Beyonce Lip-Synch Scandal: She "Didn't Think There Was Anything Wrong" With Using Pre-Recorded Track

Beyonce has had some major ups and down this week. One day after her triumphant rendition of the National Anthem at the Inauguration ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Monday, Jan. 21, a rep for the U.S. Marine Corp Band told several media outlets that the superstar, 31, chose to lip-synch the song over a pre-recorded track at the last minute.  Although the Grammy winner and her team have remained silent about the "Star Spangled Banner" fracas, a source confirmed that she did, in fact, use a backing track for her performance in front of the U.S. Capitol. "She didn't think there was anything wrong with it," the source explains. "Pavarotti has done it! It was freezing out, and if she messed up just one note, that would have been the story." (Even Aretha Franklin, who sang live at the 2009 inauguration, defended Beyonce, noting to ABC, "the weather down there was about 46 or 44 degrees and for most singers that is just not good singing weather.") Continues the source: "Everybody uses these tracks, and the music director advised it. Any big outdoor live performance is almost always with some kind of track." Still, the insider clarifies that Beyonce didn't completely lip-sync the song: "She did sing, but used a track." And is disappointed by the so-called controversy: "A technicality which everybody does took away from the beauty of the moment."

 It’s a boy for Shakira and Gerard Piqué. “We are happy to announce the birth of Milan Piqué Mebarak, son of Shakira Mebarak and Gerard Piqué, born Jan. 22nd at 9:36 p.m. in Barcelona, Spain,” the couple announced on Shakira’s website. “The name Milan (pronounced MEE-lahn), means dear, loving and gracious in Slavic; in Ancient Roman, eager and laborious; and in Sanskrit, unification. Just like his father, baby Milan became a member of FC Barcelona at birth.” Milan weighed  6 lbs., 6 oz., and the hospital says that both mother and child are in excellent health. Earlier in the day, the singer-songwriter had requested good thoughts from fans as her son’s delivery approached. “I’d like to ask you all to accompany me in your prayers on this very important day of my life,” Shakira, 35, Tweeted. The “Hips Don’t Lie” singer and her beau, central defender for FC Barcelona, announced the pregnancy in September and the sex of the baby in October. Earlier this month, Piqué, 25, and Shakira celebrated their baby shower, with all proceeds benefitting UNICEF.

Manti Te'o Tells Katie Couric He Briefly Lied About Girlfriend After Hoax Discovery

Manti Te'o briefly lied to the media and the public after discovering his online girlfriend did not exist and was a part of an elaborate hoax, he admitted in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Katie Couric.  The star Notre Dame linebacker, who has been hounded by the reporters since the story broke Jan. 16, told Couric in a taped interview Tuesday that he was not lying up until December. Te'o said he was duped into believing his online girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, died of cancer.  "You stuck to the script. And you knew that something was amiss, Manti," Couric said.  Te'o found out that Kekua was a hoax on Dec. 6, but on Dec. 8 he again publicly mentioned his girlfriend. The remark came as Te'o was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, the award for the best college football player in the country. Te'o was eventually a runner-up for the trophy.  "Katie, put yourself in my situation. I, my whole world told me that she died on Sept. 12. Everybody knew that. This girl, who I committed myself to, died on Sept. 12," Te'o said.  "Now I get a phone call on Dec. 6, saying that she's alive and then I'm going be put on national TV two days later. And to ask me about the same question. You know, what would you do?" Te'o said. Te'o, 21, was joined by his parents, Brian and Ottilia, in the interview.  "Now many people writing about this are calling your son a liar. They are saying he manipulated the truth, really for personal gain," Couric said to Te'o's father. "People can speculate about what they think he is. I've known him 21 years of his life. And he's not a liar. He's a kid," Brian Te'o said with tears in his eyes. Diane O'Meara told NBC's "Today" show Tuesday that she was used as the "face" of the Twitter account of Manti Te'o's online girlfriend without her knowledge or consent. O'Meara said that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo used pictures of her without her knowledge in creating Kekua. "I've never met Manti Te'o in my entire life. I've never spoke with him. I've never exchanged words with him," O'Meara said Tuesday. The 23-year-old marketing executive went to high school in California with Tuiasosopo, but she says they're not close. Tuiasosopo called to apologize the day Deadspin.com broke the hoax story, she said. In an interview with ESPN last week, Te'o said he had received a Twitter message from Tuiasosopo apologizing for the hoax. The Hawaiian also spoke to Tuiasosopo on the phone the day the Deadspin report came out, according to ESPN.com. He found out that "two guys and a girl are responsible for the whole thing," he said. But he did not know the identities of the other individuals involved, other than the man he says was Tuiasosopo. Tuiasosopo, a 22-year-old resident of California, has not admitted involvement publicly. Tuiasosopo graduated from Paraclete High School in Lancaster, Calif., in 2007 and has posted dozens of videos online singing Christian songs.

