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Billie Jean. Sung live or lip synced?

Do you prefer Billie Jean sung live or lip synced?

  • Sung live

    Votes: 63 85.1%

  • Lip synced

    Votes: 11 14.9%
  • Total voters
    74

analogue

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I prefer it sung live, but I was surprised to learn that a lot of fans prefer it lip synced
 
Pretty weird question, everyone prefers live vocals.
 
Zakk said:
Pretty weird question, everyone prefers live vocals.
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There have been some fans who say they prefer Billie Jean lip synced because they don't like his live vocals for it. They say he sounds too out of breath. That has never bothered me because with all that dancing I don't expect the live vocals to be 100% perfect
 
Every song is better with live singing. Lip-syncing can be very boring to watch.
 
Galactus123 said:
Every song is better with live singing. Lip-syncing can be very boring to watch.
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that's why i would adore if the bad tour in Aintree 1988 would be released on Blu-Ray! or perhaps, Los Angeles or any other show in High Res would be great tbh!
 
Zakk said:
that's why i would adore if the bad tour in Aintree 1988 would be released on Blu-Ray! or perhaps, Los Angeles or any other show in High Res would be great tbh!
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I would prefer Bad Tour Madison Square Garden. Every song expect the first half of Man In The Mirror was sung live that night
 
Even if MJ would only sing one verse and then remain quiet for the rest of the song, I'd still prefer that over lip syncing. I can understand it a bit more for tv performances since they are supposed to be much more polished, but concerts are about live performance and connecting with an audience - and you simply cannot nearly do that as much when you lip sync.

I have often wondered what the Dangerous and HIStory tours would have been like if MJ focused a bit less on the increasing theatrics and a bit more on the music side of things. I know he was a perfectionist and dreamt big - wanting his shows to be a huge experience, which they were - but I think he underestimated the power and effect just his voice could have. And not just on us fans either: I remember sitting in the theatre watching This Is It, and noticing the two songs people seemed most affected by were Human Nature and I Just Can't Stop Loving You. Both featured little or relatively simple dancing and zero theatrics, but both highlighted his voice. Another example, what do you think would have made a bigger and more lasting impression on people: the spectacle with the tank, the soldier and the little girl on stage during Earth Song as seen in the HIStory Tour, or just MJ under a spotlight shouting his heart out ("tell me WHAT about it?!") as seen in the Royal Concert and at the WMAs. It's not even a debate, imo.

And if increased live singing would have come at the cost of a bit less dancing, I would have been totally fine with that - not every song needs insane choreography. MJ's vocals at times were not that great during the HIStory Tour, but I still enjoy watching performances of WBSS and the J5 medley much more than any of the lip-synced songs. That performance of Scream in Brunei where he sings one verse live is much more interesting than any of the others. It's also why I think the J5 set at MSG in 2001 was infinitely better than the solo set, and so on.
 
SoCav said:
Even if MJ would only sing one verse and then remain quiet for the rest of the song, I'd still prefer that over lip syncing. I can understand it a bit more for tv performances since they are supposed to be much more polished, but concerts are about live performance and connecting with an audience - and you simply cannot nearly do that as much when you lip sync.

I have often wondered what the Dangerous and HIStory tours would have been like if MJ focused a bit less on the increasing theatrics and a bit more on the music side of things. I know he was a perfectionist and dreamt big - wanting his shows to be a huge experience, which they were - but I think he underestimated the power and effect just his voice could have. And not just on us fans either: I remember sitting in the theatre watching This Is It, and noticing the two songs people seemed most affected by were Human Nature and I Just Can't Stop Loving You. Both featured little or relatively simple dancing and zero theatrics, but both highlighted his voice. Another example, what do you think would have made a bigger and more lasting impression on people: the spectacle with the tank, the soldier and the little girl on stage during Earth Song as seen in the HIStory Tour, or just MJ under a spotlight shouting his heart out ("tell me WHAT about it?!") as seen in the Royal Concert and at the WMAs. It's not even a debate, imo.

