First one contestant was accused of background fraud, and now this? Simon Cowell's singing competition series has been plagued with bad press, and now Fox, the network which airs the show, has admitted to lip syncing on the X Factor. The admission comes after contestant Leroy Bell was heard singing on Thursday's episode before he ever held his microphone to his mouth.

Oops.

"All survival songs are performed live, with just a backing track," a show representative said in a statement to TheWrap. "For the group ensemble performance, the vocals are pre-recorded to allow acts to concentrate on preparing for their own live competitive performances on Wednesdays--this is also no different to what other competition shows do for ensemble performances."

True, except that X Factor got caught. In any case, Bell--who survived another week on the show in spite of the faux pas, by the way--is in good company. Kanye West, Madonna, Britney Spears and Ashlee Simpson are just a few of the artists notoriously caught lip-syncing through "live" performances.