Is Lip-syncing a way of cheating?
By agmamayo
@agmamayo (804)
Philippines
February 10, 2012 8:25pm CST
We have heard the news about the alleged Lip-syncing of Madonna at the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show. Remember the Milli Vanilli scandal wherein they were found to be lip-syncing all the songs they sang which lead to the duo's immediate demise from the music scene. So let's define what lip-syncing is all about, it is moving the lips in synchronization with a pre-recorded song to give the appearance of a live performance. It is also called miming to make it appear as if the actors have musical ability. Some music artists used lip-syncing especially in small talk show or variety show appearances but some dared to lip-sync even during a live concert. Producers though argued that lip-syncing is always part of the music industry and it is beneficial to an artist especially when untoward events happen during or before a live performance. For example when a certain singer suffers from a simple colds or flu, and they cannot cancel the show anymore then lip-syncing will be implemented. However there are some criticisms that emerge about the issue of lip-syncing among the top music artists all over the world. Is this technique a way of cheating the fans of what they really expect to see from a live performance? Share what you think about it?.
1 person likes this
7 responses
@olliekobra1 (1825)
•
12 Feb 12
I think that it is cheating if someone has paid money to watch these people perform live then they should perform live or its a waste of time and people may as just as well be watching a video.
@agmamayo (804)
• Philippines
14 Apr 12
Lip-syncing should only be used as an emergency tool in cases where the artist is unable to cancel a show or needs to perform regardless if he or she is not feeling well. But some if not most artists today depends so much in lip-syncing especially in those prime time TV talk shows or late night talk shows where they sometimes render songs for the audience. I think is should be better for them to even sing live in those talk shows because people really expect them to sing their hit songs in real. For me I won't mind if the artist will sing accapella version of his/her song as long as it is live. The bad thing is during live concerts their are times we see performers actually lip-sync and that is already cheating, which is bad since the title of the performance has "LIVE" written all over it.
@LadyMarissa (12148)
• United States
11 Feb 12
No, I don't see it as cheating!!! I see it as a way to guarantee a perfect performance. Still using Madonna as the example...she tripped on stage & the next thing I'm hearing is that it's time for her to retire. Today's society expects perfection from our celebrities. If Madonna can't trip ONE time in over 30 years without being put out to pasture, what would happen to the singer with a cold who hit an off note??? I don't care what they say here, NOBODY wants to go to a performance where the performer has laryngitis!!! I never understood why Milli Vanilli were booted from performing when everybody was doing the same thing at the time. I went to the concert of one of my all time favorite performers where he actually sang LIVE & I was very disappointed!!! I knew his songs inside & out & he was singing them all WRONG!!! He switched up the words, he sped up the tempo or he slowed down the tempo. By the end of the concert, I was soooo disappointed that I never wanted to spend my hard earned dollar to see him again!!! I really wish he had lip-synced so I could have heard the songs as I knew them!!!
@LadyMarissa (12148)
• United States
9 Mar 12
Share what you think about it?
And that is what I did. I'll remember to never go to a concert with you!!! 
By the way, I did buy his album & enjoyed it MUCH MORE than his stinking concert!!! Plus I never went to another of his concerts & it's been 30 years. I mainly went to see his cute tushie in person!!! I bet if Sammy made it a regular habit of forgetting his words that people would get really tired of it & stop going to see him too!!!
My perspective should be completely different from yours as I don't works with bands.
By the way, I did buy his album & enjoyed it MUCH MORE than his stinking concert!!! Plus I never went to another of his concerts & it's been 30 years. I mainly went to see his cute tushie in person!!! I bet if Sammy made it a regular habit of forgetting his words that people would get really tired of it & stop going to see him too!!!
My perspective should be completely different from yours as I don't works with bands.
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
12 Feb 12
When I go to a concert I get disappointed if the singer is lip-syncing. I prefer to listen to the singer even when the songs aren't perfect and they make a few mistakes. I already have the cds that my favourite have made and I can listen to them in my home. If I buy an expensive concert ticket, I expect a live performance with or without small mistakes. Some years ago there was a tv-show in my country, one of part of the show was a concert. They always pretended that it was a live concert, but the artists never performed live, they always used lip-syncing. The performance was always perfect. but I thought that it was a little boring to listen to pre-recorded songs every time.
@marcmm (1804)
• Malaysia
8 Mar 12
Lip-syncing is cheat. People said as long as it is not auto-tune it will be fine. How do you sure it wasn't auto-tune. I bet the pre-recorded song also been auto-tune.
This have happen in mainstream music. It never happen to Metal music scene. Iron Maiden for example have been rocking the world since the 70's and they never lip-syncing.
For me those who lip-syncing is not competent to be a singer. They just sell their image and I doubt that they can even sing in the bathroom.
My message for those celeberity who lip-syncing, learn to sing or go find another profession.
@lil_toni (206)
•
11 Feb 12
Well,yes and no.It depends on how they are using it.
For me,because I love watching shows on tv,live performances.It is somewhat a way of cheating the viewers,especially if you know in fact that the artist is really not a good singer and its for a promotions sake that most of them are doing lip-syncing.I don't know in other countries but here,they are doing that just because they have a movie,commercial or a tv series to promote.You are deceiving other people with your voice which is not really yours.In the other hand,those who are using there own voice in lip-syncing,I also understand them and maybe because they have a valid reason of doing it.Maybe they can't handle a sing and dance prod,they are sick or their voice are not in good condition and they cannot anymore cancel the show.But I also think that artist should not tolerate that and not use it more often because its like lowering your credibility as an artist/performer/singer because you can't do it on live shows.I'm still in favor of doing live no lip-syncing because it shows how versatile a person is.I don't know if this is true,but they say that the reason why they do lip-syncing is because they cant do it live,so they just record their voice.
@agmamayo (804)
• Philippines
9 Mar 12
You have a good point there, and according to some producers they are at times in favor of lip-syncing because artists are just humans and they have some bad days too, and because of their hectic schedules, their are times they are not fully prepared to render a song live that is why lip-syncing is done specially to those shows wherein their talent would just spend some time in it or just sing some of his or her song. Likewise, same as you have stated, it is really much better if an artist would sing it live, and I would even appreciate it even if the artist won't hit the exact note or miss some of it. Versatility will come from it and it will show how skilled the artist is in terms of adaptability to changes in his or her voice.
@prosniper (58)
• Indonesia
6 Jul 12
I'm okay with that.
cos in her live performance,she should dance.
It's hard to stay focus on dancing and singing at the same time.
if someone like celine dion used lip-sync,that's unacceptable
@mariab2000 (740)
• Canada
12 Feb 12
In my opinion, lip-syncing would definitely be a form of cheating during a live show. This is because, the viewers at a live show or concert are paying out of their pockets for this piece of entertainment. They buy tickets to go see these artists/singers so it is only right that these singers respect their fans and viewers and do not use lip-syncing. The viewers deserve this much atleast from these singers since they wouldn't be so famous, rich and popular if we didn't listen to their songs and appreciate their singing. So, yes lip-syncing is a way of cheating and it shows these singers do not care about their fans...
