Looking back on Britney’s 2017 comments about lip syncing

[Urbanney]

Quote

A lot of people think that I don’t sing live,” Spears said. “Because I’m dancing so much I do have a little bit of playback, but there’s a mixture of my voice and the playback. It really pisses me off because I am busting my *** out there and singing at the same time and nobody ever really gives me credit for it.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/britney-spears-on-lip-sync-accusations-it-really-pisses-me-off-195589/

I don’t know about you guys, but I was always perplexed by this. It’s been obvious she’s been lip syncing for years. Do we have any different feelings or theories about this now? Did she not realize her mic was turned off? Was this a dig at her not being allowed to speak/sing freely on stage due to the cship? Does she just not like being painted in a bad light by the media? Something else?

[canyouhandlemytruth]

Idk, she could have gotten away with this after the Oops era where she was actually singing a good amount of the time, but in 2017 … after all those POM shows 

 

[Anti-Hero]

She’s just always denied lip syncing. All the way back to 1999 when she denied lip syncing at the VMAs on Rosie.

[now.watch.me]

If she IS singing and the mic is off, it's not lipsync so she is technically right with what she says.

[TakeYourHand]

I think her career was extremely manufactured in the beginning and where she danced and sang with that baby voice, her team pushed playback and lip syncing. We all know since the cship that her brand has been cheapened and her Dad is capable of anything for money. I'm sure the seventeen year old Baby vocals in POM were part of his doing and maybe Britney wasnt fully aware or had control even if she was. The only time she's sung live since the cship has been other artists songs. Sometimes I wonder if Britney is used to playing the "game" though like they had her do earlier in her career. I do know the paps are animals but sometimes I wonder when she claims they change her photos, or she claims to sing live, ect. Who knows. I'm just interested to see her creative standpoint if she decides to continue her career after being free. That will tell a lot!

[s&m]

I don't care if she lip-syncs 

[blissfuloutsider]

She does both but I have heard her voice come through so technically she is right she's not totally lip synching.. 

[Stannedforever]

I feel like she's lipsyncin for 3 reasons 

1. Her shows have always been very dance-oriented. Early in her career she would almost always sing live (unless the show required backtrack) but you could tell she was struggling to sing and dance at the same time. But there was other reason too why she was struggling vocally;
2. Most of her songs are not suitable for her vocal abilities. Not trying to shade, but it's just truth that majority of her songs are either really fast in tempo, or are really straining in other ways (seriously singing womanizer live is exhausting). Britney is brilliant singer and has ability to show raw emotion when she's singing, but she also has pretty poor techniques when it comes to singing. But unsuitable songs could be easily fixed by lowering the key/tempo in live shows or only singing partially alongside with backing track like most pop singers do and bad techniques can be fixed by going to professional vocal coach. And she never sings even her easiest ballads that she used to sing live which leads us to point 3;
3. Her team forces her to sing with mic off. Either they are too scared that she "can't sing" or that she would suddenly say something they don't want her to say (which would be weird since she did a lot of live speeches between songs in her tours) or it's part of their strategy to do the bare minimum to gain maximum amount of money, since they don't have to make her go in vocal lessons, they don't have to "waste" time in vocal rehearsals, they don't have to record new backing tracks when they can just use album vocals etc. 

Of course there is possibility that it's also Britney's own wish to not sing live, but she used to do live vocals in ballads when she was still in charge so I assume  that this is Team C's wish. 

  

[HardToForgetYa]

Eh, idk... Imo she knew that her mic was off, you can hear it when it's off and i'm sure she knew! Maybe (most likely) this interview was her team's idea to save face after the backlash for the lip-syncing in Asia. What sounds "live" is pre-recorded, just listen to the soundboard that leaked and compare it with the amateur sources (i did) it's always the same. Also, remember the last two years of the POM show? Sometimes she was caught miming the wrong words and some other times she was caught while not miming at all... I don't blame her tho, imagine doing something against your will and you're not even getting money from your work. 

[queenofhearts]

I remember a thread several years ago somebody made and claimed "maybe they turn her mic off so she can't scream for help (obviously refering to the cship). Everybody in the thread laughed ,but looking back now maybe they were on to something.........lol

[IconicShow]

I can’t with the gum chewing while performing 🤦‍♀️ and it’s obvious she was lipping to decades old vocals! Brit obviously slayed Give them something to talk about so why lip perfume and other ballads?

[Lumanizer]

It could be that she is singing and we just don't hear it because her mic is low/off, or it could be that she was trying to save face and lied.  

Spoiler

My bet is on the latter 

I was watching her wango tango performance from way back in the day and something that struck me was how effortful it was for her to sing and dance at the same time. She did a good job, but you can tell her team didn't prepare her whatsoever or help her with strategies on how to give a singing and dance-heavy performance at the same time. The way she sings in her songs in the studio is unnatural most of the time anyway, and there is so much production and sound editing that there is no way she can simply sing live into her headset while dancing and have it sound good. The songs would need to be reworked a bit for the stage, and I think it would be good for her to work with a vocal coach. 

