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First Obama's inauguration music, now Jennifer Hudson lip syncs the Super Bowl

On the heels of President Obama’s Milli Vanilli-style inauguration music, now we have speculation that Jennifer Hudson lip synced her Super Bowl rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” national anthem.

According to an interview with the AP via MTV, “American Idol” music director Ricky Minor says both Faith Hill and Hudson were smart to sing to tape:
“That’s the right way to do it,” Minor said. “There’s too many variables to go live. I would never recommend any artist go live, because the slightest glitch would devastate the performance.”

Wow. I’m speechless. Our society continues to tolerate — and promote — fraudulent musicianship.

The audience understands it’s live and lot of pressure. We understand there are weather variables, and the artist may falter, miss a note or greatly embarrass themself.

But singing at the Super Bowl, or playing the cello at an inauguration, is what they’re paid to do. These are supposed to be the best of the best America has to offer. Instead, we’ve yet again shown the world our best and brightest musicians can’t do it live.

Hell, my two year old could’ve shown up and sang along with a tape. It’s embarrassing, and I fear, only going to get worse.

Posted 02 Feb 2009 by Greg Swan in Music - News

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  • Nick

    what a bunch of crap. Really? I didn’t watch it, and people wonder why. These kinds of incidents only piss off those of us that actually like to perform “live.”

  • http://www.newyorkbuzz.org Termeh Mazhari

    Yeah, it’s pretty annoying..but it’s so widespread now that I’ve come to expect it. I read that the reason for the pre-taping at super bowl was because the acoustics of the stadium were not favorable….bullsh*t.

  • http://weblog.timoregan.com/ Vemrion

    It’s worth noting that Bruce Springsteen was playing live. He even sounded a little rough at times, but that’s the way I like it. I’m with Nick — real artists do it live!

  • http://fromwembleypark.com Lyn

    Why was Hudson picked in the firt place? Bruce Springsteen is americana. He’s got the experience and the talent; a real career musician. But Hudson?

    And don’t tell me it was because of some family tragedy. I’ve read and heard more than I care to know about it. The Super Bowl belongs to all of us let her keep her drama to herself.

  • http://www.coffeerama.com coffee

    I had no idea how talented Jennifer Hudson is until i heard her sing the National Anthem (lip synch? oh well) — it’s no wonder she won American Idol!

  • Heather

    Ok I first have to ask how many of you are musicians and have performed to an space that acoustically sucks. I have sung the national anthem at the Metrodome and State Fair coliseum, two of the most acoustically challenging places to perform, and I will tell you it is an uphill battle. Not being able to hear yourself and having the sound bounce everywhere is difficult. Yes, I performed live but putting myself in Jennifer Hudson’s position performing one of the most recognizable pieces on one of the biggest events of the year with so many uncontrollable factors, I might have done the same thing. But to their credit, producers were upfront and took ownership about the performance and the rationale behind it.

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