I have never understood the big deal about an artist lip-syncing, as long as they are really moving and shaking. Obviously, it's be a major disappointment if artists like Adele or Lana Del Rey got on staged and mimed their way, through their live shows, or say, Ashley Simpson ...but someone going on stage and using a backing track or prerecorded vocals should be perfectly ok. Why? Because if they got up there and sounded out of breath and off-key, you'd be talking about how awful they were. It's a lose-lose. I'd rather just they go all out, dance their ass off, singing the verses and give a good show (unless it's not a dance song, of course).
My question is, why do we pick and choose who's allowed to using backing tracks or lip-sync and who's not? Katy Perry & Chris Brown did it last night at the Grammys and everyone seems ok with it. Had it Britney Spears, I imagine the headlines would have been like, "Britney Spears lip-syncs through Grammy performance, clearly she is troubled, on drugs, losing her kids and a devil worshipper, still not over Kevin Federline and having sex with her dad." Yeah, Britney's had some moments where she definitely should have sang live, like the 2011 Billboard performance with Nicki Minaj, but for the most part, Britney's defined her career with giving hardcore dance routines in her performances. I witnessed, first hand, Britney singing live (with a backing track) during her Femme Fatale tour, and people still complained because she didn't sing every note live. Hell, not even Beyoncé can sing every part of her song (@2:49).
Honestly, does anyone really WANT Britney to sing live? I mean, she's not the greatest singer. I could live my life if Rihanna never sang live again, but then again, she can't dance to save her life so it's a necessary evil for her to try her best (and she is getting much better). Beyoncé has effectively mastered the art of screaming notes while she's dancing, letting the backing track play. It works for her because she isn't really doing too much during the verses, unlike Chris Brown who can't manage to stand still. I'd rather he not sing live at all as opposed to singing for 3 seconds at a time. Seriously, though. Would you really want to sit through a Chris Brown performance when he tried to sing while doing all of his backflips and chest pops?
So where do we draw the line? When is it ok for artists to using backing
tracks, pre-recorded vocals or to completely mine a performance...
where do we draw the line? I've seen rappers lip-sync. I draw a line there. I get that sometimes networks ask them to do this so they have to worry less about censoring, but don't they have clean versions of their songs? Performing a ballad? You better sit your ass down and sing live. If you can't, then you don't need to be performing a damn ballad.
Thoughts?
My comment to this, Michael Jackson was able to sing live and dance, extremely well. Beyonce does it extremely well. When you're an artist and claim to be able to shut shows down (Britney, Rihanna, Katy, etc) you need to come with all! And besides what's the point of having songs you can't deliver live, when it mostly counts! We know Chris can sing but he hasn't been doing it much with these last performances of his. It's been just dancing. I've never been to a Chris Brown tour show and maybe this is where he does all his singing live but yeah, as I said, if you make a song providing vocals, you should at least be able to singing the way you recorded it or even better (like Beyonce) #thatisall
ReplyDeleteGood read, LOVE how u write (!), but this post didn't really say anything or make any great points defending the "art" of lip-syncing. Artist that do a lot of dancing and jumping around can get a pass for lip syncing, yes, but at what cost? The Grammy's are about MUSIC, TALENT, and SINGING, if any award show should be about the voice it should be the Grammys. Chris should have saved all those flips and nonsense for MTV.
ReplyDeleteSame for Katy Perry, theres no reason why she should have been lip syncing, it takes away from her talent.
"Beyoncé has effectively mastered the art of screaming notes while she's dancing, letting the backing track play." Shade much? Beyonce is the primary singer of today's generation that can sing LIVE and dance at the same time---she has proven herself time and time again. Peep just about ANY performance from the 4 era. Thats not to say she can't have an off night, and NEED the backing track for help, but this post makes it seem like she implores the backing track at every chance she gets and is "cheating".
As for Chris and the excuse that he HAS to lip sync because he is doing so much. My question is, WHY is he doing so much? He doesn't have to! Especially if doing all that sacrifices that actual musicality of his performance. This is why Chris Brown performances continue to disappoint, no matter how many bells and whistles he decorates them with.
