No Lip Synch in China

November 18, 12:53 AMNY Music ExaminerSherrill Fulghum

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the NY Music Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

In the wake of the controversy over a young girl lip synching during the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese Ministry of Culture is seeking to pass legislation banning any artist from lip syncing during their performances.  According to the draft, "performers must not cheat audiences by lip synghing and concert organizers must not arrange for performers to lip synch".  Anyone who is caught lip synching during a performance will have their names released to the public and if an artist gets caught "faking" a perfromance a second time, they will have their lisence to perform revoked.

The performance at the Olympics was not the first occurance of such an event in China.  A nationwide outrage occured earlier in the year when an actress was caught doing a bad job of lip synching during a New Year's Eve perfromance.

With more and more artists using electronic manipulation to create their albums it has become more difficult to put on a truly live performance.  Performances by these artists in Chinese cities could pose some major problems when it comes to no part of the show being lip synched or "faked".