum singer decided to perform to a pre-recorded track at the last minute.
“All music is pre-recorded for the ceremony because there are so many eventualities and conditions that day,” Kristin DuBois told the paper. “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 reason why.”
Sources also tell Fox News that Beyonce was a no-show at the inauguration performance rehearsal on the Capitol steps.
And there's more.
A report in The Washingtonian questions the band's performance as well, citing eyewitnesses at the inauguration who said the band was not playing either. The report also shows an Instagram picture of Beyonce with members of the Marine Corps Band in a recording studio on Sunday.
Calls to Beyonce's rep were not immediately returned.
If the lip-syncing allegations are true, would that make Beyonce's dramatic earpiece drop mere staging, akin to funk legend James Brown's move of dramatically throwing off his cape in his performances?
FOX411 did a poll on Monday asking viewers if Beyonce or Kelly Clarkson gave the best vocal performance at the inauguration. Clarkson sang "America," and so far has not been accused of using a pre-recorded track.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/en...z2IjISkgkN
EXCLUSIVE DETAILS
Kelly Clarkson doesn't compare to
Beyonce -- because Kelly actually sang her song LIVE yesterday at the Presidential Inauguration ... TMZ has learned ... unlike Beyonce, who lip-synced to a pre-recorded track.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Marine Corp Band -- which provides the music for the Inauguration -- tells TMZ, Beyonce mouthed the words to a pre-recorded studio version of "The Star-Spangled Banner."
But the rep added, Kelly sang "My Country 'Tis of Thee" WITHOUT the help of a backing track.
The rep said it's standard procedure to record a backing track before a live performance such as this -- you know, just in case -- and Bey decided at the last minute to rely on the studio version instead of winging it in person.
The rep added, "We all know Beyonce can sing ... We don't know why she chose to use the pre-recorded track."
Read more: http://www.tmz.com#ixzz2IjIhYV68
On January 20, the day before the ceremony, Beyoncé posted pictures to her Instagram account that appeared to show her in a recording studio. In one, she holds a copy of the sheet music to “The Star Spangled Banner” in front of a microphone attached to a recording device, and in another she sits in front of recording equipment while members of the Marine Corps Band stand clutching sheet music behind her.
http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/afterhours/inauguration-2013/did-beyonce-lip-sync-the-star-spangled-banner.php
[Edited 1/22/13 10:25am]
[Edited 1/22/13 11:42am]