Other Artists calling out Lip Syncers?
 

Why don't other artists do this? I just don't get how people can sit by and watch people like Lindsey Lohan, Ashley Simpson, Britney Spears, etc. all lip sync their way into popularity, and not one artist says anything.

I bring this up because my wife convinced me to watch MTV's new years deal. I said fine and so we started watching and of course Lohan comes on and completely lip syncs the entire thing. Then Green Day comes out and plays and I just think to myself, why don't they say something. I don't expect GD in particular to say something, but any artists.

We all know that 90% of the pop stars out there can't sing a note, yet NO ONE does anything about this. I don't expect hte music industry to listen to us, and as long as the kids don't know any better, they'll keep buying. But why wouldn't other artists stand up and say something about it?

Just curious.

I think it's because almost all performers have done this for various reasons. Some because they can't really sing, others because of dance moves that make it difficult to sing. I've also heard the some TV shows have them do it for some strange reason.

I remember watching an Iron Maiden documentery and they were asked to do some German or British TV show but the people running the show wanted them to lip synch instead of playing live. Well, Maiden weren't happy about this so they decided to totally screw up the performance by switching positions and acting crazy, Bruce on Drums, Nikko on guitar and such, anyway they showed the clip of this performance and it was wild.

I think the teens who want to see Lindsay Lohan in concert are more interested in just seeing her in person then hearing them actually sing live. And I really don't think that Green Day gives a shit about Lohan. :lol:

I think it is pretty hypocritical. 12 or so years ago we stone a group to death because they lip synced. Milli Vanilli of course. One of them even went on to commit suicide b/c he couldn't take it anymore. Why the about face the past decade? Ignorant teens? Lower standards? I don't get it. I think it has gotten out of hand.

Not trying to defend the new breed of lip sychers at all, but the difference there is that Milli Vanilli did not sing anything on the albums. Some other guy was the sole singer for those albums, but Rob & Fab (the two members of Milli Vanilli) were credited with it because they were more marketable. They even won an AMA! That's not to say Ashlee, Lindsay, et al don't have their vocals blended with other singers, and I'm sure there is heavy work done in the studio to their vocals. But they sing some of it, at least until another scandal tells us otherwise. :)

I'm not a Maiden fan, but that's hilarious.

As DRG stated, it's two almost-entirely different things.

Milli Vanilli went beyond lip-synching in concert. They were simply "actors" for the most part - pretending to be the artists that actually recorded the album.

Spears, Lohan, etc sing the actual songs on the CD (I'm sure with alot of help from studio equipment I'm sure - especially for Spears).

Which leads me to my question... has anyone ever heard Spears actually sing? Everytime I see her she's lip-synching (even when she's not dancing). I want to hear her actual voice and see how much help she's getting in the studio.

There's the great Public Image Limited appearance on American Bandstand in 1980.

http://www.ookiine.com/images/pil_abs.jpg

The band mimed to the bleak soundscapes of "Poptones" and "Careering," from Metal Box, with Lydon haranguing the cameramen and making no effort to conceal that he was lip-synching. The studio audience made a valiant, but futile attempt to dance and stay in character, ruined by Lydon's good-humored incitements to storm the stage. (Johnny goes up into the audience and throws people onto the dancefloor) General chaos broke out, and the show ended with the audience dancing with band members, band members goofing on their instruments, and Lydon chatting with fans while "Careering" blares on.

I remember a couple years back when Chris Rock hosted some MTV awards show and he introduced a performance by Britney Spears by saying, "are you ready for some good lip synching?" I thought that was hilarious.

Singing is "artistry" but a lip-synced performance still qualifies as "entertainment" -- what you demand out of the people you watch/listen to depends on your goal... to experience art or to simply be entertained for a few minutes.

There's nothing wrong with either.

Yeah, it is pathetic. Sadly, it is style over substance, in our world.

It was on the "12 Wasted Years" VHS.

It was some German TV show like Top of the Pops or Bandstand, where bands would appear and lip-sync to their hit song. Maiden didn't like this, as it pretty much violates the metal code of ethics, so when they went on and "played" the song (I think it was "Wasted Years") they all started switching instruments and taking turns at the microphone.

I'm really hoping this is included on their next DVD. "Early Years" was listed as volume one, so I assume more will be coming. ("12 Wasted Years" was a great video, and I'd like to see included in its entirety on the next volume. Which might not happen since some of the material is already included on volume 1.)

