Forget truth in advertising... how about truth in "live" performances?
We have now learned that neither Faith Hill nor Jennifer Hudson performed live at Sunday's Super Bowl. This, after finding out that Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman didn't perform live at the Obama inaugural either. If they tell me tomorrow Bruce Springsteen was on tape, there's no hope.
What right does a network have to present an apparently "live" performance before, during or after an apparently "live" (God, who knows?) football game with no indication that the singer is lip-synching to an earlier-recorded version?
Here, the defense, as quoted by the Associated Press from the producer of the pregame show, Rickey Minor, a producer and music director of American Idol: "That's the right way to do it. There's too many variables to go live. I would never recommend any artist go live because the slightest glitch would devastate the performance." (Ignore the word choice and wrong subject-verb agreement.)
What is this guy really saying? Professional performers, paid a king's ransom to do their stuff on the most-watched telecast of the year, cannot be relied upon to get it right, so we get it right for them. And furthermore, the audience doesn't know or care, so doesn't deserve the courtesy of a heads-up. I'll bet that if you polled the audience as to whether Hill and Hudson were singing live, more than 99 percent would answer "live." And apparently, according to ABC News, the Super Bowl lip-synching has pretty much been standard operating procedure since 1994.
Late last month, The New York Times provided a pseudo-scientific explanation for why Ma, Perlman and company couldn't play live at the Obama inaugural, having to do with potential "broken piano strings, cracked instruments and wacky intonation" caused by the freezing temperatures and wind on the Mall Jan. 20. They could sell that because, frankly, how many people know enough about the fragility of classical instruments and the variability in tone that extreme weather conditions might cause to dispute that? But, come on, Tampa's weather was in the 60s, there are Teleprompters for the words, and, again, these are supposed to be professionals. That's why they're at the Super Bowl.
And when things do go wrong, or the forecast "glitch" does occur, sometimes it adds to the charm and the memorable nature of a live occasion. Anyone old enough to have watched John F. Kennedy's inauguration remembers (probably with a few tears) the scene when the 87-year-old Robert Frost could not see the words on the page of his poem written for the occasion due to his failing eyesight and the bright sunshine off the snow, and instead recited "The Gift Outright" from memory. Far from a "glitch," it was a noble, human moment in a glorious inauguration ceremony.
Finally, don't these producers feel they owe the audience anything? Or, is it just how much they can get over on us? If they're not going to allow the "live" performers to perform live, how hard is it to tell us? "Performance by Jennifer Hudson previously recorded." Newspapers and magazines certainly know how to inform readers that "portions of the above article appeared previously in" another publication, or that photographs are not what they appear to be: "photo illustration by the New York Post."
The bottom line is: they don't want to take a chance on a live performer, no matter how professional, and they don't want to tell us when they don't. They want us to think we're getting The Real Deal when we're actually getting Memorex. And how far from Milli Vanilli is that, really?
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Jennifer Hudson's Super Bowl Performance: Her First Since Her Mother, Brother Were Killed
TAMPA, Fla. — One was a 12-minute party, the other a 2-minute proclamation. Bruce Springsteen and Jennifer Hudson used the Super Bowl stage for two...
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Review of Springsteen's Super Bowl Halftime Show!
Since I didn't care one iota about the game itself, a lot was riding on the Super Bowl halftime show tonight. This apparently was true for Bruce Springsteen himself.
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I've sung the National Anthem in a venue holding about 65,000 people before. The stadium management insisted on having it recorded beforehand. The simple reason being, the reverberation of the music and the singing itself had proved too distracting in previous performances. After some really disastrous incidents--- they just made pre-recording it the norm.
And while I was annoyed at first, once I actually got up there, I realized that they were absolutely right. Even though I had on an earpiece (designed so I could only hear the music), I could still hear the "echo" of my voice as I was singing--- and it was INCREDIBLY distracting. I would have never been able to sing it properly if I'd tried to do it live.
Now, if I'd had a very loud rock band behind me and was surrounded with monitor speakers (which is what bands who do stadium concerts have)--- it might be a different story. ;-) But I'm going to give both Faith and Jennifer a break.
While it may have been somewhat of an embarrassment to Justice Roberts and Pres. Elect Obama, the oath of office was administrated.
That little glitch was priceless and only proves that at least two individuals in this government are not Milli Vanillies.
I happen to like the 'Warts and all' people.
I loved Jennifer Hudson's performance, but part of why I loved it was that I was impressed by what I thought was a live performance. Knowing now that it was recorded ahead of time, I'm not so impressed. Almost anyone can sound good in a recording studio.
I totally understand the musicians at the inauguration. Watching Aretha sing made my vocal chords hurt. I can barely speak in 20 degree weather, much less sing. Far much less sing well! If my little instrument is affected by the cold, I can only imagine what it would do to Yo-Yo Ma's cello.
Please, though--enough with the Milli Vanilli references. They did not sing on their own ALBUM. It was fraud. Big difference.
Ahem, funny you should mention that, Ruth:
http://www.thedailyswarm.com/headlines/not-playing-live-story-continues-even-e-street-band-was-faking-it-superbowl/
If it helps, Bruce was actually singing, but they were just pretending to play.
Perhaps a blog from an event producer is in order.
Hey, here's a tip: If you really like in-tune singing so much, you should check out T-Pain. no "pitchiness" there.
No wonder the internet and reality TV programming are becoming increasingly popular.
One poster made a great point -- seek out REAL music performed by REAL musicians in a REAL venue. In REAL time. That means "small", and intimate. That's what I'm doing these days. And simply not bothering to tune into the Super Bowl. Marketers and Publicists: deal with THAT!
What are you going to do, sue? You've been a lawyer too long. The world is not entirely the adversarial place you'd like it to be.
If you see the performer doing 'dance-moves' while wearing a tiny boom mic and 'singing', then they are NOT singing live. If they are doing 'dance-moves' they can ONLY be lip-synching. It is physically impossible so sing while doing acrobatics.
Find a live music club in your area that specializes in the kind of music you like. If you live in or near a major city or college town, it won't be too hard. Local performers and national touring acts that play clubs can't afford to sound perfect live, so they hone their chops the hard way: through constant playing. The Jennifer Hudsons and Faith Hills simply don't do enough concerts to deliver a consistent level of quality in a live setting; that's why their managers are afraid to let them sing live. Springsteen has no such issue. He's been playing 4 hour concerts for decades.
As for whether this topic is relevant considering all that's going on in the world, I submit that one of the few things that the gen pop has any real control over these days is what they watch, listen to or attend. If the show you're seeing has pre-recorded elements, you should know. If the National Anthem in a sporting event is pre-recorded, you should know. You may choose to watch it or attend it anyway. But at least you'd be informed.
BTW, the Milli Vanilli reference is off-base. The problem with MV was that the singers did not actually sing. If every performer who lip-synched to their own voice was knocked down there wouldn't be many pop stars left standing.
As for the Super Bowl, those women can sing! That was their singing we were hearing. There are at least 1,001 things that can go wrong in a venue like that and there's much more enjoyment to hear the pre-produced pitch perfect versions they gave us than a live version that would be at the mercy of a multitude of factors that would reduce the quality of the performance, even IF the singers nailed every single milli-second. Give us the best possible end-product from a genuine source. That seems to have worked since the invention of amplified sound.