Beyoncé Lip-Syncing Scandal Rages On

Did she lip-sync or didn't she? That's the question still on many American's minds two days after popular singer Beyoncé Knowles gave what appeared to be a stirring rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at President Obama's inauguration on Monday.

The mini-scandal has created more of a buzz even than the president's widely-praised inauguration speech.

Speculation the song was not performed live surfaced immediately on Twitter and was given legs early on Tuesday in a story by Washington, D.C. magazine, The Washingtonian. The Times of London later reported that they had confirmed Beyoncé lip-synced her performance.

Fuel to the fire were photos posted by Beyoncé to her Tumblr account, showing what appears to be a recording session with the U.S. Marine Band, which accompanied her performance, in advance of the inauguration ceremony.

Beyoncé Knowles sings the National Anthem during swearing-in ceremonies on the West front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 21, 2013. /Reuters Beyoncé Knowles sings the National Anthem during swearing-in ceremonies on the West front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 21, 2013. /Reuters

Beyoncé herself has been silent on the subject, but the U.S. Marine Band has given conflicting statements.

While one spokesman for the U.S. Marine Band originally told many news outlets that a pre-recorded voice track of the song was used, another spokesman wasn't so certain.

"Regarding Ms. Knowles-Carter's [Beyoncé] vocal performance, no one in the Marine Band is in a position to assess whether it was live or pre-recorded," said Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Gregory Wolf to the Associated Press.

Wolf confirmed only that a pre-recorded music track was used in place of live accompaniment.

And so the speculation continues.

On Wednesday National Public Radio floated the notion that she both sang and used a pre-recorded track during the performance.

There are no confirmed cases of another singer lip-syncing the national anthem during a presidential inauguration. Singer Kelly Clarkson, who performed "My Country 'Tis of Thee" during Monday's ceremony, did sing live.

During Obama's first inauguration, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman were scheduled to perform live, but because of the frigid temperatures, a recording was played, while the two performers mimed playing.

VOA News / Jan. 24, 2013 07:56 KST