Did she or didn't she?
Speculation surrounding Beyonce's possibly lip-synced performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the 2013 Inauguration Ceremony mounted Wednesday to what has jokingly been referred to as "Beyonce-gate." The Wall Street Journal and Slate magazine insist that the superstar did sing, but used a pre-record to bolster her vocals. However, CNN confirmed with an inaugural source that Beyonce did, in fact, lip-sync.
"She did not sing live," the official said, adding that a pre-recording of her rendition of the National Anthem played instead.
The unnamed official revealed that Beyonce made the choice to lip-sync over a pre-record on Sunday night. "Because she didn't have time to rehearse with the Marine Band, she decided to use her recording with the Marine Band," the official told CNN. Her vocals were recorded separately, and the Marine Band added their instrumentals later. This decision puzzled the official because during the pre-record the singer was "spot on."
The Marine Band also initially claimed that Beyonce lip-synced her performance, but then backed off the statement.
Despite the "scandal," Beyonce reportedly saw no issue with using the pre-record.
"She didn't think there was anything wrong with it," a source told Us Weekly. "Pavarotti has done it! It was freezing out, and if she messed up just one note, that would have been the story." Adding, "Everybody uses these tracks, and the music director advised it. Any big outdoor live performance is almost always with some kind of track."
Other artists also defended the "Love On Top" singer.
"It's not the first or the last time that someone has had to lip-sync," said Beyonce's Destiny's Child bandmate Michelle Williams, citing Whitney Houston as another great artist who has used background help. Alicia Keys agrees that regardless of the "whys," everyone knows Beyonce can sing.
Even Fab Morvan, of the infamous lip-syncing duo Milli Vanilli, offered his support. "It's hard to believe, in this day of auto-tune, that people are still acting surprised [by Beyonce lip-syncing]," he told TMZ. "Everyone knows Beyonce can sing. Everyone should just step back and relax. There are far more important things to worry about. But I can certainly relate to what she's going through."
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