We all know Beyonce has got the pipes to belt it out, so fans were initially mystified as to why she would lip-sync at Obama’s Inaugural Address.

Beyonce is certainly not alone in this.  Many singers have had to lip-sync, not because they can’t sing, but because it’s necessary for the specific event.

In fact, Vanessa Williams confesses she lip-synced the National Anthem in her performance at the 1996 Super Bowl.

The former Desperate Housewives star explains, “…the network wants you to pre-record, so you pre-record with your orchestra.  You lay down the track.  Then when it’s time to perform you lip-sync, because you’ve got flyovers with the jets, you’ve got pyrotechnics behind you and you want to make sure that the sound is consistent.  And that’s what the network asks of you.  So, there’s no ‘Can she sing it?  Can she not?  It is live or is it not?’  There’s no way you’re gonna get a live orchestra on the field at the same time and that’s part of what they want as a network.”

Williams performance was “one of the highlights of my life,” she said, adding, “And when you walk out on that field, it’s a sea of color and people.  It’s surreal and an honor, too.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99AevT-gH7w&feature=player_embedded