Fact #1: I’m not crazy enough about modern-day “SNL” to watch it every week. Whether I tune in or not depends on a) whether I’m even home to watch it (I don’t have DVR) and/or b) who the guest host is? Jason Segel? Totally tuned in. The lady from “Mike & Molly”? Happened to get home in time to catch the last half or so (and she was pretty funny, too.) Katy Perry? Not a chance in hell. Despite the fact that she is in possession of at least three certified earworms (“Teenage Dream”, “California Gurls” and “Firework”), there’s something about her that annoys the shit out of me. Leave in the fact that I’ve heard some not so pleasant things about her from someone who would know and…well, I passed up this week’s “SNL” in order to watch reruns of “The First 48” and “Community” on my OnDemand.
Fact #2: I love Robyn. If I can pat myself on the back, I loved Robyn back in the ’90s, when she was just some random pop ‘n b singer and not every hipster and music critic’s certified favorite pop artist. I was almost tempted to watch “SNL” this weekend just to see her perform (and have to thank Katy Perry-whose tour Robyn opened up-for even getting her on the show, since I imagine that was a stipulation of her appearance and not just coincidence,) but my ambivalence for Katy turned out to be greater than my love for Robyn.
I did see some chatter on Twitter about Robyn lip-synching her performance, which surprised me, as not only is she perfectly capable of carrying a tune, but “SNL” generally frowns upon lip-synching to the point that the only musical guest I can ever remember miming on the show (and I’ve been watching it on and off for nearly thirty years now) was Janet Jackson.
Thankfully, NBC.com has the performances available, and while I still haven’t caught the performance of “Call Your Girlfriend”, I can say that her second performance (of “Dancing On My Own”, which is an absolutely perfect pop song) was live. There was a pre-recorded backing vocal (no big deal), and a third vocal which seemed to have been run through some sort of vocoder/computer. And it’s hard to tell whether she was singing to the song’s original backing track or, since the song is entirely synth-based, whether the keyboard player was just faithfully replicating the song. At any rate, have a look at the performance. Whatever happens, I hope this exposes Robyn to a wider audience. The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences is already up on things-she’s got two Grammy noms this year.
9 comments
Sweet Tits says:
Dec 11, 2011
Robyn was obviously lip-synching on the show.
SNL has a history of letting acts do this. You don’t remember Ashlee Simpson?
http://www.veoh.com/watch/v15490419bqh6yfdc?h1=Ashlee+Simpson+lip+sync+screw+up+on+SNL
blerd says:
Dec 11, 2011
I did forget about the Ashlee Simpson performance. However, Robyn was not lip-synching…or at least she didn’t lip synch throughout the entire performance. She was singing live to her own voice. If she was lip-synching, the mic wouldn’t have picked her up being out of breath.
Reybee says:
Dec 11, 2011
Definitely not lip-synching. The funniest/saddest and most ignorant thing is when folks who don’t truly know live performance mechanics and don’t match up lips with what’s coming out of the monitors cry “lip synching!”. There are very audible breaths. When she stops singing, it’s very obvious the vocals don’t replicate through the monitors. There are backing vocal tracks, yes. And one of the keyboarders is singing as well through a vocal manipulator. But backing vocals tracks do NOT equal lip-synching. Ashlee Simpson’s performance was lip-synch as she wasn’t even properly mic’ed up and was exposed as such (what people think was the “gotcha” moment when the wrong backing tape played was NOT the moment she was caught lip-synching… That was the first indicator, but the second and truly damning piece was that she wasn’t even properly mic’ed up to sing).
To the untrained eye and ear, backing vocals signify misinformed and inaccurate “lip synching”. But those who actually KNOW performance mechanics know that what Robyn did last night was indeed live and real.
It baffles me that people can’t actually SEE that.
And full disclosure: I do NOT work in any way with Robyn. I watched the performance last night and made my informed judgment from that. You can even OBVIOUSLY hear her when she recovers from the backwards roll.
blerd says:
Dec 11, 2011
Well, the thing is, folks who don’t go to live shows don’t necessarily know how to tell when someone’s singing live or not…most artists use backing vocal tracks (although I thought Robyn using them was weird, as she has a very strong voice…maybe she was sick or something…)
But the second you hear breaths (as well as the fact that her vocals go up and down in volume as the microphone moves closer to or further from her face) it should be pretty obvious that her vocals are live. I’ve heard “Dancing On My Own” a million times; it was easily apparent to me.
Reybee says:
Dec 11, 2011
Absolutely… And as someone who worked with a LOT of teenpop back in the day (I was the publicist for Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, 2+gether, Another Level, Joey McIntyre, etc.), I have professional experience working with lip synch’ing and can spot a lip synch’er a mile away.
It’s the uniformed thinking of people who think they’re authorities on things because the internet gives them a voice and they cry “FOUL”, expecting people to listen to their ignorant and harmful “judgments”. It’s sadly pathetic when someone incorrectly puts down an assessment when they have no experience and therefore no right to make a call like that.
I have done LOTS of work with performers who lip synch. And I have done a LOT of work with artists who use backing tracks. They are no the same thing at all.
blerd says:
Dec 11, 2011
I respect your passion!!
katyperryisadope says:
Dec 13, 2011
Robyn was singing live with backing vocal tracks. I felt there was too much use of those tracks, and would have preferred a cleaner version for SNL, but Robyn was wonderful anyway. I hope she gets the notice she deserves. Grammy noms are good, getting the award would be best.
KAFKA21 says:
Dec 14, 2011
One thing that may be adding to the confusion is that one song looked live, and one didn’t
In the article, the author says…
“…while I still haven’t caught the performance of “Call Your Girlfriend”, I can say that her second performance (of “Dancing On My Own”…) was live.”
I would agree that the second performance was indeed live (and very nicely done). But I think the first performance was lip synced. I’m certainly no expert, and I understand she was using a backing vocal track. But there were many moments when where her vocal inflections didn’t match up with the audio.
Before you just categorically tell me I’m wrong, please take the time to look (again?) at “Call Your Girlfriend”. (Both performances are at http://www.theprophetblog.net/robyn-slays-saturday-night-live-with-double-performance, though “Call Your Girlfriend” is actually the second one there.) Look, for example, after 2:00, before her dance break, or the section after the break.
I’m not trying to pick a fight. I was actually surprised that she lip synced, especially after hearing the second song live, and I wonder why that choice was made. I’m curious to hear(especially from REYBEE) if it’s possible, just possible, that the first song was synced.
Thanks for your time!
Shimmer says:
Apr 1, 2012
This was repeated tonight on SNL. First song is definitely lip-synced. Second song seemed to be a mix of vocal tracks including the live track.