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Beyoncé It Ain’t So: Inaugural Official Now Confirms Singer Did in Fact Lip-Sync National Anthem

Jan. 24, 2013 8:24am Liz Klimas

Anonymous Inaugural Official Says Beyoncé Did Not Sing Live

Beyonce performs the National Anthem during the 57th Presidential Inauguration ceremonial swearing-in at the US Capitol on January 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

Given the back-and-forth of reports regarding singer Beyoncé’s alleged lip-syncing of the National Anthem during Monday’s inaugural ceremonies, it officially merits the terms being used to describe it. Among them are “lip-sync-gate” and ”Beyoncé-gate.”

Speculation that the Beyoncé lip-synced “The Star Spangled Banner” were at first confirmed by the Marine Corps Band, which was to accompany the singer, but shortly thereafter taken back by its spokesperson. Then, on Wednesday, CNN reported that an inaugural officia — who spoke of the condition of anonymity — confirmed Beyoncé did opt to use her pre-recorded version of the song.

“She did not sing live,” the official said to CNN.

Here’s more from CNN of the official’s account:

Beyoncé arrived so late Sunday night she did not have time to rehearse with the U.S. Marine Band, which was asked to accompany the pop star’s performance, according to the inauguration official.

“Because she didn’t have time to rehearse with the Marine Band, she decided to use her recording with the Marine Band,” the official added. “It was all Beyoncé.”

The official was somewhat puzzled by Beyoncé’s decision, noting when she made the pre-recording, “she was spot on.”

British audio specialist Ian Shepherd wrote in a post on his website (via NPR) that Beyoncé may have done both. Shepherd wrote Beyoncé sang live but was doing so to the pre-recorded version.

“The video above clearly shows Beyoncé singing live at President Obama’s inauguration, despite the fact that many news outlets are claiming she mimed,” Shepherd wrote. “You can also clearly hear the pre-recorded backing in the video, made earlier in case of technical problems.”

Clues indicating this, according to Shepherd, are:

When she starts singing, her voice is hard to hear – the microphone gain is too low. The sound-man quickly corrects this – but if we were listening to a recording this wouldn’t happen – in fact back-up recordings are used to solve exactly this kind of problem.

At 1’16″ in the video above, she tilts her head slightly closer to the mic and the sound gets suddenly more bassy. This is because of an acoustic effect known as the “proximity effect”.

At 1’52″ she takes out one of her earpieces. Some people are citing this as more evidence she was lip-syncing, but in fact it’s what singers do when they’re having trouble hearing the pitch of their own voice through the earpiece. By taking it out, she can hear her own voice more clearly and sing in tune more easily. (In fact, if the pre-recorded vocal was going to her earpiece, she may well have been finding it distracting.)

At 2’17″ she smiles slightly, and you can hear this “smile” in her voice.

Here’s the video if you want to listen again with these clues in mind:

Beyoncé has remained quiet on the topic so far, but other stars have come out in her defense.

“But, when I heard the news this evening that she was pre-recorded I really laughed,” singer Aretha Franklin told ABC News. “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 … next time I’ll probably do the same.”

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Comments (69)

B-Neil
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 10:53am
I listened to a great redition of the anthum. Taped or not. It was cold; bad mouthers need to try and signg in the cold and sound good. God bless her. They could have had Rosie O’donald. Rosie was more then likely the Demos first choice.

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- Jim S
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 12:17pm
  ..It’s official, Jay Z has 100 Problems…
  
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- carhouse
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 1:17pm
  she was paid 1.8 million to perform, she did not perform so give me my mony back Biatch
  
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SPIN_MD
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 10:44am
Like this is news. The woman has a horrible voice. They had to record it over produce and overlay it to make it sound like what people routinely associate with her.

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- cessna152
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 11:07am
  Let me get this straight….our country is burning to the ground yet we are spending days figuring out if a woman really sang or not? I guess if my house were on fire I’d stand back and watch it burn instead of contacting the fire department….and in the meantime, While it’s burning, I’d stand outside and complain to my neighbor about the cost of eggs…
  
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- carhouse
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 1:24pm
  I would rather here off key 3rd graders than pay her1.8 million to fake it!!
  like she needs the money, she should have done it for free.
  
