Beyonce sings national anthem at inauguration

After President Barack Obama was sworn in for his second term as president of the United States, Beyonce closed the inauguration ceremony with a performance of the national anthem.

• Pictures: Stars at Inauguration 2013 events

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Kelly Clarkson sings "My Country, 'Tis of Thee"

Wearing a floor-length Pucci dress, Dior coat and emerald earrings by Lorraine Schwartz, the superstar sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the crowd assembled outside of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Monday. She was accompanied during the performance by the United States Marine Band.

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James Taylor performs "America the Beautiful" at inauguration 2013

She arrived with husband Jay-Z, who was dressed in head-to-toe Tom Ford, according to USA Today.

James Taylor and Kelly Clarkson also performed during Mr. Obama's second inauguration. Taylor sang "America the Beautiful," accompanying himself on his guitar. Clarkson performed "My Country 'Tis of Thee," accompanied by the United States Marine Band.

Clarkson took to Twitter after her performance, sharing photos of her with Beyonce and another of her and the president:

Wow ....I was incredibly nervous and cold ha! I just wanna officially thank President Obama for opening for me haha! Just kidding :)

— Kelly Clarkson (@kelly_clarkson) January 21, 2013

Me and B just hangin' out ....don't worry about it. Seriously, God did good. She is so beautiful! twitter.com/kelly_clarkson...

— Kelly Clarkson (@kelly_clarkson) January 21, 2013

Maybe the coolest photo I've ever been in ....ever :) twitter.com/kelly_clarkson...

— Kelly Clarkson (@kelly_clarkson) January 21, 2013

Tell us: What did you think of the inauguration performances?

[The_Wickerman]

If Kelly could sing live then there is no excuse for Beyonce. What is worse is she tried to dupe everybody when she took her ear piece out. It's like performance enhancing drugs...

Sad thing, even the poet guy was lip-synching.

[Hypo789]

I believe all of this is hypocritical. Just because someone is of high society can get away with people backing her up of lip syncing. Remember what poor Ashley Simpson went through when She lip synced on SNL? Where is the apology for her? Why can One get away with it and publicly get support and the other is shammed for trying to make a good show? What a society...

[Barry-been-inhalin]

Beyonce was out done by that Clarkson girl.

Mitches must be laughing ..........Take that Beyonce.

[goddesssmith]

Love you Beyonce you represent Houston very gracefully and beautifully.

[Tooshay2U2]

Beyonce was awesome!