The Star Spangled Banner (Whitney Houston Song) - Lip-sync Controversy

Lip-sync Controversy

In the days following Houston's performance of the national anthem at Super Bowl XXV, a controversy arose when it was reported that she lip-synched to her own pre-recorded version of the song by media such as the New York Post, USA Today and St. Petersburg Times. Larry Estrin, the Super Bowl engineer, told USA Today that TV viewers actually heard the studio version, "plus her live voice, plus the audience reaction," and added that "She sang the melody and words the same way (as the studio version), but she sang her heart out." St. Petersburg Times, in its February 2, 1991 article of the Florida Orchestra, wrote that "Both Houston and the orchestra recorded the music before the game. Some people have speculated that Houston lip-synced the National Anthem at the game." On February 4, 1991, Mary Jo Melone of the same newspaper, in her article of Houston's Super Bowl performance, clearly stated that "It was the Memorex. The singing and music you heard were prerecorded." Bob Best, an NFL pre-game entertainment official told USA Today that the NFL chose the recorded version because "we felt there were too many risks to do it live." USA Today reported that it is customary to use pre-recorded versions of the anthem at games, adding that in the past such stars as Diana Ross, Barry Manilow and Neil Diamond have sung to their pre-recorded versions of "The Star Spangled Banner." Best, in an interview with the New York Post, also said that what was played was "protection copy"―it's so-called to protect against the singer's last minute inability to sing―Houston recorded several days before the game at an L.A. studio. Kathryn Holm McManus, former executive director of the orchestra, in an interview with St. Petersburg Times in 2001, reaffirmed that, saying "At the game, everyone was playing, and Whitney was singing, but there were no live microphones. Everyone was lip-synching or finger-synching."

During this controversy, Ms. Houston's personal publicist, Regins Brown said that "Our understanding is Whitney sang live into a live microphone." Brown added that the song was recorded in a studio several days before the Super Bowl, which has always been the National Football League (NFL) policy, stating "NFL policy is that when they have a performer singing the national anthem for live TV, they request the performer record what they call a protection copy, just in case the singer has laryngitis, the day of the Super Bowl." Dan Klores, a spokesman for Houston, explained "This is not a Milli Vanilli thing. she sang live, but the microphone was turned off. It was a technical decision, partially based on the noise factor. This is standard procedure at these events." According to Jet magazine, similarly, several music industry officials including Estrin emphasized that "this issue is not a case of Milli Vanilli, because the bottom line is―it was Ms. Houston's voice and she was singing."

Since 1991, whenever the controversy involved lip-sync by some performers arose, Houston's Super Bowl performance to her own pre-recorded voice has been often mentioned. At the beginning of the controversy about Houston's performance, there were some people giving negative views of it, such as Melone of St. Petersburg Times who expressed disappointment about it, commenting "Granted, there were technical difficulties in the way of a live performance, but at least a few other singers have pulled off the national anthem live at a Super Bowl. This was the nation's most precious piece of music sung by one of its best performers at a most precarious time. If we were going to make such a deal of the moment, for the troops in Saudi Arabia, we should have heard the real thing. Or at least we should have been told we weren't." However, more people didn't think about the fact that Houston's performance was not a complete 'live' rendition of the song seriously or understood why she lip-synced to pre-recorded version of the national anthem at there. Liz Smith of Newsday commented in support of Houston's performance: " controversy reared its head was it live or was it Memorex. It was much ado about nothing. I thought it was clearly Houston's own voice." Jimmy Jam, a songwriter and producer, in an interview with The Associated Press, expressed his thoughts for Houston's version of the song by saying that "Whitney, when she did the national anthem, which was the greatest national anthem that we ever heard, what we heard over the air was prerecorded. The reason it was prerecorded was, that was a moment that no one wanted any mistakes. They didn't want any feedback, they didn't want any technical difficulties ... and it was great." When Jennifer Hudson delivered a lip-syncing of "The Star Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XLIII in February 2009, it caused a little controversy once again. But most critics and many in the music industry didn't make a criticism of it. David Hinckley of New York Daily News made a remark on lip-syncing the national anthem that it was of secondary importance, writing "The national anthem is different. Yes, it's a musical performance and yes, we're interested in how a Jennifer Hudson will interpret the song. That's why we remember the Whitney Houston and Marvin Gaye versions so well. Because the Super Bowl is primarily a television spectacle with a thousand moving parts, the producers years ago started asking to hear the anthem tracks a week before airtime, just so they would have one less potential variable. That's why was lip-syncing." Rickey Minor, the pregame show producer of the 2009 Super Bowl, told The Associated Press that "There's too many variables to go live. I would never recommend any artist go live because the slightest glitch would devastate the performance." Similarly, Billboard magazine's Robert Levine didn't see anything wrong with lip-syncing the national anthem, saying "If Bruce Springsteen flubs a line on 'Born to Run' only his fans will notice. If Jennifer Hudson flubs on the national anthem, people are going to get upset. People want it to be technically perfect as well as emotionally inspiring. Can you guarantee that live? Maybe. But it's good to have insurance." Patrick Hruby of ESPN.com, on his recent article titled 'Star-Spangled Banner isn't easy to sing,' gave a positive comment on Houston's choice that lip-synced "The Star Spangled Banner," saying "Small wonder, then, that when Whitney Houston performed her memorable anthem rendition at Super Bowl XXV in January 1991, she did the sensible thing."