Take for example one time R&B dance duo, Milli Vanilli, from the late 1980's and early 1990's. Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus had a breakout with their hit, "Girl You Know It's True" and it took the world by storm. And they soon followed with other hits, "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You" and "Blame It On The Rain". But after speculation began to surface about whether or not Fab and Rob could barely speak English, let alone sing it, critics began to probe into the background of the duo. The heat was on when they had been performing "live" to "Girl You Know It's True" and the track kept on repeating, "Girl you know it's...girl you know it's..." over and over. This forced Milli Vanilli to run off stage. It was then revealed that they were lip syncing their songs and they were stripped of their Grammy.
So, in a nutshell, you are committing social suicide if you get caught lip syncing like these guys, you will not be deemed worthy. Period.
When I got into K-Pop years ago, I was initially pulled into the dancing and bright lights and choreography. The songs were catchy, but I noticed that not everyone were singing during the performances. A friend of mine explained later that it's impossible sometime to sing and dance to the choreography at the same time, so some groups perform to tracks.
Oh, the conflict of emotions that had passed through me back then! On the one hand, I could understand why they lip synced because some of the moves really were complicated. But on the other hand, it was the whole Milli Vanilli thing. Argh argh argh.
To me, sounding out of breath while you're singing and dancing is understandable. And honestly, very much appreciated! Who cares if you have hair flying all over the place and sweating like a hog? Why do you practice 18 hours a day only to sing on a track?? Argh argh argh.
Recently, a Korean music show, "Show! Music Core" stated that they would only have groups perform at least 50% of their songs live. No matter how small the part, they are taking the stance that if you're an artist, you should be able to sing. Well, hallelujah, amen and can I get a "thank you Jesus!" on that! Again, why do you practice 18 hours a day only to sing to a track? And for those groups with instruments, like FT Island, CNBlue and AOA, let me just say that it was really refreshing to see CNBlue actually go onstage "plugged" into their speakers. THAT. IS. LIVE. MUSIC. And I'm glad their company, FNC, was going with it.
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| CNBlue Bassist Jung Shin and drummer Min Hwan on tour |
On the flip side, Super Junior's Ryeowook, made an interesting point through his Twitter:
"To singers, brilliant stages and lights are just as important as
sound systems are.. It's true that performance-centric idol singers just
lipsyncing is a problem as well, but I think it's tyranny to emphasize
just live performances without any improvement..".
This, I can only take to mean, is that if shows are going to make groups sing live, then these shows have got to step up their game and make sure the sound system is working. There have been many times when mics haven't worked, not everyone could get a mic to themselves, or the sound had been sub par. Ryeowook's vocals are known to sound exactly the same as the recorded track. Can you imagine not being able to hear him because of a bum sound system? Unacceptable! Good point, Ryeowook!
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| Super Junior's Ryeowook |
I am torn on both sides. But honestly, I have to say, I would love to see more live show performances. How they do that, I dunno. But I feel strongly that if you're dedicated to your craft, you have pride in what you do, you will want to make sure your best work is heard. The fans deserve it.
Source: Super Junior Ryeowook's Personal Twitter and AllKpop
