HI everyone, I'm back! MUWAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!

I've wanted to write on this topic for a while but I've just been too damn lazy. This will be on the topic of idols lipsyncing in "live" performances. Just so you know right off the bat, I'm going to playing the devil's advocate with this one so there will be a lot of back and forth on the topic.

First up: IN DEFENSE OF LIP SYNCING

But some of you might wail, "But Butterfly, how can you suggest such a morally reprehensible thing?" Easy, cause I can. Hear me out, I think you may be interested in what I have to say.

But let me let back up a moment and explain why this post is coming into existence. It was prompted by constant comments on certain idol groups YT videos on music stages coughEXOcough. I'm not defending them because EXO is bae, I'm defending ALL idols so before you get all up in my let me make that clear. At one point or another, ALL IDOLS GROUPS LIP SYNC. YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT! Why? Some of you ask.

I can only tell you what I know from my years of being in musicals since from a young age (I don't do them anymore because they tired me out XD). In musicals, there's a specific group of people called the chorus. These people help advance the story line but also for musical purposes, backup the main vocals by singing the chorus (the lines after the stanzas), vocalizations and ad libs that accompany and harmonize the main vocal singer. They also add extra flavor and flare, and keep the song moving if the song has a particuarly intense choreography in which the main vocal HAS to dance.

Most often in musicals, it goes singing, then stop dance a little, start dancing a little then stop some more to sing (unless there's an instrumental and then it's just dancing). Idols don't do that from what I've seen. The majority of the time they are singing and dancing at the same time, which is why I'm always awed by them and what they do.

Idols don't have a chorus. Beyonce does have back singers, but only because she can afford the luxury of such singers. The "chorus" for idols are their other members. And if they are all dancing, singing, switching positions and so on, it's hard to keep up with the song, hence there are times where the backtrack is used, especially for the chorus parts, to pick up the slack. Imagine it, it's just you and your homeboy holding it down in the song. That would be no problem but add dancing to it and it creates a whole 'nother dynamic. I watch the weekly show Arirang Radio every Wednesday, which the only English speaking Kpop show for international fans and frequently features English speaking Kpop idols. Eddy and Prince Mak of JJCC are often on the show and they provide fresh insight and they are really down-to-earth and keep it real. The polish that most idols display are not evident in those two. They made a very good point recently about singing and dancing live and how idols debut. Most of the time it's just luck, chance, and if they need someone with your credentials/looks is what will get you to debut. Prince Mak was almost a member of GOT7 but due to being too young his parents said no to becoming a trainee.

They also made a remark that idols have to memorize 4-5 (yes your read that right) versions of their songs aside from the studio and dance versions because there are different variations based on what their company decides that they are going to perform on the music show to it fresh and interesting, so to speak. Not only do they have 4-5 versions to memorize but they have REHEARSE those versions at least 5 times EACH. That's a half day gone by on just rehearsing, getting cues right and where you're supposed to stand and stuff. They do sing in rehearsals, it's required after all, but don't go all out of course.

Naturally you would think that they go all out for live performances, right? WRONG! Well, at least it's partially wrong. It's hard to go 100% when you sing and dance, with most live shows putting an emphasis on performance because after all, in the mind of the production companies, if the fans actually wanted to just hear idols sing, they would buy the albums and not go to the concerts. Yeah it's a ed up way of thinking, but it's true cause they want every last dime you have.

If you still don't believe me about how hard it is, try singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star in the perfect C chord while patting your head and rubbing your belly simultaneously, and hop and up and down on one foot. How did you do? I still can't get it right after years of singing and dancing, which is why I respect the amount of work idols do and how hard they work, regardless if I personally like the group or not. ***********

As a sort of aside tangent: There are plenty of idols groups that lip sync during their comeback stage, but people seem to only target SM groups which is unfair and shows negative bias against the company and the groups under them. WINNER lip synced their debut song, as did GOT7, and JJCC. And it's okay, the world didn't end. I just wish people would stop pointing to it like EXO and SHINee are the only ones that do it. Usually a week into their performances they begin to sing live.

