Singer expresses outrage over lip-syncing at the opening ceremony of the 33rd SEA Games.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - Violette Wautier and Golf F.HERO said they had to lip-sync during the opening ceremony of the 33rd SEA Games at the request of the organizers, but a technical malfunction caused the microphone to switch off, ruining the performance.

Singer Violette Wautier has defended herself after a controversial performance at the opening ceremony of the 33rd SEA Games (on December 9th), where her rendition of "1%" with Golf F.HERO and Tong Twopee (Pitawat Phrueksakit) suffered a serious sound malfunction. The singer asserted that this was the first time in her career she had been forced to lip-sync, and the incident occurred due to an unintentional technical coordination error.

On her personal page, Violette Wautier expressed her deep disappointment: "During my performance at the opening ceremony of the 2025 SEA Games, many people must have noticed that my singing was very off-key on live broadcast. Honestly, I am extremely upset. This incident really stemmed from an error in the production process."

Singer Violette Wautier performs at the opening ceremony of the 33rd SEA Games (Photo: Khaosod).

She explained that the organizers had asked her, Twopee, and Golf to "lip-sync 100%" for technical reasons. "I understand and accept that. And during the performance, there was no real vocal sound in my headphones, so I couldn't hear my own voice at all. Thinking I was lip-syncing, I tried my best to make the visuals look perfect."

However, something unexpected happened: "For some unknown reason, due to a coordination malfunction, my microphone was switched on live. Honestly, I felt like my reputation, image, professional self-esteem, and even my dreams were shattered."

The singer emphasized that throughout her career, she rarely lip-syncs. "What saddens me is that if I could sing live, even if it was bad, I would feel better because it would be my true ability. Here, I didn't have that opportunity at all. I was asked to lip-sync, but in the end, the microphone was on and the headphones were completely off. The chance of singing accurately was almost zero."

Violette Wautier concluded: "I don't intend to blame anyone. I'm just asking to defend myself."

At the same time, Universal Music Thailand, Violette Wautier's management company, also released an official statement. The statement clarified: "Regarding comments about Violette Wautier's performance at the opening ceremony of the 2025 SEA Games on December 9th at Rajamangala Stadium, where some viewers noticed the artist's vocals were not perfect during the live broadcast, Universal Music Thailand, after reviewing internal information, would like to clarify: 'This incident occurred due to a coordination error between the parties involved during the organization process, resulting in the performance not being as agreed upon from the beginning.'"

The company also expressed its regret: "We and the artist are deeply sorry about this incident. Thank you for your understanding and thank you for the encouragement from fans throughout this time."

Twopee, Violette Wautier and Golf F.HERO's performance at the opening ceremony of the 33rd SEA Games (Photo: Khaosod).

Rapper Golf F.HERO (real name Nattawut Srimok) has officially apologized following the sound issue. Immediately after the performance ended, Golf F.HERO posted an explanation of the technical malfunction.

He said, "I just realized on the live stream that the performance of the song '1%' was being broadcast with microphones on. During rehearsals, we were told that due to various restrictions, the entire performance would have to be lip-synced 100%."

According to the rapper, because the headphones were turned off, the artists couldn't hear their voices through the headphones, while the live broadcast microphones were on. This resulted in Violette Wautier's voice being out of sync on the live broadcast, and Twopee's voice also experiencing a delay for the same reason.

Golf F.HERO also added that the audience at the stadium heard the performance normally, as the program was originally planned to be broadcast in lip-sync format.

"I'm not sure where the error originated, but the live sound system at the venue wasn't properly communicated to the technical team. This resulted in a performance that was supposed to be lip-synced being switched on exclusively for the live broadcast. I truly feel sorry for Violette and Tong; they came to perform with all their pride for their country, but ultimately encountered an incident that affected their professional image," he shared.

Finally, Golf F.HERO offered a sincere apology to his colleagues and the audience: "Both of them did their best. Please don't blame them for this unintentional incident. As the person who arranged for them to perform, I sincerely apologize to them and to all the audience if what happened disappointed anyone. We truly did our best."

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/ca-si-buc-xuc-vu-hat-nhep-tai-le-khai-mac-sea-games-33-20251211081309600.htm