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Opponents of the newly-inaugurated US President Barack Obama have a new scandal to pounce on after it emerged on Tuesday that Beyonce’s stirring rendition of the national anthem at the inauguration was lip-synched. |
A spokesperson for the Marine Band which performed together with the pop superstar at Monday’s official event confirmed to the New York Post that all the music for the inauguration had been pre-recorded in case of bad weather.
Event organisers issued the order to switch to the backing track just before Beyonce went on for what was to have been a live performance.
“We don’t know why,” Sergeant Kristin duBois said. “But that is what we were instructed to do so that is what we did. It’s not because Beyonce can’t sing. We all know Beyonce can sing. We all know the Marine Band can play.”
DuBois said it was standard operating procedure to pre-record all the music for the event in case bad weather makes it difficult for musicians to perform, as happened at the last inauguration.
But right wing media expressed outrage over the revelation. The influential Drudge Report led with the headline “Faked It,” while the Rupert-Murdoch-owned New York Post called it “shocking”.
However, there was no shortage of reaction on Twitter in support of the songstress, who will play the Super Bowl half-time show in February.
“Who cares that Beyonce Lip #Sync the National Anthem, it was recorded live an hour before. You try singing in that cold,” tweeted one fan.
“Beyonce certainly acted like a diva ... but I don’t see how that can be compared to Lance Armstrong cheating for 7 straight years at the least,” said another Twitter user, referring to the disgraced cyclist.
“Beyonce is the best lip-syncer I’ve seen,” added a third fan. “Because she surely fooled me.”