By Alexandria Sardam

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What seems to be on everyone’s lips—that is except for Beyoncé’s—is the recent reviews of her national anthem performance at the presidential inauguration this Monday.

No, the performance wasn’t cringe-worthy like Lana Del Rey’s dreadful 2012 SNL performance, nor did a nip “accidently” slip from Justin Timberlake’s innocent yet aggressive grip.

On the contrary, the performance by the mighty Beyoncé was nothing short of spectacular, packing that diva-licious punch that she time and time again seems to glamorously deliver.

Beyond the hideous moments that have wound chattering lips in the past, the inflamed factor that has everyone hissing is that the performance lacked one fairly key component—Beyoncé’s voice.

Reports said Beyoncé decided moments before the performance to go ahead with her recording and the U.S Marine Band confirmed that the musical accompaniment had in fact been previously recorded.

They went on to say, “there was no opportunity for Ms. Knowles-Carter to rehearse with the Marine Band before the Inauguration so it was determined that a live performance by the band was ill-advised for such a high-profile event.”

It is still unclear if Beyoncé solely relied on the recording, merely moving her lips in time or actually sang with/over the recording-and people are frantic.

While this technique is said to be a standard preforming practice, it has caused such a stir within the musical community and those intertwined in it.

For a lady who seems to only receive golden feedback, why would powerhouse Beyoncé put herself in such a sticky situation with fans and critics alike?

The Marine Corp later recanted the spokeswoman’s statement, saying that they have no way of verifying whether or not Beyoncé actually sang it live or not.

Capt. Gregory A. Wolf said the corps had decided against a live performance because the Marine Band didn’t have enough time to rehearse with the leading lady.

Wolf went on to say that all of the music during the inauguration is pre-recorded in case of freezing temperatures.

So where does everyone stand on this issue? According to an online Essence poll, 20 percent of you care that Beyonce lip-synched while a whopping 80 percent do not.

And while the true fans seem to have Beyoncé’s back, posting countless articles to Facebook and Twitter declaring their love, chart-topper and soul singer, Aretha Franklin has since joined team Beyonce.

“She wanted her performance to be what she wanted to be and she realized it wasn’t going to be the way she wanted it to be or she was going to be running a risk, ” said Franklin.

While that wasn’t the most clear of defensive statements, if the true queen of soul, Mrs. Aretha Franklin is ok with Beyoncé’s decision, shouldn’t we all be?

PEOPLE’s music critic, Chuck Arnold spat his opinion saying, “Surely there wouldn’t be the same controversy about Beyoncé had she been hoofing across the stage performing ’Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)’ on one of her tour stops. But this was the presidential inauguration, the national anthem, and there was no choreography involved.”

Arnold added, “Some things have to remain sacred, and for ’the land of the free and the home of the brave,’ this was one of them.”

While I will say that the Star Spangled Banner is the nation’s true anthem, one that deserves respect and honor, I wouldn’t go as far as blatantly insinuating that Beyoncé disrespected the song or our country by not singing it alone.

If we are truly focusing on keeping things scared, we should focus on the plans the president has for the future of this country.

I mean, this song was performed for the presidential inauguration, signifying the commencement of a new term for the leader of our glorious nation, am I right?

Basically, at the end of the day, we need to remember these three important things when it comes to this big debacle with Beyoncé and lip-synching:

1. Whether or not we agree with what the singer did, Beyoncé can, in fact, sing. She has proven this before while, “hoofing across stage.” There’s no mystery to her talent. Disagree? Discuss that with her fan base, Forbes or the Illuminati…just kidding.

2. Lip-synching is not going anywhere.

3. Now we can all thank Beyoncé for giving the media something to talk about besides the Manti Te’o scandal.

Check out my Pardontheinterlude Kernel Facebook page for this week’s Beyoncé Spotify playlist.