Everyone should just stop fussing over Jennifer Hudson’s lip-synched performance of the national anthem at Sunday’s Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla. because backing tapes are an essential part of most live, nationally televised musical performances.

In this particular case, the pre-game show producer Rickey Minor urged the Oscar-winning singer and actress to submit a previously recorded track which was used for the performance.

Claiming the show was a very important performance because it was the first one for Hudson after the tragic death of her mother, brother and nephew, Minor, who has produced numerous Super Bowl pregame performances and is the music director for “American Idol,” said that this was the “right way” to do it.

“There's too many variables to go live. I would never recommend any artist go live because the slightest glitch would devastate the performance.”
Echoing Minor’s opinion, Robert Levine, executive editor of Billboard magazine, said he didn’t see anything wrong with lip-synching.

“If Bruce Springsteen flubs a line on 'Born to Run' only his fans will notice,” he said. “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.”

Faith Hill, who performed right before Hudson, underwent the same treatment and had a pre-recorded tape for her rendition of “America the Beautiful.” The orchestras accompanying the singers, also piped into Raymond James Stadium, were taped earlier in a Los Angeles studio.

Jennifer Hudson will next perform at the Grammy Awards ceremony this Sunday and then on February 12 at the 40th Annual NAACP Image Awards. Hudson is also on the cusp of releasing her new video for the song “If This Isn't Love.”