RIHANNA stormed back into the music scene with her Super Bowl 2023 halftime performance, but she might not have actually been singing.
Her long-awaited comeback is now being tainted by online speculation that she was lip syncing – here we look at those theories.
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Did Rihanna lip sync at the Super Bowl?
As the second half of Eagles-Chiefs game resumed, Twitter was ablaze with not-so-impressed fans who branded Rihanna’s show “the worst lip sync ever”.
In only 13-minutes, the pop icon flawlessly made her way through her power-packed portfolio of hits – never missing a beat as effortlessly danced pregnant in her red flight suit.
Keyboard critics have rushed online to declare the much-hyped show a fake, but so far no official statement has been made over whether the Umbrella signer’s real voice echoed through that stadium.
The 34-year-old mum hasn’t toured since 2016 and she hadn’t performed on live television since 2018 when she sung Wild Thoughts with DJ Khaled at the Grammys.
Adding fuel to the fire, Howard Stern has called out Rihanna for lip-syncing the majority of her show.
The American radio host claimed: “You know, I don’t even know why she bothered showing up. I could be wrong, but I – in my opinion, 85 per cent of that performance was lip sync.”
His long-time co-host Robin Quivers then chimed in to say: “The big giveaway might be when she puts the microphone down by her knees and her lips aren’t moving and the other voices are going.”
What have fans said about Rihanna’s performance?
Among joy and delight at her headlining act and pregnancy reveal, some fans have been intent in raining of her parade by calling out the singer for a badly-mimed set.
The critics have pointed out discrepancies between the movement of her lips and the lyrics blaring out of the speakers. They also note a time when her voice continued, but the microphone had been put down.
One user on Twitter lamented: “No disrespect to Rihanna but you can clearly tell she is lip syncing and it just kinda ruins the mood. But that’s super, super underwhelming.”
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Another wrote: “isn’t Rihanna the richest woman alive? Why is she lip syncing? Just do your thing”.
Other critics were less kind: “Might be the worst #SuperBowl halftime show I’ve ever watched. No energy. Boring. She’s not even trying to lip sync properly. Horrible.”
Her performance reminded fans of Tom Holland’s infamous Lip Sync Battle rendition of Rihanna’s Umbrella, with the video now making the joyous rounds online.
One fan joked: “The judges decided that Tom Holland won the lip sync battle against Rihanna”.
What songs did Rihanna sing at the Super Bowl?
Ri Ri made it through a dozen songs in a little under 13 minutes, dazzling her way through a medley of chart bangers.
The show started with the B**** Better Have My Money as she was suspended above the audience and transitioned into Where Have You Been and onwards through stompers like Run This Town and Diamonds.
Over the years, as the Super Bowl halftime slot became more of a commercial juggernaut – the star-studded performers had to step up. Flashy, elaborate, high-energy and expertly-choreographed performances took precedent over vocals.
The New York Post reported that in line with NFL policy, artists rehearsals are recorded live and can be used during the real performance as a “musical safety net”.
The American pop queen isn’t the first star to be the target of Super Bowl lip-syncing claims. Other members of music royalty have suffered the same fate from Janet Jackson in 2004 to Madonna in 2012 and Katie Perry in 2015.
Rihanna is set to be on the brink of a big comeback with live shows due to be announced imminently, including mini residencies in big US cities and a European stretch of the tour.
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