Kid Rock’s performance of “Bawitdaba” during Turning Point USA’s All-American Halftime Show was criticized for being out of sync. In fact some thought he may not have been singing at all.
There was nearly a half-second gap between audio and video. That’s an eternity in music — surely something the millions watching would notice.
Response ranged from disappointment to anger to mockery.
Was Kid Rock Lip Syncing?
If Kid Rock was lip syncing, he’s literally the worst lip syncer of all time. “Bawitdaba” is 26 years old and he’s performed it hundreds of times, the exact same way. As viewers, we heard him while the microphone was down by his leg. A performance that bad would embarrass a newcomer — this is a man who’s performed on hundreds of stages.
Review: Let’s Be Honest About Kid Rock’s Halftime Show Performance
Turning Point USA hasn’t said the show was pre-taped, but they never said it’d be live either. The pace of the production (especially the transitions) was too clean and quick to have been done in real time. More likely, the show was filmed somewhere and pushed to YouTube live as a finished product. In fact, there are a few social media leaks claiming just that.
That means they could have done a second take if needed. It also means a producer could have whiffed on syncing audio / video for this portion of the show. If true, that person deserves a talking to.
Another possible scenario is a bit more technical. Live streaming pre-recorded content requires use of a third party platform. Taste of Country used one in 2019 to do a ACM Awards pre-show and midway through it skipped, kind of like a record. From that point on, audio and video were off by a second or more.
These programs glitch all the time, especially with a large audience. YouTube itself isn’t perfect either. Anyone who’s tried to stream has likely experienced catastrophic failure that remains unexplainable. Sometimes it all just quits, or skips or something stranger.
It’s possible two things could be true: Kid Rock did lip sync and the program skipped. Turning Point USA owes us an explanation because — even though they never said it — the expectation was that this was a “live” live show.
There’s a lot of reasons to criticize Kid Rock. This just may not be one of them, yet.
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Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes
