I googled “lip-sync” and found this result, courtesy of someone’s tweet (that’s a Twitter message, if you didn’t know): “If performers want to push the envelope, why don’t they use their talent for once by not lip syncing and by connecting with the audience?” I couldn’t have said it better myself. Now I’ll elaborate…

During any given awards show (VMA’s, AMA’s, Grammies, etc) you’ll no doubt ask yourself “is he/she lip syncing?” as you watch live performances. In some cases it’s painfully obvious that the singer is doing everything but, as they bounce around without a single voice fluctuation or sounds of heavy breathing. In other instances, you have to strain your eyes to see whether the lips match the sounds you hear.

Are Artists Lazy and/or Talentless or Do We Expect Perfection?

It’s easy to lay the blame on artists, saying they’re too lazy to actually sing or that they don’t have the talent to perform their own songs in a live performance. While I definitely think that music artists should give their audiences live singing, considering they make a healthy living from their music, I understand the pressure of delivering studio-quality vocals. As music consumers and fans, we have come to expect that humans should be capable of jumping around, hyping up an audience of thousands and remembering intricate choreography, all while maintaining perfect tempo and pitch. So when an artist uses a backing track t enhance their own vocals, or outright lip syncs, is that a reflection of them or of us?

The Ashlee Simpson Debacle (2004)

You might remember this bit of nonsense from Saturday Night Live 5 years ago. Sorry about the ending of this video, but there aren’t many clips of this on YouTube. Someone made sure to eliminate the damning evidence, it seems. Incidentally, when you type in “Ashlee Simpson” into the search, the lip sync result is the third most popular. Ouch!

I came across this great discussion between an MSNBC host and a “music recording expert”, which is where I got some of the ideas for this piece.

Who Lip Syncs, Anyway?

It’s not only the Ashlee Simpsons and Britney Spears’ of the world that lip sync. Here are some other (quite respected) artists who have been suspected (or confirmed) of syncing lips:

• Janet Jackson
• Rihanna
• Shakira

But wait, they dance in their routines. So clearly that must excuse it right? Well…

As best I can tell, there IS a backing track used but P!nk sings most of this song as she’s ON A TRAPEZE! It’s called being a talented singer and being committed to your craft. Like her music or not, you can’t deny that puts the work in. And I thought she’d be a one-hit wonder.

There you go…

She’s not most girls…