It's confirmed that Adele will be performing at this year's Oscars, singing her nominated song “Skyfall” from the most recent -- and most successful -- James Bond film of all time. But after all the attention Beyonce has received following rumors she chose to lip-sync the national anthem at the inauguration, everyone is asking, will Adele sing live?
“Most of the performers who take the stage on Oscar night have pre-recorded their song with the orchestra ahead of the live show,” a singer who has performed at the Academy Awards tells The Huffington Post. “This is not unusual and Adele will do the same. It’s almost always done when a show is live. Then if anything goes wrong or something happens, the producers in the control room can cut to tape.”
It is not just vocals that have been pre-recorded in the past. In 1993, the CBS broadcast of President Clinton's inauguration gala which featured Aretha Franklin, Barry Manilow, Michael Jackson and Barbra Streisand, was taped -- without the president -- before the live broadcast. Infamously, Streisand stopped the taping because a man in the audience pointed out that her part was written on a teleprompter, forcing producers to reset her segment from the top.
“The rules about lip-syncing have changed. This explains why Madonna tried to sing live at the Oscars and you have Beyonce lip-syncing," says an industry insider. "However, Adele is old-school. She will sing live at the show unless she loses her voice -- then a backup option will exist.”
“Skyfall,” written by Adele and Paul Epworth is the first Bond theme to be nominated for an Oscar since “For Your Eyes Only” in 1981.
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