posted on March 18, 2014 by Jaycie Cash

Our Lip Syncs Raneth Over

karaokesingerscartoonA friend of mine just turned 60. Since her daughter’s 30th birthday was around the same time they decided to have one huge, honking combo theme party: a lip sync contest.

The birthday girls assured us via their invitation that they wanted to be entertained. Every attendee was asked to participate. Our performances were the only presents desired.

Being cheap, many of us—myself included—took them at their word.

I guess we figured such a massive level of public humiliation deserved at least some monetary recompense. Or, as mentioned above, it could be we’re just cheap.

Not wanting to spend a lot of personal prep time on this prior to the party (are you paying attention? So far I’ve coped to being both cheap AND lazy!), I slyly suggested my buddy Linda and I serve as backup singers to our mutual friend, Rick.

They went for it. Linda’s no fool, she immediately recognized the inherent advantage in only needing to memorize a couple of words that are repeated over and over versus learning the entire song. Being a big ol’ haunch of honey-cured ham, Rick agreed to “sing” lead. Sure, he made a lot of noise about being embarrassed by the very idea, but boyfriend showed up the night of the party with a costume that included a yellow, orange, pink and green striped jacket and pimp hat, shy flower that he is.

Linda and I talked about fading into the background in flowing black tunics.  But we ended up adding feather boas. Mine was a vivid purple, hers a bright blue. We didn’t want to do a lot, but we also didn’t want to be ignored.

When it came time to pick a tune, my first suggestion was, due to my own obvious (and becoming more obvious all the time) attributes, performing to Sir Mix-a-Lot’s now classic hip-hop favorite Baby Got Back. Perhaps you’ll recognize its searing and heartfelt lyrics: “I like big butts and I cannot lie. . .”

Brings a tear, doesn’t it!

The more mature (and boring!!) members of the group decided to go with my second suggestion instead: the Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose rendition of Treat her Like a Lady.  During our extensive 20-minute practice session the evening before the party we came up with moves cheesier than a whole block of cheddar, most of which we’d forgotten by the time we went in front of the crowd the next night.

Some fun was definitely had by all at the party. An obvious advantage to a lip sync party over a karaoke get-together: the songs are taped so nothing sounds excruciatingly bad, unless you just don’t like that particular type of music.

Other performances included two girls dressed up as The Blues Brothers, complete with sideburns; a group performing a Maroon 5 song and the lead singer had a tight-fitting, skin-tone t-shirt that made him look like he was covered with tattoos; a couple (including a 6-foot plus guy with a beard dressed in drag) singing I Feel Like a Woman and many others. The two birthday girls got into the act and performed several songs both together and separately.

It all really was great, great fun and a type of party you might want to consider holding yourself one day!

IF YOU DID HOLD OR ATTEND A LIP SYNC PARTY, WHAT SONG WOULD YOU CONSIDER MOST APPROPRIATE TO PERFORM AND WHY? WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS? A FREE COPY OF MY DEBUT NOVEL, MRS. GOODFELLER WILL BE RANDOMLY AWARDED TO ONE PERSON WHO LEAVES A COMMENT BELOW BEFORE THE NEXT WRITERSPACE BLOG IS POSTED.

10 thoughts on “Our Lip Syncs Raneth Over”

  1. charlene capodice says:

    wrecking ball

    1. Jaycie says:

      Ha, good one, Charlene! If only my tongue were long and pointy enough!!!

  2. It’s the End of the World by REM. The only way I could ever attempt the lyrics is by faking it.

    1. I’ve no doubt you’d give a stellar performance, Stephanie! Thanks for letting us know.

  3. C-Jay M says:

    Wow, I don’t know the words to many songs. Probably a Christmas carol? 😛

    1. Yeah, I can see where those would be easy to lip sync to. Good thinking!

  4. Wow, getting up and singing in front of a group of people I would definitely have to choose “I Will Survive”. Hopefully those listening to me will survive too.

    1. No, no, that’s the beauty of lip syncing, Charlene. You don’t actually sing, you just act like you’re singing by moving your lips along to the music. Lip syncing always “sounds” great ’cause you can pick and choose your artist. But I can definitely see where “I Will Survive” would offer some great opportunities to really ham it up. Good choice!

  5. Christine L. says:

    Thinking about this takes me back to high school days when my friends and I would dance our rooms and belt out all the great 80’s tunes. Today I’d choose either Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” Katy Perry’s “Roar,” or Madonna’s “Vogue” (for which I could do a pretty fair approximation of some of the moves from the video). The first two kind of sum up my current stage in life; the last is a fun classic that should get everybody else grooving.

    1. Excellent choices all, Christine! Thanks for weighing in.

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