Britney slams lip sync rumors ahead of Israel show
Spears says she is ‘busting my ass’ singing and dancing during performances including upcoming July 3 gig in Tel Aviv
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Pop star Britney Spears rejected on Tuesday a suggestion that her upcoming, and long-awaited, performance in Israel will not include live singing and will rely on playbacks.
In a phone conversation with Channel 2 following a show in Bangkok, Thailand, Spears was asked directly if she will sing her hits live and shot back with “I’m glad you’re addressing this question,” before complaining that claims she lip syncs were “really pissing me off, because I’m busting my ass out there and singing at the same time.”
She did concede that “because I’m dancing so much,” there was “a little bit of playback; there’s a mixture of my voice and the playback.”
“A lot of people think that I don’t do live usually because I’m dancing so much,” she said, adding that “nobody ever really gives me credit for [working so hard].”
Spears will perform on Monday, July 3, at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park as part of her Britney: Live In Concert world tour. Local music producers have been working to bring Spears to Israel since last year, and the performance is set to cost more than $2 million.
Ahead of her arrival, she sent a message via Twitter last week to celebrity journalist, Guy Pines.
“Tel Aviv here I come!! Can’t wait to take the stage at Park Hayarkon on July 3rd! Hey @therealguypines, see you there!!” wrote Spears.
Tel Aviv here I come!! Can't wait to take the stage at Park Hayarkon on July 3rd! Hey @therealguypines, see you there!! pic.twitter.com/5eO9VuykTA
— Britney Spears ???????? (@britneyspears) June 23, 2017
Besides El Al flight attendants and their spoof on Spears’ “Toxic” — perhaps inspired by flight attendants on AsiaAir and Thailand’s low-cost Nok Air — local Spears fans have been organizing themselves for the show.
In order to avoid lengthy traffic jams in and out of the park before and after the concert, they’ve ordered the Britney Bus, a private coach bus organized by the FanZone company that picks up passengers throughout the country, deposits them at the concert and takes them home afterwards.
Spears has been hit with rumors of lip syncing during live performances since she burst onto the music scene in 1999. She’s had to defend against the claims, including during her Las Vegas residency shows which began in 2013.
“I always sing live,’ she told a radio station in 2013 before the Britney:Piece of Me residency at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino started. “It doesn’t sound so great all the time but I do my best.”
Spears has recorded nine studio albums since 1999 and has sold over 100 million records worldwide.
This is her ninth world tour.
The Times of Israel Community.