I saw this disturbing clip on YouTube that claimed Celine Dion lip synced her Olympics performance.  I didn’t believe it.  She wouldn’t do that, especially with the eyes of the world on her.  No way.  But I did some research and this is what I found out.

There’s a pitch control gadget capable of taking a singer’s tonality and stretching it so it doesn’t flatten out.  The problem is that it pretty much erases most of the emotional vibrato that is a vital part of a vocal performance, but you get a level that’s close to perfect pitch.  Now perfect pitch (also called Absolute Pitch) is a rarity, even amongst the best vocalists.  Wikipedia says:

The frequency of AP in the general population is not known. A proportion of 1 in 10,000 is widely reported, but not supported by evidence;^[6] a 2019 review indicated a prevalence of at least 4% amongst music students.^[7]

Now there is such a thing as pitch correction with low-latency processing for a real-time performance.  While that might have been available as a backup, had her vocal cords froze it wouldn’t be able to do anything.  The machine needs something to tweak.  There’s also a theory she used such a machine during the performance, but I find several flaws in this assumption.

First off, it was pouring rain.  Secondly, she was holding a powered microphone.  Lastly, she was standing inside the Eiffel Tower.  She could have electrocuted herself with such a gadget in that setting.  That’s a larger risk than being a little flat on a high range note.  To my untrained ear she never sounded flat and her voice didn’t sound mechanical.  Her vibrato was present.  Her emotion seemed real.  Now she may have brought the whole range down a few keys, but that’s a very common adjustment that many singers make during a live performance.  Still, she nailed quite a few high notes spot on and seemed very much in control of switching from high to low and to an almost staccato spoken sound in the middle of the song.  Doubtful that could be altered.

And because I’m a geek with too much idle time on my hands, I watched the performance at least ten times.  You can see a wire at the back of her neck which is standard with a voice box you wear on your back.  Even the Real Housewives wear them.  So it’s possible the handheld microphone wirelessly brought her voice through to the voice box, thus avoiding electrical risks.  

Even if she did use a pitch controller, every live performance is almost always mixed through a sound board.  I’m sure if a musician reads this they’ll wince at my misusage of the terminology. Sorry.  Believe me, if anyone needs a pitch controller it’s me.  My standard voice sounds like the result of a gender reassignment gone wrong!

Final observation.  Her throat was vibrating, visible even though she was wearing a high neck (gorgeous) dress.  So while precautions may have been on call, I feel certain she wasn’t lip syncing.  Watch the YouTube performance and see for yourself.  Besides after all she’s been honest with the world about her struggle, would she really consider doing that?

Celine Dion ain’t no Milli Vanilli.