Oh Say Can She Sing! Does Anyone Actually Care If Beyonce Sang Over A Track? [POLL]
Written by
Danielle Young, Associate Editor
Published on
January 23, 2013
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Did Beyonce lip sync her way through her performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” at President Obama’s swearing in? Yes? No? Who cares! Beyonce can sing. We know that. Hell, we’ve always known that since she led Destiny’s Child into girl-group superstardom. So what’s the big damn deal with her lip-syncing at the Inauguration?
Beyonce posted a photo on Instagram the day before her swearing-in performance and she was in the studio, displaying sheet music for “The Star Spangled Banner.” Perhaps the pretty-close-to-perfect singer was laying down the track she used at the Inauguration?
Let’s define lip-syncing, shall we? I know many of you remember Milli Vanilli. Obviously Beyonce has the talent those two chiseled men never had. However, according to Wikipedia, lip-syncing “is a technical term for matching lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. The term can refer to any of a number of different techniques and processes, in the context of live performances and recordings. In the case of live concert performances, lip-synching is a commonly used shortcut, but it can be considered controversial.”
Controversial, yes, but why? When a singer’s talent has been proven through the years, there’s no need to question their abilities. The only way I would understand why everyone is up in arms, is if Beyonce wasn’t singing to her own voice. That’s a scandal.
I was there. I may not have been close to the “I Was Here” singer, but I heard her voice loud and clear. No, I didn’t hear her take breaths into the mic and the performance lacked imperfect pitch indicative of a live performance in cold weather. Honestly, as I stood out in front of the Capitol amongst strangers, all anticipating King Bey’s performance, I was slightly disappointed once she sang her last note.
This historic moment deserved authenticity. Beyonce didn’t deliver. The world is now upset. I was left wanting more, but I wasn’t ready to run to Twitter to express my disdain. I just figured she played it safe, didn’t want to “do the most” and delivered a very boring (don’t judge me, you know the national anthem isn’t the most interesting song in the world) rendition of the national anthem. Let’s not act as if Beyonce isn’t one of the best performers (in my Kanye voice) of ALL time! Plus, let’s be real. She’s not the first, nor the last uber-talented singer who relied on a back track. Word to Whitney Houston’s (rumored) lip-synced rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.”
Excuse Beyonce as she gets her SANG on…
I chatted with NewsOne’sSenior Editor, Abena Agyeman-Fisher who attended the swearing-in with a front row seat and she had this to say about Beyonce’s performance:
“She didn’t sound live. I didn’t hear pauses, gasps or anything. It seemed like it played all the way through. It was smooth. Afterwards, someone in the crowd was like, ‘That’s it?’ People loved Kelly’s performance. They cheered and once Beyonce was finished, you could hear a pin drop. I could have gone to sleep.”
Then I asked Chief Content Officer of Interactive One, Smokey Fontaine, who also attended and was very close to the singer during her performance and he said:
“I was 20 ft from her. She was singing. I was watching that woman sing. It’s online hate. We’re a victim of the 24/7 news cycle and everyone needs a big story. They love tearing people down and she’s in the web of tear down mentality. When someone reaches a phenomenal height, we all have something to say. Was it the most moving performance of Beyonce I’ve ever seen? No. It was average. Did she leave her heart out there? Probably not. I don’t think she was expected to and she was sitting in the cold for two hours prior with Jay the whole time. I don’t think that’s a fair expectation for that level of performance.”
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Check out some celebrity reactions to Beyonce’s lip-sync thanks to Fox News:
“I will say this, it’s not the first or the last time that someone has had to lip-sync…my greatest singer of all time, Whitney Houston, it came to light that her anthem was in fact lip-synced. It’s their personal preference. With big crowds and echoes, you know when it’s a big historical moment, you don’t want any room for any mistakes so I can understand why it was done.”
“I thought it was funny because the weather down there was about 46 or 44 degrees and for most singers that is just not good singing weather. When I heard that I just really cracked up. I thought it was really funny, but she did a beautiful job with the pre-record.”
