Celebrity fragility outrages and pleases eager audience

By Rong Xiaoqing Source:Global Times Published: 2013-1-31 18:48:00

 

Illustration: Liu Rui
Illustration: Liu Rui



When Beyonce walked onto the podium and soothed the audience with her elegant voice as she sang the national anthem at the US presidential inauguration on January 21, many of us were enraptured.

Whether you were sitting in front of the TV and feeling drowsy because of an overheated apartment or frozen in the cold with 800,000 people in Washington DC, it was one of the most memorable moments of the day.

And, of course, now we all know it was no more than a fantasy. She didn't really sing, but lip-synced.

Beyonce is not the first to do this and won't be the last. Superstars from Michael Jackson to Madonna have all done it before. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman did it four years ago at the last inauguration.

In China, top singing stars have done it at concerts and at CCTV's live annual Spring Festival Gala.

Indeed, the practice has caused big controversy in recent years in China and even prompted rock star Cui Jian to start a "sing live movement," calling on singers to swear off lip-sync.

In the US, the Beyonce revelation soon became the focus of attention. Forget Barack Obama's pledge to reform immigration policy, or tackle climate change, or support gay rights; the whole of the US was outraged by a couple of minutes of pretense. It was like Beyonce was the nation's queen who had just kicked her subjects.

Despite the testimony of some professionals on how the cold weather and the zero mistake expectation of the ceremony made live singing almost impossible, many fans still consider this the biggest scandal in Beyonce's almost perfect career so far.

The outcry may seem like a no-brainer because it is common sense that entertainers should respect the audience and treat us with sincerity. Still the logic behind the brouhaha made me scratch my head.

Is it about artistic effect? No, even the people who were there didn't notice.

Is it about being cheated? Sure, no one wants to be fooled. But we are more than willingly to be fooled by magicians and filmmakers who feast us with computer-made special effects.

The difference between these tricks and lip-syncing is, of course, our awareness. When we know something is fake, we don't feel cheated and we can just enjoy it as it is.

But if Beyonce announced beforehand that she was going to lip-sync during the ceremony, would we be fine with it? I doubt it. The media and the masses probably would have campaigned to have her dropped from the whole affair.

Is it about the principle then? Audiences do have the obligation to protect the integrity of art. And we'd like to claim we respect art that is imperfect but real much more than something perfect but fake, right?

However, think about this: If Beyonce braved the cold to sing live and presented us with a spoiled version of the "Star Spangled Banner," would we be happy? No. I am sure she'd be bashed by incredulous fans no less vehemently. Just look at the slating Fay Wong, the Chinese pop queen, got after her unsatisfactory performance at last year's Spring Festival Gala.   

So it seems to me that our intolerance of Beyonce's lip-syncing may not relate to art at all. Rather, it might be a psychological one, rooted in our unrealistic expectations of superstars.

We expect Beyonce to be able to sing like an angel whether it's boiling, freezing or windy, Madonna and Demi Moore to maintain their faces and bodies like they were in their 20s, and Tom Cruise to be able to climb up the tallest buildings, jump from a plane in midair and keep marrying young beautiful actresses forever.

We cannot do these things ourselves. We are just ordinary people who are trapped by bulging waist lines, receding hairlines, pitifully small 401(k) pensions, computer viruses, deteriorating health insurance, cancelled dates and broken umbrellas.

We need to put all our unfulfilled fantasies on the superstars and rely on them to pull us out of the boredom of our real lives temporarily with their performances.

So they have to be omnipotent superbeings for us. Anytime they show that they are just human beings and they have limitations and weaknesses just like us, we're appalled. And we moan for a long time.

The entertainment media know this. That's why they send photographers out by the dozen to catch Hollywood stars in those moments they would prefer to forget. It boosts viewing rates and sells advertisements.

And when off-key celebrities are enough to keep everyone busy, who cares about the off-key celebrity culture and its negative impact on all of us?

The author is a New York-based journalist. rong_xiaoqing@hotmail.com



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