  Kelly Osbourne is absolutely gaga over her boyfriend-turned-fiance Matthew Mosshart. The E! "Fashion Police" co-host, 28, and Mosshart, 29, quietly got engaged just a few weeks before Christmas, sources close to the couple confirmed. Mosshart is a began baker.

 Luna Thurman-Busson looks on quizzically as papa Arpad Busson blows her kisses while waiting for a flight Tuesday in Paris. The 6-month-old‘s mom, actress Uma Thurman, recently shared that her daughter actually goes by a derivitive of her many middle names — with five monikers in all, it’s just too long to recite the whole thing! “[My 14-year-old daughter Maya] came up with the best excuse, [which] was that I probably wouldn’t get to have any more children, so I just put every name that I liked into it,” Thurman, 42, told Jimmy Fallon of their choice of Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence. “We couldn’t quite agree.”


The Last of Robin Hood
Dakota Fanning is set to play Kevin Kline‘s teenage girlfriend in the true Hollywood story "The Last Of Robin Hood." The film chronicles the final years of Tasmanian actor Errol Flynn‘s life with Kline portraying the swashbuckling screen icon.  Fanning will play 17 year-old actress Beverly Aadland, who was by Flynn’s side when he died at the age of 50 in 1959.  Susan Sarandon is also attached as Beverly's mother Florence who wrote the 1961 book "The Big Love" which accused Flynn of starting a sexual relationship with her then 15 year-old daughter Beverly. Beverly later confirmed the claims.


Queen of the Night
Rosario Dawson has joined the cast of Atom Egoyan’s thriller "Queen of the Night." Ryan Reynolds stars as the father of an abducted daughter who uncovers a series of disturbing clues eight years later that suggest she is still alive. Dawson will play the detective in charge of the investigation.


Freezer
Peter Facinelli ("Twilight") and Yuliya Snigir ("A Good Day to Die Hard") will join Dylan McDermott in Mikael Salomon's action thriller "Freezer" at Envision Media Arts. Shooting begins this month in Edmonton, Canada. McDermott plays an average man who awakens to find himself locked in an industrial freezer by Russian thugs who insist he returns the $8 million dollars he stole from them. The trouble is he has no idea what they are talking about.
  A TV surprise saw comedian Steve Harvey breakdown in tears on the long-running game show Family Feud this week. The legendary American comedian showed his emotional side after taking an unexpected call during the show’s taping as part of his birthday special (he turned 56 on January 17, 2013). Producers cut to a call via satellite, with a man appearing on-screen and wishing Harvey a happy birthday. It caused Harvey to whisper “Aw, man” before pacing the stage. “This is Rich Liss from Orlando, Florida,” the man said. “Do you still love me, baby?” Harvey was seen bending over, choking back sobs and trying to compose himself for a few moments. “Hey, man,” he finally said, before adding, “I love you.” It turns out Rich and his wife Becky were early supporters of Harvey when he was an aspiring comedian running a fledging carpet cleaning business. They stuck by him while he tried to break into the tough comedy world, something Harvey has never forgotten, “I was struggling…I didn't have nothing. And these people... took me in.” Harvey rose to become one of the most popular actors in America, as well as a best-selling author and television personality.


