Editorial: Beyonce lip-synced? Say it ain’t so
Editorials January 23, 2013 5:54PM
FILE - This May 7, 2012 file photo shows Beyonce Knowles at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala benefit in New York. Beyonce will sing the national anthem at President Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony. The committee planning the Jan. 21 event also announced Wednesday that Kelly Clarkson will perform "My Country `Tis of Thee" and James Taylor will sing "America the Beautiful" at the swearing-in ceremony on the Capitol's west front. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File)
Updated: February 25, 2013 12:42PM
Call us old fashioned, but we think big stars who sing at presidential inaugurations — history in the making and all that — should actually sing. If that’s too much to ask of them, let somebody else give it a shot.
Word is Beyonce lip-synced that terrific performance of the national anthem on Monday, backed by a recorded track — again not live — by the Marine Corps Band.
They sure fooled us. We really thought Beyonce was nailing it live. We marveled at how well she kept time with the band in such an acoustically inhospitable setting.
Lip-syncing was fine on “American Bandstand.” It’s all but expected for Super Bowl halftime shows and Olympic ceremonies.
But we’re guessing we’re not alone in thinking that faking a performance cheapens an occasion as auspicious as the swearing in of an American president. Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman should not have done it four years ago, and Beyonce should not have Monday.
At a presidential inauguration, the only thing unreal should be the politicians.
