A spokesperson for "American Idol" has admitted that the young singers lip-sync to their own pre-recorded tracks during group numbers, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
First-season runner-up Justin Guarini, who co-hosts "Idol Wrap" on the TV Guide Network, said last week that the group songs appeared to be taped, the Times reported. "Every single year we can't stand the group performances," Guarini said. "And I think what makes them even worse now is that they're lip-synched."
A spokesman for the show's producers first told the newspaper, "The Idols don't lip-sync, period." But the newspaper later reported that the spokesman contradicted himself, writing in an e-mail, "Due to extensive choreography and to balance their voices with open mikes against a screaming audience, the Idols do sing along to their own prerecorded vocal track during the group performances only."
He told the paper that the contestants' solo performances are not pre-recorded, although the versions of the songs sold on iTunes were recorded before the live show airs.