Further on last week’s entry, here’s the story of the Christmas Miracle as it appeared in the local paper. A great read:

http://www.miltonindependent.com/an-unlikely-outcome/

Moving on, unless you’ve been under a rock for the last few days you’ve probably seen Mariah Carey’s lip syncing disaster; here’s what happened:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mariah-carey-new-years-eve-lip-sync_us_58688b67e4b0de3a08f8cb4a

Okay, I’ll admit it. I thought it was hilarious. I’ve always thought lip syncing was a sad and lazy thing to do. Some would argue that some venues or events make it “hard” to do the thing live but please…with the level of technology we have available today there’s a way to get it done if you care about it enough. These are performers who make millions of dollars to sing and then they don’t actually sing? Come on…that’s ridiculous. Your fans are there to hear you perform and you just cheated them out of it.

Important note: this is NOT the same as just moving your lips if you’re in the bass section because the note you’re supposed to sing is way up in the tenor range and you know that if you try to sing it there’s going to be a screeching noise like an eagle attacking a fish in a creek. You’re not cheating, you’re actually doing something kind for your audience. We all thank you. A lot.

I suppose you could do a full-on lip sync with a choir. We’d all just flap our gums while the Mormon Tabernacle Choir boomed out of the speakers and people would think, “Gee golly willikers, that’s lovely”. And it would be. But there’s just no way to package the energy and joy of the real thing. Our sound is uniquely ours and every performance is different depending on things like the venue, the reactions of the audience, the subtle changes in how Susie conducts it and the interpretations of Joanne’s accompaniment. Add an orchestra like we’re going to do this spring and there’s even more fluidity to it all.

This is a good thing. Actually, it’s a great thing. It’s what makes choral music so special and why we sing to overflow audiences. They’re there to hear the beauty of the music and be moved by it. They’re there to experience the magical moments that always happen. They’re there to be part of an evening that may not follow the script (Do you remember the time that all the mics died and Susie was trying to introduce a song and then somebody found the single mic that would function and there was a long, low “Helllooooo” to let her know she was back in business? Cracked the whole place up and really added something to the whole concert. Good luck lip syncing that sort of spontaneous moment).

The purity of what we do is not only what brings our audiences together, it’s also what brings US together. All of the things that they experience are also experienced by the singers and there’s just nothing quite like it.

Of course, we could just be the choral version of Milli Vanilli and not sing our own music and lip sync our concerts. And get sued. Yeah, that works.

See you in a few weeks!