Beyonce silences critics with live National Anthem

Beyonce has broken her silence on the lip-syncing controversy surrounding her performance at President Barack Obama's inauguration by belting out the National Anthem live during a Thursday (31Jan13) press conference ahead of the Super Bowl.

Remarks made by members of the Marines Band, who accompanied the Halo singer in Washington, D.C., suggested Beyonce had mimed the words of the Star-Spangled Banner to a pre-recorded backing track, but it quickly became clear the beauty had just used the earlier recording to bolster her vocals during the performance on the chilly morning of 21 January (13).

And just to prove she knows how to belt out the National Anthem, the R&B superstar hit the high notes during a press conference in New Orleans, Louisiana to promote the Super Bowl half-time show.

After being introduced to the stage, Beyonce asked the members of the audience to stand before performing The Star-Spangled Banner a cappella before the world's media.

Explaining the commotion over her inauguration appearance, she said, "I am a perfectionist and one thing about me, I practise until my feet bleed and I did not have time to rehearse with the orchestra. It was a live television show, a very, very important, emotional show for me, one of my proudest moments, and due to the weather, due to the delay, due to no proper soundcheck, 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 industry, and I'm very proud of my performance."

Asked if she will be singing live at the Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday, she replied, "I will absolutely be singing live. I am well rehearsed and I will absolutely be singing live. This is what I was born to do; what I was born for... I've had a 16-year career and feel, like, all of the things that I've done have prepared me for this."

But it doesn't mean she won't be full of nerves as she takes center stage in her family's native Louisiana: "It is nerve-racking and it is something that we have been preparing for for about four or five months, so of course I'm nervous...

"When I was driving up, I just got chills because I saw the Superdome, there's so much history there and it's where my family is from, New Iberia, Louisiana, so it really makes me emotionally to have a half-time performance."