# What are dead give aways that someone is lip syncing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 11, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-dead-give-aways-that-someone-is-lip-syncing/148010 "2003-01-11T20:40:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-dead-give-aways-that-someone-is-lip-syncing/148010/1 "2003-01-11T20:40:51Z")
I was watching a rerun on SNL Central, aka Comedy Central, with Janet Jackson as the musical guest and found myself quite irritated by her performance and I wanted to give her 3 bits of advice for when she is performing on TV and the camera can zoom in on her face while she is “singing”: 1. Don’t have a huge smile on your face while you are “singing” all the high notes and dancing. People do NOT have massive smiles on thier face when they are sustaining out 30 second notes. 2. Don’t do any extreme dancing if you really plan on convincing us that you are singing. People do NOT do backflips and syncronized dancing while singing without any change in tempo, volume, or running out of breath. They also do not sound EXACTLY like the CD while doing said dancing. 3)Third, and by far the most aggravating of the bunch, when you are “singing” don’t vary the distance of the mic from your mouth by 4 feet during the song because the CD that is being played by the hard working sound guys doesn’t change its volume when you pull the mic away from your mouth like it would if you were really singing. Any other tips for Janet, Britney, or NSync? (BTW, Janet is scary looking just like her brother) ---
**Author:** ![maralinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@maralinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maralinn)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-dead-give-aways-that-someone-is-lip-syncing/148010/2 "2003-01-11T20:46:01Z")
People often exagerate their mouth movements when lip synching. It was talking, not singing, but the usually brilliant Nathan Lane really blew it in Goldmember doing that. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-dead-give-aways-that-someone-is-lip-syncing/148010/3 "2003-01-11T21:03:31Z")
Tales taught by history: Don’t let the record skip. ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-dead-give-aways-that-someone-is-lip-syncing/148010/4 "2003-01-11T21:09:24Z")
On a side note, I happened to be flipping channels and caught a bit of J. Lo’s performance on the Peace Prize Awards or somesuch last night. I found it quite amusing that she was lip synching to a song about ‘keeping it real’. It was fairly obvious as there were several parts where her mouth clearly did not match the words being sung. Also, the song was _exactly_ the same as on the CD. (Not that I own it, but I’ve heard it on the radio one too many times). I think another dead giveaway is when there are obviously background vocals in the song, but not a single background singer to be found onstage. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-dead-give-aways-that-someone-is-lip-syncing/148010/5 "2003-01-12T00:28:22Z")
Another dead giveaway: Holding the mike right in front of their mouth like it’s an ice cream cone. You can’t hide your lying lips, pal. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-dead-give-aways-that-someone-is-lip-syncing/148010/6 "2003-01-12T00:49:01Z")
The best way to spot if someone is lip-synching: they’re singing on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Daniel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Daniel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daniel)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-dead-give-aways-that-someone-is-lip-syncing/148010/7 "2003-01-12T00:56:34Z")
Frankly, I’d rather that than hear them gasping for breath or swallowing words from their dance routines. Does anyone actually try _not_ to lip synch these days?