Another I learned last year was that there are in fact a lot groups that do sing live (SHINee and EXO included) but when you watch the performance, it would seem to suggest that this is not the case. Why is that? For one, it could be ty equipment, MAMA 2013 is a good example. Another could be too much background noise and other noise poullution that s with the sound on the camera. I didn't pay attention to this sort of thing until people started talking about it during the broadcast of KCON 2013, which I was privileged to attend. For the record, EVERYONE SANG LIVE. Henry, F(x), Crayon Pop, GD, Missy Elliott, Teen Top, a cute little boy whose name I don't know, and EXO did in fact sing live because I HEARD THEM. BUT, if you watch the YouTube videos, it looks like they are lip syncing. Ment, who sponsors the event every year, has a tendency to put the vocal track over the artists' singing voice because it sounds better, at least from the company's perspective. It's an attempt to make sure the people watching from home aren't bombarded by heavy  breathing, missed lines, note fails, and other noise poulltion that could dilute the enjoyment of the show.

I know that this previous statement may sound contradictory to my earlier one, but it is not. When it comes to live performances, companies are trying to draw fans in with the performance. When it comes to an at-home watchers (people who watch from the comfort of their TV or computer screen) the emphasis is on vocals. Why? Because they aren't really getting your money from physical sales and therefore feel it's okay to kind of cheat you of their live vocals because you're not there.

Verdict: It doesn't really matter to e that they lip sync because this is usually not continued beyond the first week after promotions start. Besides, as I've said to pressed fans before, we know they can sing because it's their voices on the track. It's not like a Milli Vanilli (If you don't know who they are, look them up) situation where we find it was never them on the track to begin with it. I think people need to chill, idols prove themselves constantly so I'm not pressed about it.

And for those who say, "Well what were all those years of training for?" All those of training were NOT JUST vocal and dance lessons. Those years primarily consisted of teaching these kids how to be idols. How to sit, stand, look at the camera, conduct fanservice, how to behave at the airport, press conferences and fanmeetings. On top of which they take language classes and attempt to finish any schooling that they are lagging behind in since they debuted. THEN they go to the studio to record and then to dance practice. From there they go to press conferences, variety show filming, movie set (where applicable), music shows, radio shows, and back into a car to shuffle their tired asses back to their ty dorms to take a shower and wash their mouth to get rid of their stank breath to go onto to the nest item on the schedule list.

So please, the next time a says that she can do a better job give her the meanest side eye you can muster cause that is not true. Not everyone makes it in showbiz and not everyone can hack it once they are there. The lives of idols are hard and I think we should respect that instead of constantly degrading them for lip syncing and some of y'all probably can't even carry tune. Be grateful they do this for you unappreciative, rude fans. It's hard to do even 1/10 of their job and they rewarded with a lack of a social and romantic life to entertain YOU. The give up eating a full course meal and sleep 2 hours in cars from transit from one show to another, for their fans. I wouldn't do it for the world.

That being said, THE CASE AGAINST LIP SYNCING.

IT'S QUITE SIMPLE: we want to hear idols sing live. There's no shame in that. I'm waiting for the day when an idol group sings in acapella at a music show or at their concerts. Oh wait, some of them already do! It's just overlooked. But I'm greedy, so I want more. As a singer, I love to hear the emotion behind the words, not just see a performance that was directed and put on. I especially love ballad and R&B songs because it paints a better picture, at least in my mind, or the idols and the song.

Also, it seems lipsync is a problem, hence why Music Core, is has banned it and other music shows are quickly following suit. But I also tend to think that they did it in response to backlash from fans, and rightfully so in a lot of cases. From a fan's perspective, I didn't just come to see their faces (although that's a plus). Companies think differentbecause they are marketing you a product, the idols.

It's irritating, I know. If I wanted to hear the track, I would stay my black home and listen to the damn CD and keep the $1000 in my pocket that I spent to travel all the way to a seat all the way in the back row. Damn, that moment when you add the milk to the tea-

I hope you enjoyed this, and I hope you got all the way to the end before deciding to call me out my name. If you still disagree, it's all good, I'm not mad, we're entitled to our opinion. If you agree, that's okay too. You don't have to take my word for it, do some research of your own. There blogs of ex-trainees that talk about the average day of idol, they talk about sometimes on radio shows like Arirang radio where it's not edited out and questions are real. All I'm asking is that we cut these people, whom we call our idols, and whom we proclaim to care for, some slack and also look at it from different angles. If I missed something or didn't address something fully, let me know in the comments. Peace, Love, and Chicken Grease everybody <3