Beyoncé admits Inauguration Day lip sync

The Associated Press, Thursday, January 31, 2013, 12:59pm (PST)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Beyoncé faced the music at a press conference Thursday before the Super Bowl, admitting that she did lip sync when she performed the national anthem on Inauguration Day.

The singer said she's a "perfectionist" and wanted her performance for President Barack Obama to be a memorable one. She called the day "emotional."

"I practice until my feet bleed and I did not have time to rehearse with the orchestra," she said. "Due to no proper sound check, I did not feel comfortable taking a risk. It was about the president and the inauguration, and I wanted to make him and my country proud, so I decided to sing along with my pre-recorded track, which is very common in the music industry. And I'm very proud of my performance."

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She opened her press conference in New Orleans with a live rendition of the national anthem. She asked those at the conference to stand before she belted "The Star Spangled Banner," and after she said with a laugh: "Any questions?"

The superstar hadn't spoken publicly since it was alleged that she lip-synched her rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at President Barack Obama's inauguration last week. Her critically praised performance came under scrutiny less than a day later when a representative from the U.S. Marine Band said she wasn't singing live and the band's accompanying performance was taped. Shortly after, the group backed off its initial statement and said no one could tell if she was singing live or not.

The halftime performance became a main focus of her afternoon press conference, even though she'd likely rather concentrate on questions about her set list for Sunday and her upcoming HBO documentary, "Life Is but a Dream," which shown for the media just before Beyonce spoke.

Beyoncé has teased photos and video of herself preparing for the show, which will perhaps be the biggest audience of her career. Last year, Madonna's halftime performance was the most-watched Super Bowl halftime performance ever, with an average of 114 million viewers. It garnered more viewers than the game itself, which was the most-watched U.S. TV event in history.