  Report this comment
mewnani
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 10:17am
Well well who knew? Eh, she couldn’t sing anyway.

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satotbs
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 10:11am
Really. Is this the screaming teen version of “The Blaze”?

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The Big Mick
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 10:11am
(Sigh!)
What SHOULD bother us is not that she faked it, but that THOSE WHO WERE PRESENT AND TOLD THE TRUTH, and who wear the Uniform of The Republic and The Marine Corps—were TYRANNIZED into “taking back” THE TRUTH!
Whoever MADE “the spokesman” “back away” from THE TRUTH, MUST BE SHOT!!!

Just another example of The General Refusal of Our Nation of Useful Idiot Enablers Clincial Denial of Reality.

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- carhouse
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 1:13pm
  and she was paid 1.8 million.. paid in full for not even half the contract obligation.
  
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Kitrowley
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:58am
It makes sense – He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is lip-syncing the Presidency so why not “fake” anthems?

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billy3
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:37am
How ironic that this was lip sync (ed). I think it is hilarious and representative of the overall aesthetic of this administration. Everything is orchestrated for “the performance” weather its real or not. Obama, without a tele-prompter can get himself into all kinds of doo doo, remember “they didn’t build that”?

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- Mil-Dot
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:53am
  It’s just like anything else with “their people”. They don’t have to do their jobs. Only the snowman has to show up on time and actually work for a living. They don’t have to because, why, they are the “protected ones”.
  
  Report this comment
GuruMeditation
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:24am
Lame. Cheap. Empty.

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- brntout
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:39am
  Like that Empty Suit in Office, orator-in-chief ( sorry Native Americans for mentioning chief) but in the grand scheme of things, does anybody really care? Distractions,distractions,distractions. What the HELL is the other hand up too?
  
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tweetybird
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:22am
Ya know, if you can’t do the job you were hired to do….don’t accept the job. To me….all she has are excuses. Little miss diva showed up late….didn’t have time to rehearse. Boo freaking Hoo. Next time leave earlier.

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- barber2
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:29am
  She had time to put on her make-up , fix her hair and that dress, however . Priorities please…
  
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oldincarolina
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:11am
She is like many in this administration ….Fake .

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- billy3
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:39am
  Exactly!
  
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leonardo44
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:59am
she arrives late for the inauguration? she doesn’t have time to rehearse? Really? Isn’t this a really important moment for her? Didn’t she have more then a couple of months to prepare since Obama won the election back in early November? It is the lying that is the most offensive. Maybe she had a legit reason for using the pre recorded tape, like the flu or something, but then then admit to singing with the pre recorded tape.

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- nacilbuper
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:03am
  Everything around the President is a lie.
  
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- carhouse
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 1:15pm
  and she was paid 1.8 million of our tax dollars for not doing her job
  she must be governmnet employee
  
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nacilbuper
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:57am
Word on the Street (Harry Reid) is that Hillary said “What difference does it make!”

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- PA PATRIOT
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:58am
  Exactly spot on. Do you remember when Clinton said “…who wants a president who will knowingly, repeatedly tell you something he knows is not true?””
  
  Ahhh but the answer was precious.. “So What!”
  Gotta love the lying SOBs of the political arena.
  prepared
  
  Report this comment
circleDwagons
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:55am
Great job BLAZE!,, This is exactly the type of stories you should be reporting. Oh Wait, this is just a conspiracy. Crazies / racists saying that one of the greatests lip sync.

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- brntout
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:30am
  Lip synch, lip service? Seems prompter-in chief did the same.
  
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- billy3
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:43am
  Yep that is typical to call someone racist that is critical to this disastrous administration. When you have nothing left of value to argue, all you have to do is throw the race card.
  
  Report this comment
noslave
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:51am
so what the admistration is as phoney as a $3 bill,transparency,fraud,truthfuness,etc.??in a way it was appropiate??

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SpankDaMonkey
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:44am
.
A Lip-Syncing Slave who would have thunk that………..

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- OldSurfRat
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:55am
  We must both be on thunk train LOL
  
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- brntout
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:44am
  @ SPANK I think I heard the teleprompter in the background screaming “Help I’ve fallen and I cant”t get up!”
  
