Lip Syncing

"The times they are a' changin'..." Dylan sang. And indeed the are. It used to be, that if a musical artist was caught lip-syncing it made them a laughing stock. Think Milli Vanilli, 1990. When it was revealed that they never even sang their hit songs, it ruined their (pseudo) careers. Girl, you know it's true. But now flash forward 20 years and lip-syncing is no longer a career killer. In fact, some say it's the norm. What?

Jennifer Hudson's powerful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at the SuperBowl...lip-sync.

But rather than calling it a controversy, some "journalists" dared call it a "non-troversy." "People expect it these days", they say.

WHAT???

EVEN SPRINGSTEEN'S BAND faked it at the SuperBowl. (Although he apparently really sang--but the band wasn't really playing.)

It's been reported that Britney Spears' entire Circus Tour is lip-synced. (But then again, when you start off with no talent, lip-syncing is a logical progression.)

Good grief...even hardcore rapper 50 Cent got caught lip syncing.

Maybe I'm getting old. Maybe it's old fashioned to think that vocalists should be able to...well...vocalize.

Is it possible that all we care about these days is seeing a pretty face, or a sultry body in a revealing outfit, gyrating and grinding on stage...and oh yeah, if she can sing, that's a bonus?

Look, I know that it's tough to run all over stage and dance and sing at the same time. I do. But I'm willing to forego 8 costume changes and watching you grind your hips on every dancer on stage, if you could just sing the song!

But that's the problem. So many arists CAN'T sing the songs. In the studio, they autotune their vocal tracks til they hardly sound human anymore. And when it comes time to perform live, there's no way they can recreate it.

It's time we got back to artists performing live...really live. It's time we expected singers to sing. I don't mind if you miss a note or two. Just be real. Just sing.