Recreational Whinge:  Recently I’ve been reading a whole bunch of complaints published in the media about people’s anger toward the likes of Brittany Spears and her lip-synching world tour.  Now, come on people…there have been numerous announcements and coverage that the troubled troubadour would be putting on an amazing show but wouldn’t be singing live, and not to expect much personal interaction with the audience.  She would be performing an all-out dance and music entertainment production, but wouldn’t be giving a “concert” as such.

Yet despite all the pre-warning, people still complained and walked out of the show citing they felt they had been duped.  What, weren’t these people paying attention?  Didn’t they know what they were paying for?  Or did they choose to ignore it so they could whinge later.

I suspect it might be the latter.

People like to whinge.  And I also think this may have been a very clever ploy from Brittany’s producers to create a show that would incite whinging and therefore media coverage.  And it could easily be argued that media coverage is very important to this celebrity, and it doesn’t matter if the content is positive or not, as long as there’s content, lest she disappears from our short-term memory.

Just last week, patrons in the city of Darwin (Northern Territory, Australia) complained that the Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers tribute act wasn’t the “real thing.”  Hello?  It’s a tribute act, which means it’s very talented (usually, but not guaranteed) professionals who create the illusion that you’re with the stars.  There are tribute acts for the Beatles, ABBA, KISS and many more. 

I’m not sure what those people in Darwin were expecting, especially considering that tribute acts love to perform in Darwin.  It’s like a Mecca for them.  Did they really think that the wonderful Dolly and Kenny would appear, at a small cabaret bar where customers pay$25 a ticket for dinner and a show plus a chance to win a meat tray in the club raffle?

They’re quite likely ignoring the truth because they want something to whinge about.  And the people who would go to the Dolly and Kenny tribute act are unlikely to be going to a Brittany concert.  I think this is an important fact because if these people can’t whinge about Brittany like everyone else is doing, then they needed some bandwagon of their own to jump on and the local “illusionist” talent will have to do, even if the whinge doesn’t make sense.

Remember, whinging often gives people the sense of “significance” that they long for in their lives.  Although Darwin is a beautiful city, with warm and lovely people, and amazing things to see and do there, it must not be enough for the locals to feel like they matter.

The Positive Spin:  Years ago, Drag Queens typically just lip-synched to the crowd.  Some very talented ones with entertainment career ambitions like none before them, started developing their real voices and began singing live.  Here in Sydney, often considered the Drag Queen Capital of the World, you can find a wide range of talented illusionists and entertainers who produce shows with live singing as well as some very clever and funny imitation techniques. 

Considering I’ve been watching drag for a few decades now, I can tell you that I’m always attracted by the talent they have, whether singing live or not.  It’s about entertainment and some of them are very good.

So, I’m quite happy with Brittany lip-synching as long as everyone knows that’s what she’s doing AND that she puts on a great show.  Entertain us.

And with all this recent hype about who’s real, who’s not and what they’re really doing or not doing…well, maybe patrons will start paying a bit more attention to what they’re choosing to pay for.  And they might just realise that there are lots of ways of entertaining us, if we simply let them.