China pop stars face fine for lip-syncing

[kidd]

http://asianfanatics.net/forum/topic...r-lip-syncing/

China pop stars face fine for lip-syncing

Sunday January 24,2010

Source: Channel News Asia

Two Chinese pop stars have become the first victims of a ban on the use of lip-syncing in concerts introduced last year following controversy over the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.

Starlets Yin Youcan and Fang Ziyuan resorted to miming during a concert they gave in September in the southwest province of Sichuan, the Beijing News reported Saturday.

It was the first case brought against lip-syncing performers since the authorities introduced the ban, the Beijing Youth Daily said.

The ministry for culture in August issued a regulation allowing for fines for singers who lip-synced, saying the practice "misled the public."

The two young singers will have to pay a total fine of 80,000 yuan (about 12,000 dollars), according to authorities quoted by the newspaper.

In 2008, the organisers of the Beijing Olympics caused controversy when it was revealed the young Chinese girl who sang at the opening ceremony had been miming.

They defended the move and triggered further uproar by saying the real singer was not pretty enough for a spectacle shown around the world.

[xJadedx]

There is a ban on lip-syncing now? Wow. I'm not a fan of lip-syncing, I prefer the real thing even if it doesn't sound as nice (though to be honest, the raw vocals at rock shows is one reason why I go to shows anyhow). But actually having a ban against if is going a bit too far. It's expected for certain genres to lip-sync during live performances. I'm pretty sure most people can tell when someone is lip-syncing versus when it's a real vocal.

Also, I like how they totally missed the point of why people were upset about the Beijing opening ceremony singing issue. It wasn't because the little girl lip-synced, it was because she lip-synced to another girl's voice, rather than her own. Not to mention the reasons why the other little girl wasn't chosen or barely received credits. It would not have been that huge of an issue had she been lip-syncing to her own voice.

[remember_Cedric]

Ban for lip-syncing? Is that a convenient reason to generate revenue?

[kidd]

Also, I like how they totally missed the point of why people were upset about the Beijing opening ceremony singing issue. It wasn't because the little girl lip-synced, it was because she lip-synced to another girl's voice, rather than her own. Not to mention the reasons why the other little girl wasn't chosen or barely received credits. It would not have been that huge of an issue had she been lip-syncing to her own voice.

Agree with you. They totally miss the point. There wouldn't be as much uproar if the girl lip-sync her own pre-recorded singing.

[Bei Rongkun]

wkwkwkw..LOL... will Andy Lau goes bankrupt by this ?





disclaimer *JUST KIDDING*

[flamer]

I can't even count the number of times I was sure of the singer lip-syncing in a seemingly live performance since the "ban". These 2 young singers are quite unfortunate to be singled out.

[Han Solo]

Wow, simply just wow.

Only in China would something like this happen.

Anyone know if this had happened elsewhere before?

[Ken Cheng]

Wow, simply just wow.

Only in China would something like this happen.

Anyone know if this had happened elsewhere before?

The UK's Musician's Union had pretty stringent rules about this during the 1960s. In 1967, the Beatles made a music video for their hit single "Hello Goodbye." In the video, the Beatles were shown playing their instruments and singing the song on a theater stage, but it was an obvious overdub from the studio recording (especially when Paul McCartney deliberately moved his lips out of sync with the record). The Musician's Union told the Beatles they couldn't show the video in Britain or they'd face some sort of penalty, but the effort didn't go to complete waste because there was no such provision in the U.S., so the Beatles sent the tape to THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW in the U.S. to promote the record over there.

I'm pretty sure Britain's Musician Union has relaxed their rules since 1967, or the MTV revolution of the 1980s would have bypassed the UK completely (and considering how much early MTV relied on British bands during the 1980s...).

[Ian Liew]

Didn't Diana Ross get booed or something during the 1994 footie World Cup opening ceremony for lip synching, after Pavarotti raised the standard bar with his live Nessun Dorma in Italia 1990?