Beyonce belts out national anthem live before lip sync admission
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Beyonce faced the music at a press conference Thursday before the Super Bowl, admitting that she did lip sync when she performed the national anthem on Inauguration Day.
The singer said she's a "perfectionist" and wanted her performance for President Barack Obama to be a memorable one. She called the day "emotional."
"I practice until my feet bleed and I did not have time to rehearse with the orchestra," she said. "Due to no proper sound check, I did not feel comfortable taking a risk. It was about the president and the inauguration, and I wanted to make him and my country proud, so I decided to sing along with my pre-recorded track, which is very common in the music industry. And I'm very proud of my performance."
She opened her press conference in New Orleans with a live rendition of the national anthem. She asked those at the conference to stand before she belted "The Star Spangled Banner," and after she said with a laugh: "Any questions?"
The superstar hadn't spoken publicly since it was alleged that she lip-synched her rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at President Barack Obama's inauguration last week. Her critically praised performance came under scrutiny less than a day later when a representative from the U.S. Marine Band said she wasn't singing live and the band's accompanying performance was taped. Shortly after, the group backed off its initial statement and said no one could tell if she was singing live or not.
The halftime performance became a main focus of her afternoon press conference, even though she'd likely rather concentrate on questions about her set list for Sunday and her upcoming HBO documentary, "Life Is but a Dream," which shown for the media just before Beyonce spoke.
Beyonce has teased photos and video of herself preparing for the show, which will perhaps be the biggest audience of her career. Last year, Madonna's halftime performance was the most-watched Super Bowl halftime performance ever, with an average of 114 million viewers. It garnered more viewers than the game itself, which was the most-watched U.S. TV event in history.
The singer said she's a "perfectionist" and wanted her performance for President Barack Obama to be a memorable one. She called the day "emotional."
"I practice until my feet bleed and I did not have time to rehearse with the orchestra," she said. "Due to no proper sound check, I did not feel comfortable taking a risk. It was about the president and the inauguration, and I wanted to make him and my country proud, so I decided to sing along with my pre-recorded track, which is very common in the music industry. And I'm very proud of my performance."
She opened her press conference in New Orleans with a live rendition of the national anthem. She asked those at the conference to stand before she belted "The Star Spangled Banner," and after she said with a laugh: "Any questions?"
The superstar hadn't spoken publicly since it was alleged that she lip-synched her rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at President Barack Obama's inauguration last week. Her critically praised performance came under scrutiny less than a day later when a representative from the U.S. Marine Band said she wasn't singing live and the band's accompanying performance was taped. Shortly after, the group backed off its initial statement and said no one could tell if she was singing live or not.
The halftime performance became a main focus of her afternoon press conference, even though she'd likely rather concentrate on questions about her set list for Sunday and her upcoming HBO documentary, "Life Is but a Dream," which shown for the media just before Beyonce spoke.
Beyonce has teased photos and video of herself preparing for the show, which will perhaps be the biggest audience of her career. Last year, Madonna's halftime performance was the most-watched Super Bowl halftime performance ever, with an average of 114 million viewers. It garnered more viewers than the game itself, which was the most-watched U.S. TV event in history.
I'm so sick of seeing this story everywhere, I have to rant. First off, everyone knows she can sing. It is not the point. The point is she faked it because she is fake. Her personality is fake. She is a money grubbing ho like her husband. You have hundreds millions of dollars and you stick a gold chain in your mouth on a commercial for a couple million like a money ho she is.
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Let me re-iterate. I have no respect for this person. She would sell her first born child if there was enough money in it.
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So THAT is the point. Not her singing! Do you get it yet? Don't be fake people, don't sell yourself out like a ho when you have already made tons of money doing what you do. Understand?
I have lost all respect for her. She is a world famous pop star.. This is like lance armstrong taking performance enhancing drugs..... I don't care what anyone says... It's cheating... Â Cheater.....
@stldragon10 Who cares what you think.
 @stldragon10 Cheating?  How about you get infront of tons of people and belt out the national anthem?  If you look into it...That is her voice, yes it may have been pre recorded...but It was her.  Have respect for people...have respect.
What a phony, perfect for the generation that likes their music scrubbed, auto-tuned, and canned. I hope her CD starts skipping on Sunday while she's mouthing along to it.
Dang, she hasn't got this much press in a long time..
WHO CARES ANYMORE !!!
She already blew-it!!!
yawn...
It wouldn't have been such a big deal if she would have came out right away and fessed up. Maybe she just liked being in the news and milked it for all she could.........
Disgraceful. She's a singer, she was asked to sing, she couldn't do it live. Pathetic really.   I hope we the taxpayers didn't pay to fly her behind to DC to pretend to sing.
Good for her.  So many of our "pop stars" don't have the musical chops to sing the National Anthem..or hold a tune period, and she showed that she's the real deal.   Being a "star" and being a "musician" are two different things.Â
 @newspuppy Agreed. I don't like a single Beyonce song but I'm still completely willing to concede that she's a fantastic vocalist with an immense amount of talent.Â
First off - absolutely no reason for her to "justify" things - actually makes her look kinda cheesy in the end. Secondly - I think she knows by now that she made a tactical error by agreeing to the arrangement at the inaugural in the first place.
"The singer said she's a "perfectionist" and wanted her performance for President Barack Obama to be a memorable one." Well she sure suceeded at that, didn't she?
Wow....now that this extremely important issue has been put to rest not only can I sleep now but perhaps we can focus on real problems and issues that truly impact the lives of our families, the economy, nature, and someday stop buying into this crap like Beyonce / the Kardashians / and what ever the heck a Honey Boo Boo is. If we took the time, money and effort out of entertainment and applied it properly to what was really important things would be very different for many people.
Kelly Clarkson managed to sing live......
Fake singing.......... really lol
I watch the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet when the halftime show does not compel me to watch. Looks like I am going to enjoy those puppies this year!
I think I would rather see and HEAR Alvin and the Chipmunks perform...
She's no Whitney...
So true, scepticaloptimist!! Unlike Whitney, Beyonce is actually alive and performing and not just another washed up, deceased drug addict who couldn't handle her life.....
 @chiapetto I agree w/Skeptic.... Whitney, in her prime, was a superior singer with incredible range, emotion and vocals. Little comparison there.