“Sometimes it happens when you are in certain stadiums and certain venues and things, they do pre-record stuff because you’re going to have that terrible slapback.”
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Did Beyonce lip sync her way through her performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” at President Obama’s swearing in? Yes? No? Who cares! Beyonce can sing. We know that. Hell, we’ve always known that since she led Destiny’s Child into girl-group superstardom. So what’s the big damn deal with her lip-syncing at the Inauguration?
Beyonce posted a photo on Instagram the day before her swearing-in performance and she was in the studio, displaying sheet music for “The Star Spangled Banner.” Perhaps the pretty-close-to-perfect singer was laying down the track she used at the Inauguration?
Let’s define lip-syncing, shall we? I know many of you remember Milli Vanilli. Obviously Beyonce has the talent those two chiseled men never had. However, according to Wikipedia, lip-syncing “is a technical term for matching lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. The term can refer to any of a number of different techniques and processes, in the context of live performances and recordings. In the case of live concert performances, lip-synching is a commonly used shortcut, but it can be considered controversial.”
Controversial, yes, but why? When a singer’s talent has been proven through the years, there’s no need to question their abilities. The only way I would understand why everyone is up in arms, is if Beyonce wasn’t singing to her own voice. That’s a scandal.
I was there. I may not have been close to the “I Was Here” singer, but I heard her voice loud and clear. No, I didn’t hear her take breaths into the mic and the performance lacked imperfect pitch indicative of a live performance in cold weather. Honestly, as I stood out in front of the Capitol amongst strangers, all anticipating King Bey’s performance, I was slightly disappointed once she sang her last note.
This historic moment deserved authenticity. Beyonce didn’t deliver. The world is now upset. I was left wanting more, but I wasn’t ready to run to Twitter to express my disdain. I just figured she played it safe, didn’t want to “do the most” and delivered a very boring (don’t judge me, you know the national anthem isn’t the most interesting song in the world) rendition of the national anthem. Let’s not act as if Beyonce isn’t one of the best performers (in my Kanye voice) of ALL time! Plus, let’s be real. She’s not the first, nor the last uber-talented singer who relied on a back track. Word to Whitney Houston’s (rumored) lip-synced rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.”
Excuse Beyonce as she gets her SANG on…
I chatted with NewsOne’sSenior Editor, Abena Agyeman-Fisher who attended the swearing-in with a front row seat and she had this to say about Beyonce’s performance:
“She didn’t sound live. I didn’t hear pauses, gasps or anything. It seemed like it played all the way through. It was smooth. Afterwards, someone in the crowd was like, ‘That’s it?’ People loved Kelly’s performance. They cheered and once Beyonce was finished, you could hear a pin drop. I could have gone to sleep.”
Then I asked Chief Content Officer of Interactive One, Smokey Fontaine, who also attended and was very close to the singer during her performance and he said:
“I was 20 ft from her. She was singing. I was watching that woman sing. It’s online hate. We’re a victim of the 24/7 news cycle and everyone needs a big story. They love tearing people down and she’s in the web of tear down mentality. When someone reaches a phenomenal height, we all have something to say. Was it the most moving performance of Beyonce I’ve ever seen? No. It was average. Did she leave her heart out there? Probably not. I don’t think she was expected to and she was sitting in the cold for two hours prior with Jay the whole time. I don’t think that’s a fair expectation for that level of performance.”
Follow HelloBeautiful On Twitter!
Check out some celebrity reactions to Beyonce’s lip-sync thanks to Fox News:
“I will say this, it’s not the first or the last time that someone has had to lip-sync…my greatest singer of all time, Whitney Houston, it came to light that her anthem was in fact lip-synced. It’s their personal preference. With big crowds and echoes, you know when it’s a big historical moment, you don’t want any room for any mistakes so I can understand why it was done.”
“I thought it was funny because the weather down there was about 46 or 44 degrees and for most singers that is just not good singing weather. When I heard that I just really cracked up. I thought it was really funny, but she did a beautiful job with the pre-record.”
“Sometimes it happens when you are in certain stadiums and certain venues and things, they do pre-record stuff because you’re going to have that terrible slapback.”
