Summary
1 February 2013
Pop star Beyonce has admitted she did not sing the American national anthem live during President Obama's inauguration last month. She revealed the truth at a news conference for the forthcoming Super Bowl.
Reporter:
Ben Wright
Beyonce will sing the national anthem live at the Super Bowl on 3 February
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Report
It was one of the most talked about moments of the inauguration: Beyonce's soaring, flawless rendition of the Star Spangled Banner in front of President Obama and millions more.
But doubt was soon cast on the authenticity of the performance. There was speculation it was taped, that the megastar had mimed.
Today came her response. She strolled into a news conference for Sunday's Super Bowl, at which she will sing, asked the audience to stand and raised her microphone:
Beyonce singing American national anthem:
"Oh say, can you see, by the dawn's early light?"
After belting out the national anthem she asked, with a laugh, if there were any questions. And then she admitted to singing along to a pre-recorded track last week because she didn't have time to practise.
Beyonce said she had not wanted to risk anything going wrong on such a big occasion.
But she will be singing live during the half-time show on Sunday, to one of the biggest audiences of her career.
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Vocabulary
- soaring
rising or flying up into the air
- flawless
perfect, without faults
- rendition
a version of a song or performance
- authenticity
reality
- speculation
guessing about a subject without enough evidence
- taped
recorded (of a sound)
- mimed
moved lips along to a song without making a sound
- strolled
walked slowly and in a relaxed way
- belted out
sang very loudly and with a lot of enthusiasm
- pre-recorded track
song which been recorded earlier
