Beyonce did a beautiful job singing at the inauguration. At least, I thought so. Her voice was flawless and the fact she sang without her ear piece for part of the performance was admirable. Social media was buzzing with positive reviews about her performance.
I immediately found the video of her performance online and posted it to my Twitter. Her performance was an inauguration highlight until someone mentioned she may have been lip syncing. Apparently, we live in a world where lip syncing is better than being off-key for a moment.
Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and Gabriela Montero did not lip sync, but did the next closest thing at the 2009 inauguration. The cold weather made a live performance impossible, so they played along with a sound check recording made a few days earlier.
Instruments are thousands of dollars and rarely sound good in hot or cold weather. Beyonce was using her voice. We know she can sing, so why lip sync? Kelly Clarkson sang live at the inauguration and her occasional pitch issues made it very obvious. I don’t think the audio team did her any favors either.
I have an appreciation for people who dare to make a mistake, but share their talent with the world. It’s a bit discouraging to see someone talented place more value on perfection than honesty. I think this is a valid lesson in the public relations realm too. We should always place emphasis on being ethical. This means being honest.
Beyonce should have come forward about her lip syncing immediately after her performance. Her silence spoke volumes in the worst way. She sang the national anthem at a press conference for the big game, but it took her two weeks to do anything. Her public relations people should have done something in a timely fashion. Honesty is always the best policy.
