The mere mention of the name still calls up the same derision it did when the dance-pop duo's career came to a sudden and ignominious end: Fakers. Frauds. A blatant marketing scam. Their story has been retold countless times: after selling millions of records, Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan were revealed to be models who publicly lip-synced to tracks recorded by anonymous studio vocalists. They became the first act ever stripped of a Grammy award and came to symbolize everything people disliked about dance-pop: it was so faceless that every musician involved could remain anonymous without anyone knowing the difference, so mechanical and artificial that the people who constructed it had to hire models to give it any human appeal, so pandering and superficial that people bought it just for its attachment to a pretty face.
by s_N_double_O_P May 18, 2005
Get the milli vanilli mug.From milli-, meaning one thousanth and Helen, the name of a beautiful woman from classic literature.
Unit for measuring beauty. One millihelen is the ammount of beauty that will launch exactly one ship.
Backround information: In the epic poem "The Illiad" by Homer, Helen of Troy is considered the most beautiful woman. Her beauty was the cause the Trojan war, because a man named Paris declaired her the most beautiful, and not one of the godesses. Because her beauty caused many men to go to war (in a society that revolved around the sea and boats), it can be said that her face was so beautiful it launched one thousand ships. So, one milli-Helen would be one thousanth of a Helen, or enough to launch one ship.
Alternate spelling: millihelen
Unit for measuring beauty. One millihelen is the ammount of beauty that will launch exactly one ship.
Backround information: In the epic poem "The Illiad" by Homer, Helen of Troy is considered the most beautiful woman. Her beauty was the cause the Trojan war, because a man named Paris declaired her the most beautiful, and not one of the godesses. Because her beauty caused many men to go to war (in a society that revolved around the sea and boats), it can be said that her face was so beautiful it launched one thousand ships. So, one milli-Helen would be one thousanth of a Helen, or enough to launch one ship.
Alternate spelling: millihelen
This word was used by the character Zane in Scott Westerfeld's novel "Pretties":
Zane: "What would you give the view?"
Tally: "Give it?"
Zane: "A hundren milli-Helens? Five hundred? Maybe a whole Helen?"
Tally: "I'd give it none. It's Uglyville, after all."
Zane: "What would you give the view?"
Tally: "Give it?"
Zane: "A hundren milli-Helens? Five hundred? Maybe a whole Helen?"
Tally: "I'd give it none. It's Uglyville, after all."
by ofthestars1 June 6, 2009
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Officially, Milli Vanilli was a techno-dance singing duo consisting of Rob Pilatus of Germany and Fabrice Morvan of France. They released one album in late 1988, "Girl You Know is True". From that period up to early 1990 it spawned five Top 10 hits - the title track, the #1 "Don't Forget My Number", the #1 "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You", the #1 "Blame It On the Rain" and entering the new decade with "All or Nothing". In early 1990, they were caught lip-synching "Blame It On the Rain" live on TV during a music awards show. The previous year the tape skipped during a "concert" that also revealed the duo's lip-synching. Allegations flew. Later in the year the duo said they wanted to do some real singing on their next album. They revealed to a music employee that all they did for the record was pose for the album cover and have the project credited to them under the name "Milli Vanilli". The shit really hit the fan after that. The duo's album sold multi-platinum but was soon deleted. They had to return their Grammy for Best New Group, the first time that ever happened. Milli Vanilli was disgraced in what is possibly the biggest sham in music history. Still, they were used in a Pepsi TV ad the following year, lip-synching to an opera record. A year later, they released an album under their real names, supposedly the vocals were the duo's own. It sank like a stone in a pond. Pilatus commited suicide in 1998. Fabrice is still living. The term "Milli Vanilli" now is used to denote fraud and fakery.
Since that time other performers like Madonna, Ashlee Simpson and Britney Spears have been caught lip-synching on stage. Not as much fuss has been made about any of that. Hmmmm. It's a damn shame that the Milli Vanilli story has come to what it is. Their first album has some really good songs on it, but they will never be released again and we probably never will hear them again because of the big scandal. There's some terrific music on it, it's just a shame that the wrong people got all the credit for it.
by I Saw U2 Live Twice December 9, 2007
Get the Milli Vanilli mug.Was a singing group that didn't sing, but lipsynched.
Now, it can be an insult to someone's singing abilities, or
if something is called "milli vanilli" its reffered to as fake.
Now, it can be an insult to someone's singing abilities, or
if something is called "milli vanilli" its reffered to as fake.
Ex. Ashlee: omg jojo is such a good singer!!
Jason: pft. she's no mariah carey.
Mark: she's not even milli vanilli
Jason: LOL!!!
Ex.2 Omg her louis vuitton bag is so milli vanilli
Jason: pft. she's no mariah carey.
Mark: she's not even milli vanilli
Jason: LOL!!!
Ex.2 Omg her louis vuitton bag is so milli vanilli
by ---anonymous August 20, 2006
Get the milli vanilli mug.Once a singing group in the late 80s that didn't sing but lipsinked instead, MILLI VANILLI is now used as an adjective to describe something that is fake.
by Anonymous August 8, 2003
Get the Milli Vanilli mug.by Jeffry Finer December 16, 2003
Get the milli-Helen mug.by Milli rocker Leslie November 25, 2017
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