Voice actor for Charlie Brown arrested
Authorities in California say the voice actor who portrayed Charlie Brown in many "Peanuts" shows was arrested on charges that include stalking. The 56-year-old is set to be arraigned Wednesday on counts of making a threat to cause death or great bodily injury and stalking. His manager has declined to comment. Robbins was the voice of Charlie Brown for TV specials, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."
 Larry Hagman's tragic passing on Nov. 24 served a double blow to the cast and crew of TNT's "Dallas." Not only had they lost a dear friend, but they also had to come up with a way to write J.R. Ewing off the show without derailing their planned storylines. This season's storyline will take a page from the series' most iconic moment, and have J.R. Ewing murdered by an unknown assailant towards the middle of the show's upcoming second season. This, of course, pays homage to the "Who Shot J.R.?" cliffhanger from Dallas' 1980 season finale. The ensuring storm of speculation that swirled throughout the subsequent summer led to the highest-rated TV episode in U.S. history at the time, with an estimated 83 million people tuning in for the season premiere, "Who Done It?" -- which was higher than the number of voters in that year's presidential election. The new season of "Dallas" premieres Jan. 28 on TNT.
 Chely Wright is about to be a mom — times two! The country singer, 42, is expecting identical twins with her wife Lauren Blitzer-Wright. The couple announced the news Wednesday. Wright met her future wife, 31, just two weeks after coming out in May 2010, and the couple tied the knot in an August 2011 homespun ceremony in Connecticut.


TV NEWS
"Mad Men" will return to screens this April. The critically adored, relentlessly blogged about, frequently awarded AMC show will kick off a sixth season of alcoholism, infidelity and advertising accounts with a special two-hour premiere on April 14 at 9 p.m.  Following the premiere, "Mad Men" will return to its regular time slot at 10 p.m. with an episode written by Jonathan Igla and Weiner, and directed by star Jon Hamm.


BBC America have announced a March 30th premiere date in the U.S. for the second half of the seventh season of "Doctor Who." The U.K. premiere date has also been confirmed for the same day.


It was never all that likely that Steve Carell would make a return appearance on "The Office" before the show ended, but absent a definitive word from Carell or the show, speculation continued. Carell has pretty well shut that down now, explaining that he doesn't think Michael Scott coming back to Scranton would make much sense.  "I just didn't think it was right for the character," Carell said at Sundance, where his movie "The Way, Way Back" premiered this week. "That character had an arc within the story, and kind of grew and sort of evolved past the idea of the documentary." "Office" executive producer Greg Daniels said as much in a press conference last week, noting that "Steve is very much of the opinion that the 'Goodbye, Michael' episode and the story arc he did leading up to it was his goodbye to the show."

Adele is returning to the stage for the first time since becoming a mom, to sing her James Bond theme song "Skyfall" at the upcoming Academy Awards. The singer, who gave birth to a son in October, is nominated in the Best Original Song category for "Skyfall," and she will be at the Los Angeles ceremony in person to perform it on February 24.


The b---- in Apartment 23 has been evicted. ABC has pulled the comedy "Don't Trust the B---- in Apt. 23" from its Tuesday night schedule. It is not yet known when the remaining eight episodes of the comedy will run. The two-hour series premiere of "The Taste" will air in its 9:30 p.m. time slot this Tuesday.


"American Horror Story" co-creator Ryan Murphy says that first season cast member Taissa Farmiga is in talks for season three. Murphy says the part is one of the leads in the season.


"The Newsroom" has found new representation. Aaron Sorkin's HBO drama has cast  Marcia Gay Harden in the role of attorney Rebecca Halliday, an attorney who represents Atlantis Cable News against a wrongful-termination lawsuit.  Harden, who has appeared on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Body of Proof," is replacing "United States of Tara" star Rosemarie DeWitt, who had to bow out of the series after filming two episodes due to scheduling conflicts. DeWitt's scenes will be re-filmed with Harden in her place. The second season of "The Newsroom" will premiere in the summer.


Fox is pulling Ben and Kate from its schedule. Fox says the remaining Ben and Kate episodes will air at some point (there are six left). Given Ben and Kate‘s ratings, the move wasn’t a surprise (if anything, some were shocked the show received an order for additional episodes last fall). Doubling up on Hope through February will make room for the return of Hell’s Kitchen, which will launch March 12 at 8 p.m. and lead into New Girl and The Mindy Project.

Tonight's Premieres:Lifetime: Project Runway at 9p
DIY Network: House of Bryan at 930p
Tonight's Finale:ABC: Last Resort at 8p