Beyoncé Lip-Synched &#39;The Star-Spangled Banner&#39; at the Inauguration (Update)S

Bad news, Bey-holes: Beyoncé's performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" yesterday was lip-synched, according to The Times:



A spokeswoman for the Marine Corp Band said it was standard procedure to record a backing track and Beyoncé decided shortly before her performance to rely on the studio version rather than risk singing it live on the Capitol.

And so, there was a very real reason that it was "flawless," as Caity Weaver gushed after it happened (a Beyoncé fan myself, I was unmoved): Because it was contrived to be so. This has echoes of the Whitney Houston Super Bowl national anthem lip-synching controversy (a recap: officials said it was canned, while Whitney's people said she was singing live just not amplified).

In any case, for a consummate performer such as Beyoncé, whose entire star is based on the perfection of contrivance like she's the queen of beauty queens, this proves is as good at lip-synching as she is everything else. The unneeded ear-piece removal was a glorious touch. And she would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling journalists.

Update: Some people are claiming this video of the performance picks up both Beyoncé singing live and a backing track.

[Image via Getty]