Lip-synching is back in the news, thanks to a recent Elton John tirade against Madonna’s acceptance of an award for “best live act.” But as pop stars continue to protest that they would never think of miming their songs, a consensus is building that, for the most part, it doesn’t actually matter whether the biggest stars sing or not. After all, in today’s world of high-gloss glitter pop, no one is really buying a ticket because of the vocal talents of the performers. A Britney Spears (or Madonna, or Christina, or Ashlee, or whomever) show isn’t about music – it’s about selling an image, and the singing is well and truly secondary.