"Would you really want to sit through a Chris Brown performance when he tried to sing while doing all of his backflips and chest pops?" He could at least have his mic on and LIVE. He's not even pretending to sing at this point.
@Coopert07 Michael was a legendary lip syncer! Even his iconic Beat It moon walk as lip synced for the Gawds. But he DID SO MUCH ON STAGE, no one cared...yea Chris does a lot too, but mic's on stage antics and persona were God-like, he commanded in such a powerful way. Plus he dancing was more choreographed and succinct instead of spastic like Chris'.
ReplyDeleteMichael could also sing DOWNE when the time came.
Michael Jackson and Beyoncé both used backing tracks or backing vocalist to fill in the gaps. They also used their choreography selectively.
ReplyDeleteBritney (and I'm talking pre-Blackout) has choreography throughout her performances. She wouldn't even have been able to control her mic during the 2001 VMA performance.
I agree with what you said about being able to deliver your songs live, but the fact remains that the majority of artists are extremely enhanced in the studio. Lana Del Rey, Katy Perry and Rihanna are just a handful of artist that have admitted it. So going out and doing it live, with dancing, could just end up being a tragedy.
@Martian I can agree with you on that..
ReplyDeleteEver heard of Lady Gaga? She dances and sings live. The fact that other artists use lip-synch is because they can't sing either dancing or standing in front of a microphone with a piano. As simple as that.
ReplyDelete@Mikey... you follow me on Twitter. You should know the my feelings about the Grammys and their so called ethic.
ReplyDeleteThat aside, I think the sacrifice is great if you get up their and sound like a fool.
I'll defend my comment about Beyoncé. I didn't mean it as shade, but I know her fans will be the first to come in her and say that she's all out live and that's not completely true. I'd be dumb to try and claim that 90% of her performances aren't live, but I just thought she was a good example to show how artists can effectively use backing vocals and pre-recorded vocals to maintain their vocals during the performance so that they can dance.
I mean, no shade, again, but Beyoncé has never really danced the same way as Britney, Michael or Janet. I'm not saying any person dances better, but it's really not the same style. Up until the Billboard performance of "Run The World," Bey's been pretty consistent with an 8-count... and even during the "Run The World" performance, she has backing vocals throughout the whole thing...
@ Anon - Lady Gaga's dancing though... she's not near the same realm as anyone mentioned.
ReplyDelete@MartianLeaks still it's better than most artists right now. I mean, now that Britney can barely get on her feet and Beyonce is with her baby, her choreography is top notch, just watch any of her performances. The fact that she sings live takes everything to a whole new level. She isn't just the girl that dances and moves her mouth.
ReplyDeleteA Britney fan will always excuse lip-syncing. I personally feel that an artist who can't sing or at least dance live, or have SOME sort of stage presence, is a sad excuse for one. There is so much actual talent in the world, people capable of singing/dancing live, yet these pseudo-singers are taking their spots. Beyonce gives highly energetic performance while maintaining a pitch-perfect voice. Look at her "Proud Mary" and the recent "Run the World" performance at the Billboard awards. I think that it requires some sort of practice - maybe running while singing on the treadmill like Destiny's Child did.
ReplyDeletelol at lady gaga. OKAY. I think it is fine to lip sync if you're dancing crazy. Brit did her thing this last tour and proved she wasn't dancing as much but still added more live vocals she ever has. She will always be targeted as never singing live but we know she goes along with pre recorded but the billboard awards was mega obvious. This topic is a no win with every fan base and I agree with everything you said. Beyonce does it, MJ did it, everyone does it.
ReplyDeleteI think Beyoncé fans are too quick to dismiss Britney because she doesn't dance like she used to, but really the only person who can really put on a show as good, if not better than her is Beyoncé (when it comes to dancing). She may not be her former self, but she's by no means a bad performer now.
