Lip-synching costs in China

Two Chinese singers have become the first people in the country to fall foul of new rules banning lip-synching nearly two years after widespread criticism of miming at the Beijing Olympics' opening ceremony.

The two young female singers were spotted lip-synching during a concert in southwestern China's Chengdu city last year, the official Xinhua news agency said on its website (www.xinhuanet.com)."No signals were received from their microphones while the show was on," it quoted an official with the local government's cultural affairs office as saying. The two have been fined 50,000 yuan ($10,270 NZD) each, Xinhua added.

Lip-synching, known as "fake singing" in Chinese, burst into the open during 2008's Beijing Olympics. China's Olympic organisers were lambasted by Internet users and in the media after they admitted a nine-year-old girl lip-synched during the opening ceremony, in place of the real singer who was rejected because of her appearance.

In December 2008, China banned lip-synching from the nation's biggest TV show, held to celebrate Chinese New Year. The broadcasting regulator ordered organisers to pick "real" singers and songs with "healthy" lyrics. The Ministry of Culture said it would revoke the licences of professional performers who are caught lip-synching twice during a two-year period.

Until next time keep rockin'
The 0800 Jukebox crew.
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