In the olden days pop stars used to mime on Top Of The Pops because it was too much faff to have them soundcheck every single group and balance the levels between songs. Later, miming became commonplace even during live performances in order to accommodate rigorous dance routines. It's a skill. And not everyone has it.
1. Britney Spears - The X Factor 2008, "Womanizer"
The truly greatest moment of Brit appearing on The X Factor wasn't actually her doing a middling-to-crap job of miming along to her own song, but her post-performance interview with Dermot. You know, the one where he asked her for her take on the contestants and she replied with a well-rehearsed but bafffling generic answer about London and how she "loved being here". Which is probably why she wasn't allowed on a live mic during the song.
The performance itself was energetic but had a whiff of Brit going through the motions, but Louis Walsh pumped his head along enthusiastically. Which is all the endorsement you need when you sing live or otherwise.
2. Mariah Carey - Jamaica Jazz And Blues Festival 2015, "Fantasy"
Mariah Carey can do whatever the hell she likes because she is Mariah Carey. And that involves not singing her songs when she does gigs - which is probably the most Mariah Carey thing ever. During the song, Mariah doesn't even try to cover up her vocal hoodwinking, despite some cursory touching of the ear, that way pop stars do when they're going for it on the vocals. She forgets which bits to sing and ad libs on the lip sync, but clearly doesn't even give one single hoot. What a woman.
3. Ashlee Simpson - Saturday Night Live 2004, "Pieces Of Me"
The trailblazing pioneer of the lip-sync cock-up, Ashlee Simpson brought some low-key dance moves to the Trying To Distract Everyone From What Is Actually Happening plot. Ashlee missed the cue for her vocals, and while the voice of God (well, Ashlee) boomed out of the speakers, she made like she was at a hoe-down and jigged her way through the song like a little punky elf. A diversion tactic for the ages.
4. Sarah Harding - Lorraine 2015, "Threads"
Remember when Sarah Harding went all rock chick and released a single? It may have passed you by, what with Sarah's shonky Coronation Street appearance and all the stuff with the potter's wheel in her production of Ghost The Musical. So here's a gentle reminder. Harders appeared to forget that a mouth must be within range of a mic to work, and mimed her way through the one-time pop rock classic. But would anyone have wanted her to sing live? Yes. Her bum note with Girls Aloud is a thing of enduring hilarity and we deserve more.
5. Selena Gomez - Jingle Ball 2013, "Come And Get It"
Selena made it super obvious she wasn't actually singing when she missed one of the lines from the song 58 seconds in. Ever the trooper, she continued and managed to sync the mic with her pretendy singy mouth. But so annoyed was Selena with her performance, she accidentally shouted, "What the f**k?" into her magically functioning mic at the end of the performance. Whoopsie.
6. Beyoncé - President Obama's second inauguration 2013, "The Star-Spangled Banner"
Having Queen Bey sing the US National Anthem was a spiritual experience, even for everyone who wasn't even from the land of the free and the home of the brave. Bey could hum a tune to the Ts & Cs of an iOS update and it would reduce the world to tears. But Beyoncé admitted she hadn't sung "The Star-Spangled Banner" live and had pre-recorded it as a precaution, as she hadn't had time to rehearse. But no-one really cared whether it was live or not. It was beautiful.
7. Lindsay Lohan - Good Morning America 2004, "Rumors"
Cady Heron-era Lindsay is the best Lindsay Lohan, being her best self. As was her pop career, which was criminally underrated. What possibly didn't help was choice performances such as the above. It's always helpful to know the song you're supposed to be performing - although throwing in a head turn or a slinky dance move will buy you precious distraction time.
8. Ashley Tisdale - Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2007, "Last Christmas"
The key principles of lip-syncing are the ability to pretend to sing along, and to do it in time with the music. Two things lost on Ashley Tisdale. Poor Ash, up there having the time of her life, doing a Wham classic on a big old float. But what she lacks in timing or talent, she more than makes up for in enthusiasm and a complete lack of self awareness.
9. Katy Perry - California Dreams tour, Munich, 2011, "Big Pimpin"
Less of a lip sync issue than a wind-sync issue really. Katy was doing a rendition of Jay Z's "Big Pimpin" when she did a solo on the recorder. A glittery one, no less. She pulled off the first two toots of the instrument, but missed the third cue - she laughed it off said sorry and said, "Okay so I can't play the flute." Who knew a recorder was called a flute in America? Is nothing sacred?
10. Cheryl - Stand Up To Cancer 2012, "Call My Name"
Chez is one for busting out the fierce dance moves at the drop of a surname, so it's not a huge surprise that she sometimes does a bit of miming. But during a performance of "Call My Name" at Stand Up To Cancer, Chez's main vocal was conspicuously absent bar a few breathless peeps into the mic until almost two minutes in. Cheryl didn't fare much better two years later on The X Factor, when she did a silent mouth-moving rendition of "I Don't Care". Twitter went mad, and particularly offended online was TOWIE person Charlie Sims, for reasons unknown to anyone.
11. Justin Bieber - Believe tour, Arizona 2012, "Out Of Town Girl"
Biebs is capable of many, many things, including vomming while singing, backing in the day. More recently, Justin lip synced his way through his set at V in the summer, employing the ventriloquism classic of having a drink of water but still managing to make a sound with your mouth. He didn't do much better during his recent gigs at the 02 - at one point lying down on a trampoline for a rest while the music just kept on going. What a talent.
12. 50 Cent BET Awards 2007 Amusement Park
The lip-sync alarm bells rang faintly when Fiddy managed to remove his jacket with both hands but still rapped into a mic that was yards from his face. Then a missed cue leads to him just strutting around the stage, laughing it off and high-fiving audience members along to the beat of a backing track sans vocals until it kicks in properly after about a minute. Lip-syncing and styling it out? Get you, a man who can do both. Although Fiddy later claimed the muddle was because he "just wasn't concentrating" after almost taking the hit of a trapeze artist to the face. Course.
(Digital Spy)
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