I think if we get another tour or show with her at the helm 100%, and she still lip syncs, then we will know that it was her decision and not just her team or the cship 

[PokemonSpears]

28 minutes ago, Stannedforever said:

I feel like she's lipsyncin for 3 reasons 

1. Her shows have always been very dance-oriented. Early in her career she would almost always sing live (unless the show required backtrack) but you could tell she was struggling to sing and dance at the same time. But there was other reason too why she was struggling vocally;
2. Most of her songs are not suitable for her vocal abilities. Not trying to shade, but it's just truth that majority of her songs are either really fast in tempo, or are really straining in other ways (seriously singing womanizer live is exhausting). Britney is brilliant singer and has ability to show raw emotion when she's singing, but she also has pretty poor techniques when it comes to singing. But unsuitable songs could be easily fixed by lowering the key/tempo in live shows or only singing partially alongside with backing track like most pop singers do and bad techniques can be fixed by going to professional vocal coach. And she never sings even her easiest ballads that she used to sing live which leads us to point 3;
3. Her team forces her to sing with mic off. Either they are too scared that she "can't sing" or that she would suddenly say something they don't want her to say (which would be weird since she did a lot of live speeches between songs in her tours) or it's part of their strategy to do the bare minimum to gain maximum amount of money, since they don't have to make her go in vocal lessons, they don't have to "waste" time in vocal rehearsals, they don't have to record new backing tracks when they can just use album vocals etc. 

Of course there is possibility that it's also Britney's own wish to not sing live, but she used to do live vocals in ballads when she was still in charge so I assume  that this is Team C's wish. 

  

there's also the fact that she was performing three nights a week, for several weeks in succession, for four years. Even someone like Adele or so would struggle to keep up with it, in terms of the damage put on the vocal cords. I don't know how many shows someone like Celine Dion does per week or per year, or how long these are, but if we see other residencies like Christina, they didn't put as many shows as Britney. Or this would imply Britney having to do like vocal exercises the days she's not performing or whatever singers do to keep healthy and they don't permanently damage their voice, the warmups, etc.

 

In terms of why she said that, as people said, I don't think she would ever come up and admit she doesn't sing live, conservatorship or not. It's like asking Beyoncé if she writes all of her songs.

 

[nthenwkiss]

I mean - I love her, but she’s just plainly lying, it happens, and we all do it. She’s lied about other stuff in the past too, and will lie about other stuff later in her life; it’s called being human, defending your brand and having insecurities / getting nervous.

In show business you sometimes lie… like when artists endorse brands because of money and exposure but don’t really believe in the brand / product.

Or like when artists claim they are VERY involved in their projects - do you guys believe Rihanna has ever sketched a bra for her line? She’s probably given 3 options and chooses 1 she likes the most and then the other two are probably used later or for something else.

Same with Britney’s perfume lines; she probably has no idea how they smell like.

No shade, just perspective; also keep in mind that doing SO many shows a year… there can be a time your voice is just not up for it and you have to lip sync - or maybe you’re super tired that day or have a headache… it happens.

[rik]

@I Always Sing Live

[rik]

1 hour ago, canyouhandlemytruth said:

Idk, she could have gotten away with this after the Oops era where she was actually singing a good amount of the time, but in 2017 … after all those POM shows 

 

Guess u could say…. U can’t handle her truth………..

[Ritatdad]

1 hour ago, thedoughboy said:

I remember a thread several years ago somebody made and claimed "maybe they turn her mic off so she can't scream for help (obviously refering to the cship). Everybody in the thread laughed ,but looking back now maybe they were on to something.........lol

That makes no sense. It was always on during the talking parts.

 

Also to people saying she didn't know. She got caught seversl times not mimicking the words when she through no one could see her

[Nickey]

deleted. 

[Mannequin*]

Guys she is just lying… get over it Hahaha 

[Pinky98]

2 hours ago, Stannedforever said:

I feel like she's lipsyncin for 3 reasons 

1. Her shows have always been very dance-oriented. Early in her career she would almost always sing live (unless the show required backtrack) but you could tell she was struggling to sing and dance at the same time. But there was other reason too why she was struggling vocally;
2. Most of her songs are not suitable for her vocal abilities. Not trying to shade, but it's just truth that majority of her songs are either really fast in tempo, or are really straining in other ways (seriously singing womanizer live is exhausting). Britney is brilliant singer and has ability to show raw emotion when she's singing, but she also has pretty poor techniques when it comes to singing. But unsuitable songs could be easily fixed by lowering the key/tempo in live shows or only singing partially alongside with backing track like most pop singers do and bad techniques can be fixed by going to professional vocal coach. And she never sings even her easiest ballads that she used to sing live which leads us to point 3;
3. Her team forces her to sing with mic off. Either they are too scared that she "can't sing" or that she would suddenly say something they don't want her to say (which would be weird since she did a lot of live speeches between songs in her tours) or it's part of their strategy to do the bare minimum to gain maximum amount of money, since they don't have to make her go in vocal lessons, they don't have to "waste" time in vocal rehearsals, they don't have to record new backing tracks when they can just use album vocals etc. 

Of course there is possibility that it's also Britney's own wish to not sing live, but she used to do live vocals in ballads when she was still in charge so I assume  that this is Team C's wish. 

  

She always enjoyed live singing. The circus tour had a lot of Live moments in it as well as a mix of playback, so did the Onyx Hotel tour, DWAD, Oops, BOMT etc.

It all started with FF, even then I’m pretty sure a lot of her singing was live tbh, even though people here swear it was always prerecorded.