Shania Twain Accused Of Lip-Synching On ‘Dancing With The Stars’
Shania Twain had a lot to prove as a guest judge on Dancing with the Stars—diehard dance lovers raised eyebrows over the announcement that the country singer would join ballroom gurus Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli at the DWTS judges’ table—but it was her musical performance that caused even more of a controversy.
While Twain was all over the board with her judge scores and clearly not in sync with the more seasoned judges, her high-profile musical performance on the show, which should have scored a 10, had some fans up in arms. Midway through the live show, Shania performed the ballad “Soldier” from her latest album, Now, but it appeared that the country star was lip-synching, something she reportedly never does. Eagle-eyed viewers took to social media to note that Twain’s performance did not sound live and that her lips did not seem to match the vocals.
Many Dancing with the Stars fans were not happy that Shania Twain would resort to lip-synching for such an important performance, and they let the “Man, I feel Like a Woman” singer know it on social media. While some fans tried to defend Shania by insisting that there is no way she was lip-synching on DWTS because she “never lip-syncs,” others pointed out that Twain’s mouth didn’t match the words and “her tone never changed when she moved away from the mic.”
You can see social media reaction to Shania Twain’s Dancing with the Stars performance below.
sooo…we all think shania twain is lip syncing right? ? #DWTS25
— christine (@brownachristine) October 24, 2017
Shania Twain is doing the most obvious lip sync in history on #DWTS
— Bob Bobson (@BabaBoHigh) October 24, 2017
This lip sync job that Shania Twain is doing right now on #DWTS is atrocious.
— Mandy Caldwell (@man_nic1) October 24, 2017
Shania Twain gets a 10 for the worst lip sync of the night #DWTS25
— Jennifer Kent (@JennKent81) October 24, 2017
#DWTS Sad that Shania Twain has to lip sync that beautiful song. Sad. Just sad.
— Amanda Paszak (@PaszakAmanda) October 24, 2017
Memo to Shania Twain you’re supposed to move your mouth when you lip sync my goodness #DWTS
— sean (@sean516) October 24, 2017
#DWTS you should have had @ShaniaTwain lip sync the whole night, not just this song
— doubletest (@doubletest) October 24, 2017
Of course, if Shania Twain did lip sync her Dancing with the Stars performance, it was undoubtedly for good reason. Twain’s song was the backdrop for elaborate choreography by the Dancing with the Stars troupe dancers, so it had to be perfect. And with the live show’s time clock ticking, everything needed to be choreographed down to the millisecond, including the musical performances.
Shania Twain has suffered from vocal cord issues in the past. Earlier this year, Twain told the Los Angeles Times that she developed dysphonia, a vocal cord disorder which Shania says was caused after she contracted Lyme disease.
“A singer’s typical problem is nodules on the vocal cords from overuse or poor technique,” Twain told the Times. “That was not my problem. My problem isn’t unique, or rare, but the exercises are very different than for nodules, and I can’t get an operation for mine.”
Take a look at the video below to see Shania Twain’s Dancing with the Stars performance of “Soldier.” Do you think Shania is lip-synching? You be the judge!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qItbnrfmfcs
[Featured Image by Mike Stobe/Getty Images for USTA]