Australia to crack down on lip-syncing performers

Australian politicians are targeting Britney Spears and making her the poster girl for a proposed law that would force music stars to disclose whether they plan to lip-sync during their shows.

The Daily Telegraph says measures being considered by the State Government of New South Wales include performers being required to alert fans on tickets or posters if they plan to "mime." (I wish they wouldn't use the word "mime," which is "farce or mimicry" or communication through gesture and facial expression, without speech. I suppose it is technically correct but it really applies more to the theatrical artform and conjures up images of guys with painted white faces pretending to be trapped in boxes and tugging on imaginary ropes.)

The Telegraph says the talk comes as Britney arrives in Australia for 14 shows "during which she will lip-sync most of her performance." The paper points out that, "Some people forked out up to $1500 a ticket to see her perform live." (Wow.) The assumption here is that Australians do not know that Britney is lip-syncing, and that, if they did, they might not want to pay to see her perform.

Huh. Interesting theory.

The "Fair Trading Minister and Minister Assisting the Premier on the Arts" of New South Wales, the appropriately named Virginia Judge, is clear in her opinions on the subject. In People magazine she is quoted as saying, "Personally I would rather see a live set from a local artist but I am sure Britney's fans will be treated to a spectacular show." (Which looks, of course, like she means the exact opposite and that she thinks Britney's fans will NOT be treated to anything worth seeing.)

Apparently, care would be taken not to deter big names coming to Sydney but Judge gives the distinct impression she wouldn't care too much if Britney just stayed away. She says the people of Sydney will not tolerate a "Mickey Mouse performance," (Ha! Geddit?). She also said, "Let's be clear - live means live. If you are spending up to $200 I think you deserve better than a film clip.

"The NSW Government would be happy to look at options, such as a disclaimer on a ticket which would warn consumers a performance is pre-recorded."

We all have our own opinions on the lip-syncing thing but Judge sounds like a bit of a relic. "Live means live?" Does that mean just singing or no prerecorded music at all? If it's just singing, why? Shouldn't it be expanded to include instrumentation? Like, if an artist has an instrumental backing track, shouldn't they have to state that the second rhythm guitar is prerecorded? Are DJ's allowed? According to Judge's logic, Perez Hilton, who opens Britney's show on video, should have to travel with her everywhere she goes or the ticket should say "Perez Hilton only appears onscreen and is not actually in the room with you."

Just wait until artists start showing up via hologram.  

In 2008, China introduced a "name and shame" policy after a little girl was discovered to be lip-syncing during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics – because the actual singer wasn't cute enough to represent China. An amendment on the culture ministry's website stated, "Performers must not cheat audiences by lip-synching, and concert organizers must not arrange for performers to lip-synch*."

It was also reported that the names of performers caught lip-syncing would be released to the public, and those nabbed twice in one year would have their performing licenses revoked.

The Telegraph did not say what Australia's proposed punishment for failure to comply with the law might be.

Posted by Elizabeth Bromstein

 

*We spell it differently