Pop 'singers' caught in fake vocals

• Source: Global Times
• [01:26 January 25 2010]
• Comments

Tan told the newspaper that the event's sound technician at first tried to conceal the hard drive containing the audio file of the September 19 concert.

File data proved that the two singers' microphones did not show any transmission signals while the performers were supposedly singing on stage and that the songs were pre-recorded.

Since the concert, the two performers have disappeared from public view. The local authority published an official notice in Guangming Daily early this month, followed by a couple of penalty notices that failed to reach the singers.

Ma Xiaochun, a spokeswoman for Juli Entertainment Corp., which reportedly represented the performers, denied any business connection with the performers. She made her denial during a phone interview with the Global Times Sunday.

Ma said the singing duo were not paid and just performed as a kind of warm-up act for the concert.

Jiang Shuhua, a lawyer with the Beijing Yingke law firm, said the lip sync case is also a violation of consumer protection laws.

"A kind of consumer contract is established when the customer buys a concert ticket. Lip sync is defrauding consumers who bought their tickets to enjoy a live performance, instead of the pre-recorded songs they could have listened to at home."

According to Jiang, concertgoers defrauded by confirmed lip-sync performances can demand refunds at double the price of an admission ticket.