Bey's rendition of the national anthem during inauguration raises question.
Was it lip-synched or live? That's the raging debate over Beyoncé's high-powered performance of the national anthem at President Barack Obama's inauguration.
The skeptics say she was definitely helped by a pre-recorded voice track during the performance seen across the nation. On the flip side, the Bey-lievers argue that she did use a music track, but the vocals were all hers.
What do you believe?
It's hard to pick a side, especially after reps for the U.S. Marine Band spent Tuesday flip-flopping on their accounts of the event.
Early in the day, a rep for the Marine band, Master Sgt. Kristin duBois, told The New York Times Knowles was definitely helped by a pre-recorded vocal track.
"We all know Beyoncé can sing.... We don't know why she chose to use the pre-recorded track."
Later on, however, Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Gregory Wolf told a different story.
"Regarding Mrs. Knowles-Carter's vocal performance," Wolf's statement said, "no one in the Marine Band is in a position to assess whether it was live or pre-recorded."
Wolf would only confirm that in the minutes leading up to her performance the Marine Band was notified that the international superstar would be using a pre-recorded music track. Due to her lack of rehearsal time with the band, Bey choose the support of the track over the band that is responsible for playing all the inaugural music.
Using pre-recorded tracks at inauguration is not unusual. In 2009, cellist Yo-Yo Ma sparked a "hand-synching" controversy when he performed for Obama's first inauguration. Ma revealed that instruments weren't functioning properly in 19-degree weather.
Neither Beyoncé or anyone from the White House has addressed the topic.
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