On Jan. 20, Jennifer Hudson sat in a Tampa hotel room and watched her new president make history on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. With the inspiring words of Barack Obama echoing in her head, the R&B divette then went to a local studio and recorded her version of the national anthem, the very one you heard at Sunday's Super Bowl XLIII.

Yep, Hudson was lip-synching when she made America sob.

And nope, it shouldn't surprise you in the slightest.

Hudson pretaped her power, her pop, her patriotism in spacious Studio A of Morrisound Recording. Country star Faith Hill, who sang America the Beautiful at the game, also recorded at the noted Tampa facility.

Both Hudson and Hill's performances were arranged by Rickey Minor, the band leader on American Idol, where he worked with Hudson when she was a contestant in 2004. The orchestras accompanying the singers — also piped into Raymond James Stadium — were taped earlier in a Los Angeles studio.

ABC News reported the not-so-shocking Super Bowl lip-synching news Tuesday. This followed eyebrow-raising reports that, due to the frigid temps and possible harm to expensive instruments, a classical quartet featuring Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman played over a recorded track at the Obama inauguration.

Morrisound's Jim Morris, 50, confirmed that both Hudson and Hill recorded at his studio, just east of the USF campus. But he wouldn't touch the lip-synching issue: "Yes, they both recorded vocals here." But about the 27-year-old Hudson's Star-Spangled Banner, he adds, "Whether she was lip-synching or not, we'll never know."

But actually, Minor admitted it, telling ABC: "There's too many variables to go live." Hudson's manager, Damien Smith, told Entertainment Weekly that his client did use prerecorded vocals but that she was still singing "live."

Not-so-coincidentally, Minor also produced Whitney Houston's anthemic awesomeness at 1991s Super Bowl XXV in Tampa. That was also jaw-dropping. And yes, that was also prerecorded.

The NFL has asked for pre-recorded tracks for pregame performers since 1993. (The halftime shows typically go live. At least recently they have.) Lip-synching has nothing to do with a worthy singer phoning it in or cheating — and everything to do with eliminating risk. It wasn't Hudson's call to begin with.

If you can get over that, consider that Hudson, making her first public appearance since the October murders of three family members, wound up giving Houston a run for her money.

"She was spectacular (in the studio)," says Morris. "She was in a good mood and upbeat. She was having a good time."

In a related note, Minor was also involved with Aretha Franklin's performance at the Obama inauguration. But Franklin refused to lip-synch, according to reports. Morris laughs: "Rickey told me, 'You can't tell the Queen of Soul what to do.' "

i don't think anyone cares, and i wonder how many americans would care if these songs completely disappeared from pre-game ritual.

Probably a good bit.

I guess I don't mind the lip syncing per se, I just don't like how they prop the singer up there and make it "look" like it's live. That's stupid.

you mean like bruce and his fake fans?

did you guys see Bruce Springsteen slide his balls right into the camera?

heehee funny shit.

Either way, I thought she did a great job, and that surprised me. I almost always hate divas singing the National Anthem. 99% of the time they should just stick to a normal rendition. This was an exception.

Agree. I thought she did a good job and didn't overdo it.

I didn't really notice that it was synched, either. I was a few beers deep, though.

Bruce Springsteen acts like such a douchebag on stage. Is that why so many of you people like him, for his idiotic antics? He acts like a fucking teenager. I guess that's the cool thing to do in rock n roll.

Jennifer who?