And if increased live singing would have come at the cost of a bit less dancing, I would have been totally fine with that - not every song needs insane choreography. MJ's vocals at times were not that great during the HIStory Tour, but I still enjoy watching performances of WBSS and the J5 medley much more than any of the lip-synced songs. That performance of Scream in Brunei where he sings one verse live is much more interesting than any of the others. It's also why I think the J5 set at MSG in 2001 was infinitely better than the solo set, and so on.
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The J5 Medley at MSG 2001 was over-dubbed...
 
I always prefer any song sung live, it adds so much excitement and energy to the performance. The only benefit is that, when he lip-synced it's like the pressure is off and he's more free to dance. But still live vocals all the way !
 
Live vocals of course, thats the beauty of a live performance plus ppl could hear the tracks sung like never before and he could improvise as well. Thats why i love the Bad tour so much and thats why it needs to be out in HD. When it comes to tracks like Dangerous I dont mind that he never sung it live because its a dance song and he danced for 5 minutes straight, but I wish he did Stranger in Moscow live, YANA and all the ballads. It would be definitely a treat.
 
analogue said:
I would prefer Bad Tour Madison Square Garden. Every song expect the first half of Man In The Mirror was sung live that night
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Or the first night from Kansas City :)

But relating to the topic, live is always the preferred to do it. I noticed that sometimes when he sung Billie Jean he had a sorta "Southern" accent going on. Am i the only one to notice this?
 
SoCav said:
You mean they picked the best vocals from the Sep 7 and Sep 10 shows?
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That, or re-recorded in studio (in the TV version).

There was a few years ago the unedited PRO version in circulation. I think Birchey can confirm the sample from YT.
 
Live but if lip synced it should be pre-recorded and not the album version lol
 
Zakk said:
Pretty weird question, everyone prefers live vocals.
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:agree: :blink: :wtf2 Well, I thought that was a no-brainer too, LOL! What's the point of spending all of that money on concert tickets, new outfit for the show, dinner, after party clubbing and limo rental just to hear a recording? I could stay at home and save the dinero if I only wanted to hear the CD version.
 
Anyone who prefers lip sync because he doesn't sound good singing Billie Jean live, I have to question whether they have heard this or not.

58 seconds in.

 
It doesn't surprise me that some prefer the lip-synced performance of Billie Jean from the HIStory tour. Firstly, from a quality point of view, the music is better on the HIStory tour thanks to the advantage of newer technology. Secondly, the classic Billie Jean routine was perfected on HIStory. By this time all of the memorable moves are present and, though it certainly lacks the energy of earlier performances, I prefer the execution of the moves on HIStory. If only that tour wasn't 90% lip-sync, eh?

Of course, this is all opinion. Some people prefer the pure energy of the Bad Tour whilst others think the Dangerous Tour version is a good balance between live vocals and dance moves. I'll quite happily watch any version, mind!
 
For me Dangerous Tour Munich is the perfect balance between both.
 
I'm going to assume it was meant that on Dangerous it's a good balance between the energy levels of Bad and the dancing of HIStory. It is, of course, all live on Dangerous!
 
Dangerous Tour is not all live

Jam
Smooth Criminal
Thriller
Will You Be There
Dangerous
Black Or White
Heal The World
Man In The Mirror

All those songs are lip synced and I'm not sure about Bad and The Way You Make Me Feel
 
I meant Billie Jean is all live on Dangerous. Those songs you listed are lip-synced, as are Bad and The Way You Make Me Feel, though many have live sections at the end of the song.
 
I think that Victory Tour and Bad Tour and also the first leg of Dangerous Tour Billie Jean was excellent.
But the seond leg of Bad Tour, the voice of Michael was not enough good to sing the song, and that is very clear at the Last performance of Bad Tour 1989 at January.
This is the full audio of Newyork,and Billie Jean was good..
Many of people on youtube saids: "Oh, it's the first time that I Hear him singing live this song" cause they don't know that in the 80's he sings it live.
At HIStory Tour, Michael was controled by "lip synced" he can't add other word to the song..
But The worst is Billie Jean Kansas 1984 "
The Best(I have watched): Munich 1992/Copenhagen 1996/ Tokyo 1987/ Toronto 1984/ wembley 1988/ Yokohama 1987/ Bucharest 1992/ Dallas 1984.
 
I prefer it sung live even if he's out of breath or not. Don't forget it must be hard trying to dance and sing at the same time.
 
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