A phone call from a Culture Ministry worker gave a behind-the-scenes look at the real attitude of Yerevan’s pop singers concerning the new rule against lip synching. “One of our staff went to a ministry-sponsored concert to make sure the singers would perform live,” the worker said. “When it became clear our staff member was serious, several of the singers, all well known, refused to sing. I guess these are the ones who spend hours in the studio recording a single song, with the sound engineer doing the rest of the work with his computer. But the humorous part was when one of the biggest stars said she had a note from the doctor saying she couldn’t sing. Our worker told her that if he let her lip synch this time that everybody would come to the next concert with a doctor’s excuse, and lip synching would again be the rule. She then said he couldn’t force her to sing, as singing was her living, and she didn’t want to ruin her vocal chords. Our worker then told her to either sing or go home, so she sang. Another big name said the dressing room was too cold, and her parking place outside wasn’t good, so she didn’t sing. Funny, during press conferences these stars talk about how good the new rule is, and then they change their tune when someone actually challenges them.”