海角大神

Lots of people thought 叠别测辞苍肠茅 did a great job singing the 鈥�Star Spangled Banner鈥� to close out President Obama鈥檚 second inaugural ceremony. She performed it straight, navigating the song鈥檚 famously difficult range of notes with aplomb. There was just the right amount of soul injected into the critical line 鈥減roof through the night that our flag was still there," and then her voice went up into the ending, 鈥渉ome of the brave,鈥� and held it for emphasis just long enough, and not a moment longer.

Bette Midler, who should know, said 叠别测辞苍肠茅 was fantastic.

鈥淭he hardest song in any repertoire, the national anthem. She had to remove the in-ear monitor. It鈥檚 a bear. She sang beautifully,鈥� after the performance.

But it turns out 叠别测辞苍肠茅 wasn鈥檛 singing after all. She was lip-synching. She removed her earpiece because ... well, because it was superfluous to pretend to hear herself when she was moving her lips but nothing was really coming out.

You鈥檙e shocked and crushed by this revelation, I know. But it was reported earlier today by the Times of London and confirmed later by CNN. Washingtonian Magazine has a good summary of developments, including the fact that reporters close to the ceremony suspected this to be the case because members of the Marine Band appeared to be mimicking use of their instruments. That鈥檚 pretty obvious when your instrument is a tuba.

鈥淚t was evident the band wasn鈥檛 actually playing during the song,鈥� .

Does this matter? After all, it鈥檚 not unprecedented. It was so cold during Obama鈥檚 2008 inaugural that cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman didn鈥檛 risk playing their valuable stringed instruments.

Nor did anyone attempt a coverup, once the question was raised. A Marine Band spokeswoman confirmed to CNN that 叠别测辞苍肠茅 apparently opted to use a version of the song that the band and she had recorded the day before.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 know why the decision was made,鈥� said Marine spokeswoman Kristen DuBois, adding that use of pre-recorded stuff 鈥渋sn鈥檛 that unusual鈥� in such circumstances.

Yes, maybe. But by not saying this in advance, 叠别测辞苍肠茅 has given the voracious 24-minute news cycle of the Internet world an analogy with which to play. Most folks took it light-heartedly 鈥� joking that it was OK, she鈥檇 privately sung the anthem the day before (that鈥檚 a reference to Obama鈥檚 Sunday private swearing-in) or that it鈥檚 too bad, but federal law now requires her to be punished by rejoining Destiny鈥檚 Child.

But a few administration critics took this as an easy way to hit the White House for what they perceive as its overall falsity. And others appeared genuinely unmoored by the revelation.

鈥淭he truth is this: It feels like a lie. When luminaries have gathered together in the flesh for an epic, historic event 鈥� the inauguration as the first black president serves a second term and swears on a bible 鈥� you expect truth,鈥� .

And, if nothing else, this will just solidify the Star-Spangled Banner鈥檚 reputation as a jinx of a song. It鈥檚 hard to sing. Everybody is standing up and watching. Next thing you know, the words have just gone right out of your head and you鈥檙e scatting along with 鈥渙鈥檈r the hams of the freeze and the loam of the cave鈥� or something like that.

We figure that鈥檚 what happened to Christina Aguilera when she flubbed it at the Super Bowl in 2011, right?

The late Whitney Houston鈥檚 Super Bowl rendition of the national anthem in 1991 remains perhaps the definitive performance of the song. It was perfect, no funny stuff on the build-up, and then just Houston鈥檚 powerful voice carrying the song over the top at the end.

Of course, she was lip-synching, . But lo those many years ago, nobody in the crowd appeared to care.