It wasn't quite a Milli Vanilli moment.
Boyz II Men were accused of lip-syncing during Tuesday's "Christmas at Rockefeller Center" live special when "This Christmas," the song they performed, repeated after they left the stage — complete with a partial vocal.
It may have seemed at first like a classic Ashlee Simpson or Milli Vanilli reveal – except that the vocal track contained only two words, the refrain "This Christmas," and not the verses. That suggests, at worst, that they lip-synced or sang along with the recorded refrain. (Which would still be embarassing for a group famed for its vocal chops.)
The mishap happened after the group performed the song and left the stage. Co-host Natalie Morales introduced a performance by the pop singer Charice and composer and pianist David Foster, but Boyz's version of "This Christmas" played again with the refrain included, leading to the allegations that they lip-synced.
Charice gamely moved with the music and Foster — clearly not lip-syncing — ad-libbed, “Live TV — are you having a great time?”
Jo Mignano, a publicist for Boyz II Men, told The New York Times that the accidental replay of “This Christmas” was the fault of NBC engineers.
“Boyz II Men is the best-selling R&B group of the last 20 years,” Ms. Mignano said. “They do not lip-sync.”
NBC said in a statement: "During last night's "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" special on NBC, a production issue caused some background musical tracks to play out of sequence. The musical acts on stage at the time, Boyz II Men and Charice, were performing live. The issue was corrected for the West Coast telecast."
At least no one's blaming the band.
Mediaite, which called the group, has video of the moment, which was not posted on NBC's Web site or Hulu.
The moment that shattered the Milli Vanilli mystique: