Carrie Underwood had to sing a cappella at Donald Trump inauguration

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Carrie Underwood’s performance of America the Beautiful got off to a delayed and quiet start Monday during the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Monday in Washington, D.C.

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Following the president’s swearing-in and a lengthy inaugural address that touched on everything from California wildfires to planting the U.S. flag on Mars to renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, an announcer said the song would be performed by Underwood and the Armed Forces Chorus.

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However, after the singer entered the rotunda and took up position to one side of the podium, there followed almost two minutes of awkward silence, broken briefly by a few notes of what sounded like recorded backup music.

Finally, Underwood appeared to consult with one of the officials before taking up her microphone and telling the crowd: “You know the words; help me out here.” She then commenced to sing a cappella, with many in the room joining in. The ceremony then continued without further incident.

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