THE annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is a chance for singers and musical acts to perform in front of thousands of fans and viewers at home.
But those performances are often prerecorded.
8
8
You can’t blame the artists. After all, it’s not easy singing live outside, sometimes in heavy wind, rain, or snow, and while onboard a stopping-and-starting parade float.
Yet, some singers take to lip syncing easier than others.
Racking in around 25 million views per year, the Macy’s Parade has taken place each Thanksgiving for the past 96 years.
This year, the show features a performance by Oscar, Emmy, and Grammy award winner Cher.
To ring in the holidays, she will be performing a brand new holiday song for the millions of parade attendees.
There will be 17 other performers, including Pentatonix, Jon Batiste, Chicago, Jax, and more.
To add to the list of musical entertainment, 11 marching bands will be present at the parade, including several high school and college marching bands.
The parade will also feature 25 giant balloons, such as Spongebob and Gary, Stuart the Minion, Smokey Bear, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Bluey, and Paw Patrol.
But while crowds will go crazy for the stars, their inevitable lip-syncing can lead to some embarrassing moments.
MARIAH CAREY
8
Mariah Carey sparked concern last year after fans said she looked terrified during her Thanksgiving Day Parade performance.
The singer closed out the famous holiday event with her classic song All I Want for Christmas is You.
Several took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to express worry for the talented vocalist as she seemed uneasy at the New York City event.
“Mariah Carey looked terrified and or animatronic in that parade at the end, hope she’s okay wherever they’re keeping the real Mariah,” one wrote.
“Is Mariah Carey ok?? She just stood there… like literally did not move!!! I’m confused & truly hope she’s ok. I get that they are all lip-syncing. Just hope she’s.. ok!?!?!” a second agreed.
JIMMY FALLON
8
Angry fans felt like giving Jimmy Fallon the bird after realizing he wasn’t really singing live in 2019.
The Late Night host floated down the runway with an obviously recorded version of Surfin Bird.
Fans tweeted their displeasure.
“Wow. Jimmy Fallon with a hall-of-fame bad lip-syncing performance during the #MacysDayParade,” one person lashed out.
Another person found irony in the game show producer’s choice: “Dude you f**king INVENTED Lip Synch Battle…. what the hell man?”
A third argued: “OK, everyone’s cool if you lip-sync. It’s a parade, you’re outside, it’s cold. Just make it look realistic.”
SEAN PAUL
8
Sean Paul is a Grammy-winning Jamaican dancehall rapper and reggae artist who was slammed last year for his awkward attempt at lip-syncing.
The singer first rose to fame with the Dutty Cup Crew in the 90s before hitting the big time when he kicked off his solo career in 2000.
Read Related Also: 'Incredible' £47m Chelsea ace's representative breaks silence on exit rumours amid Arsenal links
He has released seven solo studio albums and has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning one in 2004.
But last year, he may as well have traded his mic in for a phone – after many viewers slammed him and accused him of phoning in his performance.
“The hold Sean Paul has on white women while lip syncing a song that came out 17 years ago.” one person tweeted.
Another lamented: “Everyone has to lip sync at the Macy’s Parade .. It’s been like that.”
While a third added plainly: “This singing was so dumb.”
SCOTTY MCCREERY
8
Former American Idol winner Scotty McCreery ran into trouble in 2011, when he performed his hit The Trouble With Girls.
Sadly, he missed his cue, and the song mysteriously started before he was singing.
Fans online trashed the failed attempt.
“Well if the whole musician career doesn’t work out he’s got a promising career as a ventriloquist,” one person slammed.
Another mocked the song’s title: “The trouble with a microphone, it’s a mystery.”
While a third blasted: “I am a gymnast… I guess I will fake tumble on the mat. Let’s see how far I get in my career!!! If you are a singer, then guess what – SING DAMMIT!!!
PAULA ABDUL
8
Paula Abdul’s performance last year wasn’t much better – with many roasting it online.
The Grammy Award-winning singer performed her hit Straight Up during the festivities.
But some fans ridiculed her for allegedly using autotune and attempting to tap-dance in high heels.
One critic tweeted: “Oh Paula Abdul, you don’t need to dance anymore. Stick to judging people. We love you! #MacysParade.”
“Paula Abdul pretending to perform a wildly auto-tuned version of ‘Straight Up’ and Flava Flav cheering from the crowd during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is cinema,” wrote a second person.
A third detractor wrote: “God help me but Paula Abdul lip-syncing while also tap-syncing during the Thanksgiving Day parade is killing me!”
RITA ORA
8
Rita Ora’s performance in 2018 was so bad, Macy’s issued an apology, while also coming up with an excuse.
“During today’s NBC broadcast of the #MacysParade several recording artists experienced technical difficulties that negatively impacted their performance,” the retailer tweeted. “We apologize and want fans to know these issues were out of the artist’s control.”
Rita was ripped earlier online for visibly lip-syncing.
The vitriol was so intense that her fellow musical artists came to her defense.
John Legend became a legend himself when he sarcastically shared: “Fun fact. We all have to lip sync on this parade because the floats don’t have the capacity to handle the sound requirements for a live performance.
“Hope y’all enjoyed it anyway. Know that if you come to my shows, the vocals are 100% live!”
Rita retweeted his message, tacking on one of her own:
“Fun fact @johnlegend thank you for clarifying what I was about to also tweet. It’s annoying for us but anyway!
All my shows are 100 percent live always have been! When you come to a ORA show get ready!”
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;
n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,
document,’script’,’
fbq(‘init’, ‘752905198150451’);
fbq(‘track’, “PageView”);