ReplyDelete...I mean, could you imagine Beyoncé belting out "Vois Sur Ton Chimon" with the "Single Ladies" choreography? I don't see it. Britney isn't really performing songs with strong vocals, so I stand by the fact I'd rather not be distracted by her vocals because they will just sound bad if she's dancing a lot.
@Martian
ReplyDeleteThe backing track your talking about on Run The World Girls are The Mamas, it's not like the CD is playing lowly under the live track. I'm not gonna sit here and say Beyonce has NEVER used a backtrack to do the "heavy lifting" but it's a rarity for her. And when she does do it, it's not necessarily because she CAN'T sing live, like Britney or Lana for example...Beyonce uses it sparingly and appropriately.
Britney, Brown, and now Katy no longer even try to put up a facade their singing live. And yea Beyonce may not have had chore like "Toxic" or "The Hook Up" (Onyx Hotel Tour) but her choreo was very much an ALL-IN affair, it wasn't like she was just moving her hands (Post Breakdown Britney) or doing yoga poses (Madonna), Beyonce always goes hard with the choreo no matter how elementary and it never hinders her live vocals.
Are u guys serious about Britney SINGING LIVE on the FFT? C'mon! A few "ohhh"'s and "yeaa"'s and maybe a "nooooaaww" but live singing? NO way! Her mic may have been on, but he wasn't live singing the way a professional singer getting paid 100's of millions to sing and dance to songs they didn't even write for 90 minutes.
ReplyDeleteAre you talking about Billboard 2011? That's straight up backing track.
ReplyDeleteDid you see Britney live? It's dubbed on the DVD. Completely different feeling.
@Martian I'm talking about Roseland and ITV in the UK. The Mamas and I saw Britney twice and met her back stage at the meet n greet (awful btw). those vocals were the cd playing. her mic maybe have been on hear and there but she wasn't "singing" as in trying to hit notes and worrying about key changes. she may have SANG ALONG, but she wasn't "singing"
ReplyDeleteWatching her live was just like watching her on YouTube. Same feeling of disappointment, no sincerity in performing, and it felt like there was a wall up between britney and the fans. no interaction and no artistry. britney was another prop in the show. the starring prop, but a prob none the less.
ReplyDeleteOh, definitely... but I'll have to disagree. Britney missed lyrics too many times for that have to been pre-recorded... and I've watched about every city by now (pressed, much).
ReplyDeleteStill, the point is that there are vocal breaks in Bey's performance, be it a backing track, the Mamas or her deciding to talk to the crowd.
Britney lip-synced through her whole tour. She didn't even make an attempt to sing live. Seriously - she might as well have been a back-up dancer. That's what people paid for to watch - a back-up dancer. It shows a lack of passion for music, and I'd go as far as saying, a lack of respect towards her audience. And I know she isn't the only guilty one. Rihanna at least makes an attempt to sing - and has improved.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand how people are making such a big deal about artists lip-syncing, i mean that's the artists decision to choose how they want to perform. Clearly these artists do not force you to watch their lip-sync performance, however, some people here are just complaining about how unsatisfying the performance of certain artist and how waste of their time and money. It looks like some people are just so pressed, the fact that "untalented" artist such as Britney Spears can lip-sync her entire performance and still manage to be successful while their favorite artist has to sing live to do so. So just face the fact that these artists are lip-syncing, and if you don't like it, then don't watch it. Oh and stop pointing other artists flaws, clearly it's not helping.
ReplyDeleteBritney lip-syncs because she CAN ! She already showed what she can do & she has already showed iconic performances. She will always have attention in media.
ReplyDeleteBeyonce is ok but even with that powerful voice, she has to do a lot of promotion. She was pregnant & I thought she will have a break but no, she already did I don't know how many videos.
Lady who? I mean, c'mon ! She can sing, but she can't dance good.
Nobody mention Nicole Scherzinger ! That girl is a full package. Good-looking girl with powerful voice, singing live & dance as hell ! That is talent ! Just saying !