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OldSurfRat
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:44am
Surprise!!!!!
Another fake thing in this Admin.
Who would have thunk..

I know it’s been done before but seems so appropriate for this current occupant.

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- naughtycal
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:51am
  If she wasn’t singing then why even fake it. I would have more respect for her people said she could perform do to illness and had them play her practice performance while she stood tall hand over heart.
  
  Her vanity was her undoing so worried that the accustics would deminition her performance that she chose not to even try. This speaks volumes about her and about thye actual artist that dared to actually sing live. The NFL should fire her from the superbowl halftime and hire Kelly Clarkson.
  
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- carhouse
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 1:14pm
  she was paid in full 1.8 million of your/my tax dollars
  B effen S
  
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rafraf55
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:43am
A phony singer for a phony president . In a way it fits , hand in hand. Bethcha that if the song was about their beloved Barrack Odrama, well she would NOT have faked out on that song.What a freakin load of crap.

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101stIraqVet
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:41am
If singers would just sing the national anthem like it’s supposed to be sung, this wouldn’t have happened, but most everyone these days has to add their own flair with thousands of pitch changes to make it their own. If you cant just belt it out, don’t sing the song.

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- DADDYWOREAWHITEHAT
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:54am
  You kidding? How many of those hollywierd elite do you think actually know the words to the song?
  And they certainly don’t respect it enough to sing it as it was written. Should have some high school choir member to do the song.
  
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oldguy49
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:41am
what really…really ….got me was the MARINE CORPS band was backing up the lie

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- DADDYWOREAWHITEHAT
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:56am
  Actually they said it was fake. Then their commander told them to retreat. Then they said they couldn’t tell if it was fake. Just following orders.
  
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- barber2
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:28am
  Just another reason why the lying radicals hate our military ! Truth to a radical is like light to a vampire.
  
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barber2
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:40am
The American people have grown accustomed to the Hollywood flare of Mr. Empty Chair Teleprompter, Barack Obama , whose administration was droned in here via a Media Blitz and was scripted by the internationally- funded Center For American ” Progress ” ( wink, wink ).

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momrules
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:39am
Hmmm………what is the truth, what is the truth? Do we care about the truth or does it really matter anymore in this world of lies and make believe? Am I now to be disparaged as a *truther* if I actually prefer honesty to lies and make believe?

Maybe Snopes will settle the question of whether Beyonce sang live or lip synced. I will wait with baited breath for their decision.

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- momrules
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:48am
  ……….and yes, I know I should have said *bated breath*
  
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- DADDYWOREAWHITEHAT
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:50am
  Good point. there does seem to be a push to make wanting to know the truth appear to be a “bad” thing. Give it a mean name like truther & pile on to use the name with disgust until the ones who want truth are all silenced. Remember Benghazi.
  
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Zipit
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:33am
Er, uh, and, er, (pause), er aaaaah! Maybe she can teach Obama to lip-sync all of his public addresses, saving the time and $$$ it takes to transport the “Tele-Prompter in chief” around the country!!!

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- jettson
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:42am
  Thank you blaze
  
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biohazard23
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:31am
And…? The country is still going to hell in a hand basket so, in the words of dear Hillary, what difference at this point does it make?

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Gonzo
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:30am
Well, this nullifies the entire inauguration and we’ll need to have a special election for POTUS!

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VetMike
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:29am
So, the members of the Marine Corps Bnad were called lairs for making this claim the day after the inauguration. Now Beyonce admits that she did lip sync the Anthem. And she put up all kinds of lame excuses. But so far no-one has apologized to the Band. TYpical liberal hypocrisy.

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- jettson
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:41am
  The people of this country are just jerks. What the hell is going on
  
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- barber2
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:42am
  Typical , radical Left LIES. Let’s call a spade a spade for a change .
  
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- barber2
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:49am
  VET: My comment above was to you , not to Jett.
  
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- circleDwagons
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:59am
  A fake singer for a fake pres for a fake country for fake rights
  
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- Mil-Dot
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 10:06am
  Yeah Jettson,
  We are jerks because we value truth and honesty as opposed to lies and phony BS. Beyonce is a liar. But, she got caught.
  
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