#BeyonceDoingKaraokeNow?

Hey everybody!! By now you have heard about the first controversy of 2013: Beyonce may have possibly lip synced the National Anthem at the Presidential Inauguration.  Honestly, as I am writing this I can't believe this has made big news the way it has.  I expect TMZ or Entertainment Tonight to make a big deal about this but now you got CNN and MSNBC covering it like it's the war in the Middle East.  But since it has made major news, I felt compelled to write a post on it.

First, let me discuss how I feel about any artist lip syncing.  If you call your self a singer then I expect you to sing live whenver you do a performance if the conditions allow it.  What I mean is if you are inside a venue standing in front of a mic then you should be singing live for dear life.  Now if you are dancing your butt off, hanging upside down, doing backflips, or maybe singing outside under harsh weather conditions, then lip syncing to a pre-recording is understandable (even though I have been to an outdoor concert when it was cold and raining and I know the performers were still singing live).  I believe artists owe it to their fans who support them to give them good live performances.  If I pay to go to your concert, I want to hear you, not a recording.  I can stay at home and listen to your CD.

Do you think she sang live?

With that said, let me get back to Ms. Beyonce.  It actually does not bother me if she was lip syncing or not.  If she did it, she is certainly not the first artist to do it.  But what does make me give a side eye is that I keep hearing a lot of excuses about her supposed karaoke performance.  The main excuse is that the weather made it hard for her to sing it live.  Let me mention that Kelly Clarkson (also singing outdoors) sang live.  It also makes me raise an eye brow that no one from her team has confirmed that it was a live a performance.  All we have gotten is that a member of the Marine band saying that even though they were not actually playing their instruments they cannot confirm if she did sing live or not.  But we know that Queen B is good at playing the silent game. 

Whatever the case may be, we know that Beyonce can sing and that she can sing live.  If she chose to lip sync the National Anthem to play it safe then I guess I'm okay with that.  I mean, really, who wants to mess up such an epic song knowing the nation is watching?  But, Beyonce, if you did lip sync that performance you need an Oscar for that performance because you were lip syncing like Blue Ivy's life depended on it.  I'm just ready for her half-time performance at the Superbowl.  The only controversy that might come out of that is her not letting Kelly or Michelle  get any singing time.

P.S.

My SISTAH sang live!

My SISTAH singing live is never a question.