Hey Big Pretender! Organisers Admit Singers Did Mime From the Western Mail, By Toby Mason, Oct 5 1999
Everyone wanted to know after the World Cup opening if Shirley Bassey
mimed during her duet with opera star Bryn Terfel.
Now The Western Mail can reveal that the answer is yes.
Between them, Shirley Bassey and Bryn Terfel must have clocked up thousands
of hours of singing during their careers.
But during the opening ceremony last Friday, they decided to mime the
centrepiece duet World In Union.
They were the only act to mime to a backing track during the ceremony,
which also featured Catatonia, Michael Ball and Ladysmith Black Mambazo singing live.
A spokesperson for the ceremony's organisers said both singers were
keen to sing live, but the conditions were too difficult.
She said, "They were going to sing live, but we had to make a last-minute
alteration because of the difficult conditions and the fact that there
was a new sound system in the stadium."
She added that both stars were disappointed that they could not sing live.
The conditions had already ruled out a live orchestra in the stadium,
so organisers were already relying on a recorded backing.
The organisers stressed last night that "99.9 per cent" of live performances
were mimed in situations like last Friday's ceremony.
The official album of the World Cup, featuring the duet between Bryn
Terfel and Shirley Bassey, was released across Britain yesterday.