Girl, You Know It's True.....

I was not an avid watcher of the Superbowl on Sunday; rather it was on in the background while I was doing other things. I did stop for a second, though, to watch Jennifer Hudson sing the national anthem at the start of the game. She's not really my cup of tea, music-wise, although the girl has some amazing pipes. I actually thought she did a really good job. It was stirring, emotional, intense; in other words, everything a national anthem should be.

The only problem is: she was lip-synching.

Normally, when this happens, it's a huge scandal. There are press conferences and headlines, apologies and heads hung low. Not so, in this case, my friends. Apparently, the producer, who is also on American Idol, announced to the world that she had mimed, and gave several reasons for it. Firstly, the acoustics in stadiums are bad, and it would not have sounded good on tv. Secondly, she was nervous, and he didn't want any wrong notes or any breaks in the song. I can almost buy the first reason, as you get that annoying delay when you're in a venue of that size, but we all saw her, in a football stadium. I don't think we would have been too surprised had there been an echo or a delay. The second reason though? This girl is supposed to be a trained, professional, award-winning singer. SINGER! If she's too nervous to perform in such a situation, fine, get someone else.

I am not picking on Jennifer Hudson, as such, because I'm sure she was just doing what was asked of her. But the fact that everyone is so matter-of-fact about the situation saddens me a bit. It's just accepted that 'singers' lip-synch at events like these, or awards shows, or other such 'live' performances. Why even have someone singing live? Why even have her stand there, pretending, when you're only going to reveal what a sham it was anyway?

I really don't mean to get so hot under the collar about it, but music is just getting worse and worse for this. The most famous recording artists in the world today, in the main, are people whose records are over-produced, Auto-Tune-enhanced, computer-generated fakes. If Britney Spears really sounds like that when she sings, I'll eat my hat. But who knows what the girl sounds like, because she lip-sychs! People dish out hundreds of dollars to go to a stadium to watch karaoke. And it's not even really karaoke, because those people actually sing! Britney's excuse is that it's hard to sing and dance at the same time. Well, are you a singer or a dancer? If you're a dancer, market yourself that way, and leave the singing to the people who actually have some talent!

I have friends and relatives who would give their left legs to get to perform their music in front of people, but no, the Britneys of the world are the ones who get the most attention. I'm no singer, by any means, but given adequate studio time, a talented producer, and some clever software, I, too could be a pop sensation. Oh yeah, I forgot. I'm not a hot blond train wreck.

It sounds a little like jealousy, but I just know that getting to that level of fame should take some hard work and perseverance, not just looking good in a school girl outfit. And, like I said, I do believe Jennifer Hudson has some talent, it's just a shame she had to put people's minds in doubt as to whether or not she's really singing as she moves forward in her career.

Any thoughts? Are we just supposed to say, "Well, that's how it's done now" and move on? Should we be more outraged? Milli Vanilli had to give back their Grammy Awards for this. Shouldn't there be more disdain for the fakery?