OH THE SHADE!!! I have to praise the hell out of ABC News for this spectacular get – seriously, their producers deserve a medal. I would have never thought to score an interview with Aretha Franklin to get her to say something hilarious about Beyonce’s alleged lip-synch of the National Anthem during the inauguration. But ABC News got Aretha, and Aretha brought it home for us, delivering a world-class side-eye at Bey. ARETHA 4 EVA.
She has yet to comment on reports that she lip-synched when performing the Star Spangled Banner at President Obama’s inauguration ceremony. But one person not holding back with her crticism of Beyoncé’s reported miming is Aretha Franklin, who admitted she ‘cracked up’ when she heard the news. However, Aretha, who performed at Obama’s first inauguration ceremony back in 2009, told ABC News that the singer had ‘done a beautiful job with the pre-record’.
She said: ‘When I heard the news this evening that she was pre-recorded I really laughed. I thought it was funny because the weather down there was about 46 or 44 degrees and for most singers that is just not good singing weather. When I heard that I just really cracked up. I thought it was really funny, but she did a beautiful job with the pre-record.’
And Aretha said that she had never even thought of miming when she performed My Country ‘Tis of Thee four years ago. She added: ‘I wanted to give people the real thing and pre-recording never crossed my mind.’
Jennifer Lopez also addressed the rumours during an interview on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Tuesday night.
Asked her opinion on pre-recording the track for such a public event, Jennifer said: ‘Sometimes it happens when you are in certain stadiums and certain venues and things, they do prerecord stuff because you’re going to have that terrible slapback.’
She added: ‘If I remember rightly, Whitney Houston was also recorded when she performed at the Super Bowl. And it was an amazing rendition – everyone loved it and it became a huge hit.’
This is not the only time that Beyonce has been haunted by claims that she did not actually sing when she claimed to: in the 2009 Academy Awards, she starred in a musical number with the show’s host, Hugh Jackman, and many believed that she did not actually sing.
The event’s organisers did not clarify, either, saying only: ‘As is the case with any live event of this scale and scope, there are always elements of the show that are pre-recorded. But I will not go into detail about which elements were on this show.’
Calls to Beyonce’s press representatives from MailOnline were not immediately answered.
The singer’s next major live performance will be at the Superbowl in New Orleans on February 3.
I think at this point, everyone is going to be throwing shade at Beyonce, and what shocks me is that The Mail didn’t end the story with this line: “The singer’s next major ‘LIVE’ performance will be at the Superbowl in New Orleans on February 3.” I think we’re all entitled to some sarcastic air-quotes, don’t you? Beyonce sings “live”. She’s going to sing “live” at the Super Bowl. She’s going to rip out her earpiece and bring it home because she’s singing “live”.
Beyonce just released a ton of new photos on her Tumblr too, and all of them are from the inauguration or her “rehearsal” (meaning when she recorded her vocals). And it’s clear that Beyonce is convinced that inauguration was totally ALL ABOUT HER. Here are some of the photos (you can see more here):
Photos courtesy of WENN, Beyonce’s Tumblr.
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