Diana Ross Pulls a Milli Vanilli at the Borgata
On Sunday night at the Borgata, legendary mascaraed diva Diana Ross kept the capacity crowd of 2,400 on their feet as she wriggled and writhed her way through the best of her catalog — from her days with the Supremes to her channeling of Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues to her stab at being a disco queen — and through a series of garish, glitzy, high-slitted gowns (in which the impressively bottomed 63-year-old still looks damn fine).
But there was one song that virtually no one sang along to because no one seemed to know it, including Ross: As it began, she moved to a less visible position upstage and, as seemed blatantly obvious to my companion and me, proceeded to lip-sync. Ross’s publicist wasn’t able to definitively name the tune, but said it was probably “I Love You,” from her new CD of the same name. He did not respond to questions about the lip-syncing.
The strange thing is, many of the songs that she actually sang were much more technically demanding and impressive than the bland ballad she lip-synced, so one has to wonder why she didn’t just use her voice or cut the song from the set entirely. — Victor Fiorillo
January 16th, 2008 at 1:51 am
You know what? Rod Stewart did the same during his last tour, when he encored” Maggie Mae.”
January 16th, 2008 at 8:45 am
I was at the show Sunday , had good seats, and didn’t notice any lip-syncing going on, and the song you didn’t know is called What About Love from her latest CD , only her real true fans would know, its sad that her publicist didn’t know what the name of the song was, also what is sad that Ross is the last of the legendary singers and to this day critics still want to rip her knowing that she is a survivor, and no pop star today can measure up to her legendary status.
January 16th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I attended the show and did not notice her lip-syncing, the song in question would be What about love..altough we knew it believe me her fans know her stuff. If she was she is really good. SHe could have lip-synced all nith it would no thave naooter she si sucha great performer.and at her age to look and move like she does..most pop perfomers half her age can touch her
January 17th, 2008 at 3:05 am
Okay here’s the deal. The track was pre recorded but the vocals were live.
January 17th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Respondents 2 thru 4, Right-On! This happened recently at the same show here in Los Angeles at the Universal Gibson Amphitheatre and Diana “sang” the song live.
She truly is ONE OF A KIND!
January 18th, 2008 at 9:36 am
I also was at the concert Sunday and know the song well. If you are a true Ross fan and knew the song, you would have realized her vocal was love on WHAT ABOUT LOVE but yes, it was a track being played to Diana’s live singing. At her Caesar’s Palace in A.C. gig in November 2005, Diana was talking to the audience and mentioned that many of today’s younger singers do indeed lipsync there way through much of their performances and she promised that in concert, she would never do this. Since the song is a big ballad and on the CD I Love You with more orchestration, it must have been decided to use the track with live vocals. I’m glad she chose to do the song as it was a nice inclusion of a beautiful song that I have not heard her do the last 3 times I have seen her since the CD was released. Ross was in top vocal form Sunday as always and SHE was all live.
January 18th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
I personally, do not want to go to a concert where the artist is not singing live, but it’s Diana Ross folks, ease up. She has proven herself time and time again, and should be allowed to do what ever she pleases. Can I get an Amen?
January 18th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
The song in question, titled “What About Love?” is originally from the Broadway version of “The Color Purple”. It is one of the most exquisite songs ever recorded, and while I have heard several other artist’s versions of this gem, NONE of them even come close to Diana Ross’ rendition. She made this song her own totally. It is simply gorgeous. I HIGHLY recommend to anyone buying this CD “I LOVE YOU” by Miss Ross if for no other reason than to hear this magnificent song. The entire CD is lovely, but this song in particular so clearly demonstrates why Miss Ross has been around for so amazingly long. She is a National Treasure without question. She is also without true contemporaries. Few, if any are in the same league with Miss Ross. Sadly, I see no new artists today who even come close to her level of artistry and ability to convey the raw emotion of a song. The lyrics along with Miss Ross’ vocals make this song one to remember. I highly recommend it.
January 19th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Diana has always sang live in every one of the endless shows since I’ve since since 1965. The lady is amazing. NO one can touch her.
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:02 pm
While Diana Ross is from the school of live singers, she is no stranger to lip-synching in a concert. Wasn’t it during “Love Hangover” on “An Evening With Diana Ross,” that she said to an audience member “you thought that was me?,” while the song - including her vocal - played uninterrupted?
January 23rd, 2008 at 9:43 pm
why are you in such a rush to bash one of our national treasures? Miss Ross always’ sings live… only durring the ” love hangover” song did she tell the audience that she wasn’t really singing, however she did start to sing the song and then because it was a new song for her, decided to let the track play and have some fun with her audience!!! leave her alone!!! pick on somebody your own size!!!
February 2nd, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Diana Ross is Diana Ross. Get it together, people. You do not put a Diana Ross in the same field as other singers. If she did a lip-sync…so, what ! It was one song, and the world knows that she can sing and is the ultimate diva. A little respect, pleeeez!