Emeli Sandé has responded to accusations that she mimed during her performance at the Concert for Ukraine on Tuesday evening.
Ed Sheeran and Camila Cabello took to the stage alongside the likes of the 35-year-old hitmaker to sing for Ukraine in the two hour fundraiser event.
The star-studded concert at Birmingham's NEC was organised to raise money for the humanitarian appeal in Ukraine.
After Snow Patrol gave a rousing opening performance of their hit song Run, Emeli took to the stage in vibrant green to perform alongside a string of choral singers.
But as the vocal powerhouse got her performance of hit Brighter Days underway, a number of ITV viewers took to Twitter to speculate whether the artist, who is known for her soaring vocals, was indeed performing live.
One wrote: “Worse case of miming I've seen in a long time by Emeli Sandé,” as another tweeted: “Sorry Emeli Sandé I love you but that was the least believable miming i have ever seen.”
A fellow ITV viewer wrote: “Was it me or was Emeli Sandé miming that whole song.”
A number of fellow viewers posted about the singer’s appearance during an interview earlier in the day, with one writing: “She was miming because she had a sore throat, she was on the news earlier and could barely speak.”
Another wrote: “Saw Emili Sandé being interviewed earlier and she was very croaky so was wondering how she was going to sing at Concert For Ukraine and the answer is of course quite simple - she didn't. That miming was obvious from space!”
A third posted: “Emelie was on the news earlier and you could barely hear her speak. Miming because she’s clearly lost her voice today.”
After the show, a croaky-voiced Emeli posted a video to Twitter explaining her 'difficult' decision not to sing live - something she said she has never done before.
"I really wanted to sing but I woke up the day of the concert and my voice was like this.
"It was really annoying because the day before I was singing Mariah totally fine and I had to make a very difficult decision. 'Do I pull out of the concert which I really don't want to do or do I lip sync to the track?'
"I chose to lip sync. I've never done it in my career before and I never want to do it again. For me it was more important to perform the song and that the message of the song came through.
"I apologise to everyone who noticed it was a lip sync and it will never happen again."
Next To Me hitmaker Emeli voiced her support for the cause ahead of the concert, saying: “I will be singing to try to help every human being forced to flee their home and in solidarity with those being racially discriminated against even within this humanitarian crisis.”
She continued: “Nobody should be refused access to relief, aid and the right to cross the border to safety, and I’m pleased for the chance to support the DEC’s appeal to help all people whose lives have been affected by the conflict.”
A plethora of household names joined forces to help fundraise for the Ukraine crisis.
Before tickets for the event went on sale, Havana singer Camila said: “My heart is breaking for the people of Ukraine. As refugees from Ukraine join millions of other displaced people around the globe, we all have a responsibility.
“One of the biggest needs is to get funds to organisations who can serve these communities directly, so we’re focusing our efforts on doing that as quickly as we can.”
The Concert for Ukraine, organised by ITV, Livewire Pictures and the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), brought together some of music’s most famous presenters and artists.
ITV have said: “The event will bring together huge names in music to spread a message of hope while the conflict in Europe continues.”
