# I don't know HOW I missed this! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 9, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-how-i-missed-this/476421 "2008-12-09T17:57:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-how-i-missed-this/476421/1 "2008-12-09T17:57:53Z")
[Britney Spears actual vocals while on stage](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ak1cpi74RM). It is so horrible! This person would have no career at all if not for backing tapes and Auto-Tune. The comments are filled with people making excuses about the supposed impossibility of singing while energetically dancing. Bullshit. Kate Bush [danced while singing with live vocals back in 1978 and didn’t flub a note](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82f0nbQC4iM&feature=related) (and invented the headset performance microphone that Britney used as well - made out of a coathanger). ---
**Author:** ![Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d9b06d/32.png) [@Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichini_Sanshigo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-how-i-missed-this/476421/2 "2008-12-09T17:59:37Z")
This is news? ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-how-i-missed-this/476421/3 "2008-12-09T18:01:39Z")
By comparison, [there was this one, in October 2003](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8vWh6nBSUM). The YouTube version makes it sound worse than it was; I watched it live on SNL. Really not all that bad. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-how-i-missed-this/476421/4 "2008-12-09T18:09:09Z")
I thought the debacle with Jessica Simpson showed that SNL was perfectly fine with lip syncing. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-how-i-missed-this/476421/5 "2008-12-09T18:10:17Z")
That was Ashley Simpson not Jessica ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-how-i-missed-this/476421/6 "2008-12-09T18:32:35Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I thought the debacle with Jessica Simpson showed that SNL was perfectly fine with lip syncing. You’re thinking of Ashlee. And IIRC, though I admittedly didn’t keep up, SNL was quite pissed about it. Regardless, this was big for Britney at the time, and a big deal was made about how it _was_ a live performance. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-how-i-missed-this/476421/7 "2008-12-09T18:42:49Z")
Sorry, Ashlee. Even in a live performance, it’s possible to run Auto-Tune to correct pitch by playing the correct notes on a keyboard. The real shame is that there are thousands of genuinely talented people who can actually sing not getting any attention. ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-how-i-missed-this/476421/8 "2008-12-09T18:58:46Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Even in a live performance, it’s possible to run Auto-Tune to correct pitch by playing the correct notes on a keyboard. It’s also possible that she was actually singing well. Not that I’m suggesting that Britney has the voice of a goddess, but everyone has bad days. And good days. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-how-i-missed-this/476421/9 "2008-12-09T20:04:48Z")
It sounds like she’s just not trying–why put any effort into it if all you’re doing is coordinating your lips? I mean, I’m sure she needs plenty of electronic assistance, but I don’t think that clip is a fair example of her “best singing voice.” ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-how-i-missed-this/476421/10 "2008-12-09T20:29:58Z")
The comparison isn’t fair. Not that a comparison to Kate Bush ever is fair, but I digress. 🙂 What you hear in the linked clip is only the sound of her voice. This [clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95NuRGaaVOw&feature=related) shows the same fragment (cowboy hat in the rain) but the way the audience heard it. Then her fragmetaric singing is enough to make it sound authentic live-y, without overpowering the backing tape. Very clever, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-how-i-missed-this/476421/11 "2008-12-09T20:38:26Z")
Oh damn, that’s bad. Still, I think everyone knows she’s not really a true singer. She’s prepackaged pop. And that clip of Kate Bush? WTF? Her shrieking voice could set the neighborhood dogs off wailing. I felt that shit my spine, and not in a good way. I’ve never understood her appeal. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-how-i-missed-this/476421/12 "2008-12-09T23:44:17Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > Oh damn, that’s bad. Still, I think everyone knows she’s not really a true singer. She’s prepackaged pop. The problem is that she’s taking in money that people might be spending on seeing people with actual talent. > [@](#): > > And that clip of Kate Bush? WTF? Her shrieking voice could set the neighborhood dogs off wailing. I felt that shit my spine, and not in a good way. I’ve never understood her appeal. She’s not for everybody. I posted it as an example that it is possible to dance energetically and sing in key at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-how-i-missed-this/476421/13 "2008-12-09T23:56:56Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > The problem is that she’s taking in money that people might be spending on seeing people with actual talent. Well, I don’t think Britney is talented, but the people who pay to see her know what they’re getting. Even if the really young ones who may not know that she’s really singing, they obviously are enjoying themselves so I don’t see the “problem” that you describe. Why not let people choose for themselves what they like? It’s a bit arrogant for any of us to question where these people want to spend their money, it’s just a difference of opinion. Just like Kate Bush. You (and many, many others) believe her to be talented. She makes my teeth hurt. We all have our preferences, even people who pay to see Britney. ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-how-i-missed-this/476421/14 "2008-12-09T23:58:27Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > The problem is that she’s taking in money that people might be spending on seeing people with actual talent. :rolleyes: She’s an entertainer. People pay for the entertainment. I think you’ll find that most everyone leaving a Britney concert will agree that they’ve been entertained. I see no problem here. If people wanted to shell out $15 for 70 minutes of duck farts, then that’s their prerogative. Just because you wouldn’t doesn’t make it worth it for others. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-how-i-missed-this/476421/15 "2008-12-10T02:03:54Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > The problem is that she’s taking in money that people might be spending on seeing people with actual talent. Yep, that’s the nefarious Britney Spears for you. Pulling one over on the entire world. I hear she forced me, through telepathy, to buy her album the other day when I could have spent that money on some wailing chick from the 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-know-how-i-missed-this/476421/16 "2008-12-10T05:40:56Z")
> [@shy\_guy](#): > > Yep, that’s the nefarious Britney Spears for you. Pulling one over on the entire world. I hear she forced me, through telepathy, to buy her album the other day when I could have spent that money on some wailing chick from the 70’s. 😃 [gay moment] Regarding the clip in the OP, forget the vocals … did you see the clear plastic cowboy hat around 1:13? What a (fashion) disaster! [/gay moment]