Jennifer Hudson was on hand to perform the US national anthem the Star Spangled Banner in front of 80,000 spectators in Tampa, FL and over a billion others on TV ahead of the the SuperBowl match-up between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals yesterday evening. Altho J. Hud did not sing the song live and only lip synced along with a pre-recorded vocal, she sounded absolutely amazing and, IMHO, is worthy of praise and adoration. Here are a few pics from Jennifer‘s performance yesterday:
Singer Jennifer Hudson made a triumphant return to the spotlight last night when she performed the U.S. national anthem at the Super Bowl in Tampa, Florida. It was the 27-year-old’s first appearance since her mother, brother and nephew were murdered in October. Hudson looked composed and confident as she launched into the Star Spangled Banner in front of an 80,000 crowd in the Tampa stadium and a TV audience of more than a billion … Last night at the end of her performance, she anxiously asked the pre-game show producer Rickey Minor: “How did I do?” “I told her ‘Touchdown!’” Minor said after the performance. “This was such an important performance, because it’s the first time everyone has seen Jennifer. But she’s in such a great place, with such great spirits and time can heal her wounds. She’s on fire right now and totally grounded.” Minor, the music director for American Idol, has produced numerous Super Bowl pre-game performances, including Whitney Houston’s 1991 anthem in Tampa that’s considered the benchmark for singers. He added that Hudson’s two cell phones lit up ‘like slot machines’ following her performance, and she received a moving text message from Jamie Foxx, her co-star in Dreamgirls. “His text said ‘Amazing. It brought tears to my eyes,’” Minor said. “She’s just getting so much love.”
The lip syncing ain’t no thang … Whitney Houston did it when she performed at the SuperBowl back in the early 90s and her rendition became a huge hit at the time (due to the US’s involvement in the first Gulf War, patriotism very rampant). In fact, many performances at such high profile events are pre-recorded. I didn’t get to see the game myself (moving and all) but I did make time to watch J. Hud‘s performance. After the jump, check out video of her performance of the Star Spangled Banner …
She is such an amazing singer … I just love her voice. She sang the hey-al out of that song. Welcome back, Jennifer. We love you :)
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Wow I didn’t know she lip synced. I thought the song was absolutely amazing- but it does take some of the magic away to know it wasn’t live.
But still- beautiful job…recording and all.
She was amazing, brilliant performance.
could have picked a more flattering outfit. what she was wearing looked awful on her. her hair and make-up were stellar though.
I didn’t know she lip synched either. what’s the point of being there there? Could’ve just played the track. I’m not dissing her at all the song was FANTASTIC. Go her!
I agree it does take some of the magic away. I do think she looked and sounded amazing.
Actually I liked her outfit. Jessica Simpson’s stylist needs to take a tip from these artists stylist’s (J.Hudson, America Ferrara, etc.) to better dress her fuller figure. (And by me saying this, I am in no way saying that Jessica Simpson is the same size as these ladies)
Are you sure she was lip synching? She looks out of breath at the end. Oh well, I think she tore it up either way!
I honestly couldn’t really tell that she lip-synced until the very very very end when she was singing the word “brave” and the “v” sound was a little off. BUT she did incredibly amazingly well. Her voice is beyond brilliant and earth-shattering. And, to boot, she looked fantastic. I’m so glad she’s back. I love her.
I had no idea
she was lip synching? get outta here. she looked great too.
I’m sure she was at least singing on her own with it, it was probably just prerecorded in case she couldn’t hear herself during the performance. Anyhow, amazing job.
They ALWAYS lipsynch the National Anthem for the superbowl. It is too big of an event for something to go wrong.
Yeah you really cant hear yourself in a huge arena like that with the screaming fans. Jessica simpson has botched it to death, so I am sure people will learn from her mistakes and play it safe.
Yeah OK, so she just did average cuz it was lipsynced?? That was amazing, lip synced or not! Let’s not forget she has just been through a major tragedy in her life and is standing in front of all those eyes with a mic in her hand….ANYONE would lip sync, including Whitney back in ’91 so y’all quit hatin! hahah ok i’m done!
Let’s not forget, that’s her voice regardless of the fact that it was lip-synched. She absolutely killed it.
even if she did sync it, she still sang it to record it and that was the bomb itself!!! i would rather a good performance lip sync’d than a performance with “sketchy” moments sung live, i don’t think my ears could handle her going off key at that high range if it were to happen !!! lol…
She did a good job. Let’s get off her. That’s what she said.
It was moving. She nailed it. One of the best performances of our National Anthem I have ever heard.
I dont know why people are so freaked out when singers lip sync. Its no big deal to me. I thought she sounded GREAT!
Although she didn’t have a faboo hat, she would have been perfect to have done that (or any other patriotic song) at Obama’s inauguration!