So this was what she was saving her pipes for!

Beyonce Knowles performed a live rendition of the National Anthem at a Super Bowl press conference on Thursday in New Orleans, and after belting out the "Star Spangled Banner," the singer chatted with the audience, finally addressing her lip syncing scandal.

"I am a perfectionist and I practice until my feet bleed and I did not have time to rehearse with the orchestra," she said. "Due to the weather, due to the delay, due to no proper sound check, I did not feel comfortable taking the risk, so I decided to sing along with my prerecorded track, which is very common in the music industry. And I'm very proud of my performance."

"Typically, they have you sing a pre-recorded track in case something goes wrong," she added. "I was singing along with the prerecorded track ... I will absolutely be singing live [at the Super Bowl]. I am well rehearsed and I will be singing live ... this is what I was born to do."

Is she anxious about her halftime performance on Sunday? Yup! "I'm nervous," she said. "When I was driving up, I got chills looking at the Superdome. There's so much history there."