Many years ago I went to see an energetic Janet Jackson in concert at Madison Square Garden, and during one particularly wild bit of dancing she couldn't sing the words she was so out of breath and with that one exception any time I've seen a singer dancing for any length of time I've assumed they are lip syncing.
It is too late to pretend that live music is live music any more. Hell, Swedish House Mafia were caught taping their DJ sessions. When all music can and is programmed the meaning behind lip syncing isn't what it was, and really it depends on any given situation. When Yo Yo Ma plays his cello to prerecorded tracks at Obama's 2009 Inaugural because the weather was so cold his cello couldn't stay in tune, surely the options are clear: don't use Yo Yo Ma or don't complain.
So really from Yo Yo Ma to the US Marine Band, sideways to Madonna, I get it. But I have problems with Beyonce lip syncing to the National Anthem on 2012.
1. She accepted the praise as being a perfect performance while Kelly Clarkson had problems staying in tune earlier in the day. As the praise came in, it was absolutely imperative she issue a statement noting that she wasn't actually singing.
2. Throwing her ear piece out at the end of the National Anthem wasn't theatrics, it was hubris. It was adding a sneer to the leer.
3. Responsible for introducing Obama to his second term, the symbolism was terrifying.
4. There was no reason for it. It would be much better to miss a couple of notes than for Beyonce to be caught in such a stupid lie. An absolute PR disaster.
5. Beyonce's refusal to make a statement seems like either fear or indifference. She should have said: "Because of the cold weather I used taped vocals. This is standard practice but now I wish it had been made clear." She's even acting like she was caught cheating on her SATs.
And not unlike Justin Bieber, it stinks of bad vibes. The $80,000 Barbie Doll, the refusing to let other mothers see their babies when her daughter was born, the fake baby bump, it all adds up to Beyonce being a very nasty piece of work and everything else being a snow job. Let's see her syncing her way out of that.