By Rashad J. Smith

The 1991 Superbowl rendition of the Star Spangled Banner sung by the late Whitney Houston had the entire Nation in an uproar. Either you loved and supported the performance or you despised it because the infamous accusation turned fact that Ms. Houston pre-recorded the audio.

While the controversy couldn’t be ignored, neither could the sales of the National Anthem sung by Houston.  As the only artist to take the Francis Scott Key song to top 10 charts in the U.S., besides her many other accomplishments, the National Anthem really put Ms. Houston at her National peak. To date, with understanding of her reasoning behind the pre-recorded track, the Nation is still in love with her rendition. YouTube numbers are beyond 20 million and the the world awaits a performer who can top Ms. Houston version of the Nation’s Anthem.

Listen to Whitney Houstons Superbowl XXV Star Spangled Banner Rendition Here!

While Beyonce is no Whitney, her performance (lip synced or live) was grand. B graced the Inaugural platform with elegance and gave Black America something to feel extraordinary about. The feeling of victory journeyed throughout my soul as the Nation witnessed the First Black President being inaugurated for his second term in office and a Black superstar held responsible to uplift the nation through the powerful lyrics of the Anthem.

But here’s my issue: Why the hell is it such a big issue!?

If this is the case, it isn’t the first artist who has lip synced at a major/televised event. It happened with Whitney,  debatably at the inauguration,  and guess what… It’s going to happen again!  I’m sure Beyonce is well aware of the consequences if caught in the act of a lip sync. I’m pretty positive that her success has come with great knowledge of the business and certain B understands the importance of brand stability. And that’s why she chose to not play herself attempting to hit high notes in freezing temperature, which could have made the Obama girls  giggle even more at the could of been EFF’d up performance.

Beyonce did a damn good job, not a Whitney Houston Job, but a good job!

Listen to Beyonces Inauguration Rendition of the Star Spangled Banner Here!  

While I’m no Entertainment expert I will say I hope the next time an artist decides to pre-record a track at a historical event as such, I hope they’ll bring the heat like my girl Whitney in 1991 so people could just shut the EFF up and let numbers speak!

What are your thoughts on the performance?
Do you think Beyonce bamboozled America?
Did she make a logical decision giving the weather circumstances and the historic event?
What do you think The Obama’s are saying? What about Hov?

Leave your comments below.

For more information on Rashad go to www.rashadjsmith.com