People like Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears can sing. Im not saying they are Celion Dion status vocally, but they can carry a tune. People pay to see Britney put on a show (much like people did to see Paula Abdul in the late 80s/early 90s)... the focus isnt on the singing, but the overall package. I do not think anyone would have paid to see Paula Abdul just stand up on stage and sing, and they wouldnt for Britney either. They want the big pop-show.

That Lohan chick though just seems messed up in the head. She can't even keep up w/ her vocals to even lip the song properly from what I've seen haha.

Oh and yes... comparing Milli Vanilli to someone like Britney Spears is not correct at all. Sure Britney has a lot of studio production on her vocals, but it is _her_ voice. She sang a song live on SNL and it didn't sound that bad.

You mean like Elton John taking a swipe at Madonna?

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"Actors" is just the start. But it's the "look" that has more to do with it. There's plenty out there that has a tremendous voice but not what's considered a look that sales. I call it the "Soap Opera" look where everyone has to look perfect because that's what sales. It was here or in another forum but someone made the comment that with the technology today anyone can be made into a top 20 voice. But consumers especially the younger generation that drives this market now.

I mean 20-30 years ago it was the stage, lights and the band in your face. Now it's 40-50 dancers with something that's a mix of Vegas, gymnastics and skin city. Nothing more than a masquerade. How many of todays so-called singers could walk on a stage in-the-round alone with no dancers and props? Fat chance!


Kenny J.

But if Britney, Lohan, et. al lip sync 100% of the time, who's to say that is even them on the CD? Was anyone here in the recording booth with them?

Tits.

:lol:

Then why even pretend to be singing? Why the fake headgear mic? Why not just do a dance routine while the music plays? No. They're expecting you to fall for the fact that what you're hearing is, indeed, live...witness Ashlee Simpson.

We've talked about singers but what about "musicians" who don't play on their own albums? It probably happens less than the singing situations but I know it happens.

KISS comes to mind because they're known for bringin' in session guys to play on their albums. Granted, sometimes they admit it and other times they don't. But I still wonder if Gene Simmons has played Bass on <b>all</b> the KISS albums. I really get the feeling that he hasn't. Does anyone remember how much Ace Frehley played or didn't play on "Creatures of the Night"? What about Peter and Ace on "Psycho Circus"?

the Lohan thing is especially funny because she made a public statement that she wont lip synch like Ashlee did, that she wants to show she is talented and wont sing something on a CD that she cant sing in real life, and then the next morning she lip synchs badly on Good Morning America and apparantly is continuing to lip synch badly in all her appearances.

i thought Modest Mouse had a perfect opportunity to be the most talked about band in the country for a week by making fun of Ashlee when they were on SNL after her. they could have done some bad lip synch thing and danced a hoe down, but they didnt. though i give them credit, they didnt lip synch and they sound like crap everytime i heard them live.

'Top of The Pops' was (and I think still is) a British show similar to 'Solid Gold' here. Everybody lip syncs on that show, thats just how the show was done. On the Judas Priest Electric Eye DVD they show footage from Top Of The Pops and it looks completly ridiculus (the band was completely bored) . On the Maiden early years Dvd they do a song on Top Of The Pops and lip sync as well. The Wasted Years Performance was classic. However the bands were not trying to pass there performances off as legit either, nor do they perform their concerts lip syncing either. We know they can actually perform live.

BTW we are now in the age that crappy lip sync corporate garbage always outsells real music 10 to 1, thats why it continues. Rock bands used to sell millions of albums, now if a band sells 100,000 copies it is a big deal.

She sang "Oops! I Did It Again" and "Everytime" live on SNL. "Everytime" sounded pretty similar to the album version, except for a few struggles with some of the higher notes. "Oops" was ok, but she has a hard time singing the dance songs while doing choreography it seems. She's alot better at singing ballads live from what I've seen. I saw her in concert a few years ago (puts on flame suit) and noticed she lip-synched basically everthing except the ballads and a few parts where she wasn't dancing.

Apparently this is an mp3 of some live samples of her (sounds live to me since she squacks a bit):

http://s8.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0H...P0MP4H4G9SFIK8

The comments on the id tag say: 1. From the Bottom of My Borken Heart live on Grammys 2. Silent Night live on NBC 3. Baby One More Time live MTV Europe 4. Oops I Did It Again live on SNL 5. Stronger Concert Bootleg 6. Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know Live on SNL 7. Everytime live on SNL

Would it be much easier to just call out people/bands that never lip-synched, used programs to adjust the voice, actually played on the recording or used backing tapes live? Because you are going to knock out about 98 percent of the popular recording artists.