Rita Ora insists it’s not her "world" to lip sync.
The 27-year-old star has come under fire on social media for lip-syncing her way through Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, but Rita has rubbished the criticism, saying that circumstances meant she had no alternative other than to lip sync and that, where possible, she always sings live.
Rita made the comments after the Lithuanian singer Simonna tweeted: "We all know that Rita Ora can sing! Don’t be so quick to judge! Idk, but it’s possible that tv streaming was late or she was getting different playback or that the sound she was hearing in her headphone was different from what we heard. #MacysParade (sic)"
In response, Rita tweeted: "Exactly!! You got that right! You know this girl doesn’t lip sync it’s not my world! Now let me go find some turkey!! (sic)"
The British star subsequently received support from Macy’s, which explained the reasons for Rita’s much-maligned performance.
The company said on the micro-blogging platform: "During today’s NBC broadcast of the #MacysParade several recording artists experienced technical difficulties that negatively impacted their performance. We apologize and want fans to know these issues were out of the artist’s control. (sic)"
Rita – who has just released her long-awaited second studio album ‘Phoenix’ – responded: "Thank you and I appreciate the honesty and I hope everyone still had a great time! (sic)"
Prior to that, John Legend – who also performed at the event in New York City – spoke out in support of Rita.
He said: "Fun fact. We all have to lip sync on this parade because the floats don’t have the capacity to handle the sound requirements for a live performance. Hope y’all enjoyed it anyway. Know that if you come to my shows, the vocals are 100% live! (sic)"