Mariah Carey Did Not Lip-Sync Her American Idol Medley, Says Rep

Songbird's camp hits back at Twitter uproar, says she definitely sang live

By Josh Grossberg May 17, 2013 6:08 PMTags

Some folks watching Mariah Carey sing her medley of hits during last night's American Idol finale had a vision all right.

A number of viewers flooded Twitter last night with tweets wondering whether the R&B legend and Idol judge had been lip-syncing her performance given the strange way her voice at times failed to match the audio people at home were hearing. 

"Mariah Carey….worst lip syncer ever! @americanidol ha," tweeted one Netizen named Jason Williams.

Added another going by the handle @JadenStyles: "Mariah Carey, if you are going to lip sync on American Idol, at least attempt to make it look real. Or don't perform on behalf of America."

Anybody thinking the 43-year-old Carey would forgo a chance to hit those octaves for real, however, is fooling themselves, according to her rep.

"She ABSOLUTELY DID NOT lip-sync," said her spokesperson. "She performed LIVE in front of several thousands of people!!!! (and did it 3 times!!)." 

The rep confirmed that Mariah did sing to a prerecorded track—a common practice in the music biz even among big-named artists—but clarified that she "performed with a 40-person choir" and "SANG LIVE."

"No LIP-SYNCING whatsoever! She did 3 takes and thrilled the crowd with singing little songs in between that we're NOT part of her medley," the publicist added.

That settles that.

When asked about any possible audio issues on its end, Fox had no comment.

Carey isn't the only one songstress to be hit with lip-sync accusations recently. Beyoncé also faced a similar controversy when she sang to a prerecorded track at the presidential inauguration in January. But she fired back at her haters by belting out a stunning rendition of the National Anthem at a press conference hyping her Super Bowl halftime show.