LOS ANGELES, Jan 23, (Agencies): Never mind President Barack Obama’s inauguration address or what Michelle Obama was wearing at the ball.

Was Beyonce lip-synching the US national anthem on Monday, or wasn’t she?

The Grammy-winning singer remained silent on Tuesday amid a media storm over whether she was lip-synching, singing over her own pre-recorded track, or performing live when she delivered a flawless version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” to hundreds of thousands of people in Washington and millions watching on television.

A spokeswoman for the US Marine band first told US news outlets on Tuesday that the “Single Ladies” star “decided to go with the pre-recorded music at the last minute” and that, to the spokeswoman’s knowledge, she was not actually singing the anthem.
But the US Marine band later backtracked, saying in a statement: “Regarding Ms. Knowles-Carter’s vocal performance, no one in the Marine Band is in a position to assess whether it was live or pre-recorded.”
The statement said the band and Beyonce, whose surname is Knowles-Carter, had no chance to rehearse together before Monday’s inauguration “so it was determined that a live performance by the band was ill-advised for such a high-profile event.”

Performance
“Each piece of music scheduled for performance in the Inauguration is pre-recorded for use in case of freezing temperatures, equipment failure, or extenuating circumstances,” the Marine Band added.
Beyonce, 31, was giving her first major public performance since giving birth to a baby with husband, rapper Jay-Z, in January 2012. On Sunday, she posted on Instagram photo of herself in a recording studio holding the sheet music for “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Her representatives did not return calls for comment on Tuesday. Kelly Clarkson and James Taylor, who also performed at the inauguration ceremony, both sang live, their publicists said.

Whatever Beyonce’s choices on Monday, she was not the first artist cause a stir on such occasions.
Classical musicians Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and two others played along to a pre-recorded tape at Obama’s 2009 inauguration because the cold and wind on the Washington Mall raised the potential of broken strings and sharp notes.

Madonna lip-synched her way through her 2012 Super Bowl half-time performance last year, as did the late Whitney Houston in her 1991 Super Bowl rendition of the national anthem. Singing to pre-recorded tracks has become widespread in the pop music industry.

Conversations
The lip-synching question made headlines around the world and “Beyonce” was among the top Facebook conversations on Monday, according to the social networking site.
Fans were divided. “I enjoyed the performance and do not care whether it was lip-synched or not — it was a beautiful rendition, with some originality, of a song we have all heard so many times,” wrote LeeAnne24 on the Washington Post comment board.
Twitter user hiphopdancerJen was disappointed. “There’s honestly no reason for Beyonce to lip-sync... Especially the national anthem. I may despise most of her music, but she has a voice.”
Beyonce is due to take the spotlight again next month - this time at the Feb 3 Super Bowl half-time show.
The US Marine Corps beat a hasty retreat Tuesday from a furor over whether Beyonce lip-synched “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Obama’s public inauguration ceremony.
First, the New York Times quoted a US Marine Band spokeswoman as saying that, just before Beyonce took the stage Monday, the musicians learned a version of the national anthem it had pre-recorded with her would be used.
“We don’t know why,” said the spokeswoman, Master Sergeant Kristin duBois. “But that is what we were instructed to do... It’s not because Beyonce can’t sing. We all know Beyonce can sing. We all know the Marine Band can play.”
But later, the Marine Corps said only that a pre-recorded version of the band’s musical track was played to the crowd outside the Capitol after Obama was sworn into office for a second term.
Also unexplained was a black-and-white Instagram photo, supposedly taken Sunday, of Beyonce in a wool beret and cardigan in a recording studio with three soldiers behind her. She appeared to be listening intently to something.
Equally mysterious was why Beyonce removed the ear monitor mid-way through the song. Singers performing over an instrumental track might do so if the playback is clashing with what’s coming out of the loudspeakers.
“Who cares that Beyonce Lip iSync the National Anthem, it was recorded live an hour before. You try singing in that cold,” tweeted one fan, referring to Monday’s near-freezing temperatures in Washington.
“Beyonce certainly acted like a diva ... but I don’t see how that can be compared to Lance Armstrong cheating for 7 straight years at the least,” said another Twitter user, referring to the disgraced cyclist.
“Beyonce is the best lip-syncer I’ve seen,” added a third fan. “Because she surely fooled me.”