Is Paige O'Hara, stage and voice actress, lip-singing in the video?

[beautywickedlover]

Paige O'Hara, who was the voice of Belle in "Beauty and the Beast" and also appeared in musicals like "Les Miserables" and "Show Boat," attended the NFFC Banquet last year. She sang the title song "Beauty and the Beast," which she also covered an album of her's. People are saying she was lip-syncing in this video. Was she?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaPHFjt_7Pk


ETA: I've changed the title of thread because I brought up something new about page on the next thread about how she has been replaced as the voice of Belle.

[StephanietheStar]

sure looks like it to me....

and I love that Jodi is there :)

[LizzieCurry]

The phrase is lip-SYNCING. Not singing.

[StephanietheStar]

Plus, compare it to Jodi's Part of Your World at the same event, and she sounds like a person performing...there are little flaws to the sound, etc. while Paige's sounded flawless and Jodi is by far a better singing in my opinion.

Jodi singing Part of Your World:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2AJJbICEJs

[beautywickedlover]

"while Paige's sounded flawless."

But do you still think she's lip-syncing?

[StephanietheStar]

Yes, everytime I've ever heard paige o'hara sing live it's been awful...also how did her mic not pick up any of her breaths?!

[Bialyhoos22]

It would appear so...

[angelxschunard]

Watch her throat when she uses her vibrato. It doesn't move. That's how you can tell if people are lip-syncing.

[TBone]

oh my.

[orangeskittles]

Why is Belle singing Mrs. Potts's song? Lip-syncing or not, it's just wrong.

[CATSNYrevival]

I don't think it's ever fair to judge whether or not someone is lip-syncing on a youtube video, because often times videos can just be out of sync due to the incompetence of the person who uploaded the video.

[beautywickedlover]

"how did her mic not pick up any of her breaths"

I didn't hear Jodi breath in her performance either.

[TheatreDiva90016]

"Watch her throat when she uses her vibrato. It doesn't move. That's how you can tell if people are lip-syncing."

Uhm, that's one way, but I used to lip-synch with a vibrato back when I did drag.

[jimmycurry01]

It could very easily be the video out of sync with the audio when it was converted and uploaded to youtube, that is a common occurrence there. It is still possibly a bad lip-sync too though, but its hard to say without actually seeing it live.

What is with the person above saying it is just wrong for Belle to be singing a Mrs. Potts song? That is just a lame statement on multiple levels.

[sparrman]

I don't think she's lip syncing. It's too perfect, especially at the end when it's out of tempo.

[Muhlethaler]

Unfortunately, she's lip-syncing. Everyone looks embarrassed. Very sad. For comparison, listen to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M7VnXhygUk

[twinbelters]

Paige is definitely lyp-sincghing. The sound that is allegedly coming out of her face does not match the physicality of her performance at all. The intensity of the vocal is not present in her mouth, neck and body. It's pretty obvious especially if you watch how engaged Jodi is singing "Part Of Your World." You can hear Jodi's little pops and clicks in the mic too, and she sounds like she is in that room, whereas Paige is completely devoid of those little flaws that come from a live performance.

Jodi sounds great! She should have sung "Disneyland" as an encore. =)

[orangeskittles]

You know what's really lame? People who don't have a sense of humor.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Is it possible she's singing to a background track and the mix is off?

At any rate, the only time I see embarrassment is when there's like 30 seconds of instrumental and she just stands there looking down.

[StephanietheStar]

@beautywickedlover: You can TOTALLY hear Jodi take breaths in her song...like a normal live performance...

and lol@mulethaler: that's EXACTLY what she was singing to.

[beautywickedlover]

I heard Paige breathing after "Ever Just the same" and "Ever just as sure" so I don't think she is lyp-syncing.

"@beautywickedlover: You can TOTALLY hear Jodi take breaths in her song...like a normal live performance..."

You're right I definetley heard them at the end. I guess I just wasn't paying attention the first time I listened to it.

[angelxschunard]

TheatreDiva, sweetie, just because you were competent enough to do that doesn't mean she was, clearly.

And I'm confused about some of you not hearing breaths. I heard breaths in both their performances, especially when I went back and listened for it.

[Bialyhoos22]

beautywickedlover, she is absolutely lip-syncing. If you took the time to goto the link the previous poster provided, you can see that she is miming to the identical recording. You can tell, especially with headphones on, that there is no sound emanating from the stage and that it's all coming from elsewhere in that room. Whereas Jodi's singing clearly is emanating from not only the house speakers but also the stage. The sound quality between the two is entirely different.

She is lip-syncing, end of story.

[sparrman]

In light of the other link of her singing, I reverse my opinion. She is lip syncing. At the beginning I hear two voices, like her mic was still live and she was actually singing along softly, and then just the one voice. But the performance and phrasing seem identical, so yeah, lip syncing.

Still, I don't see the shame. She was probably sick, and it was decided that Paige present and lip syncing was preferable to Paige not there at all. And rightly so.

[Muhlethaler]

For those who still believe she was not lip-syncing, this is Paige O'Hara singing live, full of emotional honesty:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9t5HrkYblk

This a 1998 studio recording of the song (and you can actually hear her breathing):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M7VnXhygUk

And this is Paige O'Hara lip-syncing, looking completely fake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaPHFjt_7Pk

If you don't see the embarrassment, just take a look at Jodi Benson and the other woman looking away while she sings. It's almost as if they can't handle it. The woman even closes her eyes. By the end of the song, Jodi looks at Paige in a supportive way.

Maybe Paige was sick, maybe she doesn't have that voice anymore. At least I'm glad we have her voice preserved as Belle. Her performance (including her Barbra-inspired rendition of "and a bit alarming") will always be remembered as one of the best in a Disney animated film.

[sparrman]

Nah, I think she's lip-syncing in that first clip.

Just kidding.

Paige is great. She had two Broadway shows under her belt (Showboat and Drood) before Beauty and the Beast ever happened. I saw her on tour in the title role of Drood, and she was stellar.