Beyonce's Voice Not, In Fact, As Heinous as Her Obsessed Weave

April 23, 2009

Beyonce performed "Halo" on the Late Show with David Letterman last night. And given that the only major snafu of B's live appearance was Letterman erroneously referring to her album as “I Am ... Sara Fierce,” we'd say that yesterday’s rumours that Beyonce was this year's Ashlee Simpson -- thanks to that eardrum-raping Today Show clip that’s been plaguing the intertubes -- are dunzo.

Still, we're going to rehash the whole debacle, anyway. So, as a younger, more embiggened-of-hair Sasha Fierce once said, let's "Work it Out."

Early Wednesday, Howard Stern broadcast a beyond tone-deaf recording of “If I Were a Boy” that was allegedly the soundboard track from Beyonce’s live taping of a November 2008 Today Show performance. If you haven't seen it yet, you can watch the video here (best enjoyed at minimum volume).

Beyonce's dad, Matthew Knowles, was first to call shenanigans, telling US Weekly that the tape was "obviously altered," and that "at 12 years into her career, the last thing someone should be questioning is her vocal ability."

Good point, but as the law of the playground decrees, the "my dad thinks I'm cool" defense is never fair game.

However, within hours of the clip’s Google trending, TMZ confirmed that the tape was in fact altered, and contacted a guy who 'fessed up to messing with the soundboard tapes. "It's a little bit crazy," the unnamed prankster told TMZ. "No one in their right mind would sound like that, and no one would cheer for someone singing like that."

Beyonce's own comments on the debacle are probably the most on-point, though. The wannabe icon is shilling multiple projects, including a 115-date world tour and new movie Fatal Attraction 2: The Bad Weave-ening (er, Obsessed).

While doing junket interviews for Obsessed, Rolling Stone reports that Beyonce was asked what she thought of the Today Show clip. "It's perfect promotion, whoever came up with that idea," she said.

Beyonce’s newly announced world tour reaches Toronto on July 20.