History Main / HollywoodTonedeaf

A close cousin of StylisticSuck. Related to VocalRangeExceeded, where the notes are too high or too low for the singer's voice, and InopportuneVoiceCracking, where someone who can normally sing quite well suddenly drops an octave or loses tone due to their young age and growing vocal cords. See BadBadActing for this trope applied to acting. Compare CuteButCacophonic. DugInDeeper is this trope masquerading as a plot. See also IronyAsSheIsCast. Also compare DreadfulMusician, when this is exaggerated beyond the bounds of impossibility. Contrast BeautifulSingingVoice.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_RAXP7geF4 Agent Carolina]], who is still complimented by her bandmates, [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial "and we're definitely not just saying that because she could kill us."]] [[spoiler: She's well aware of it. She just feigns ignorance because [[ForTheLulz she thinks it's funny to watch them squirm.]]]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/BridgetJonesDiary'': Bridget suspects that Daniel does not fantasise about her, after her dreadful and tuneless singing karaoke at the office Christmas party. The director points out in the commentary that Renee Zellweger really can sing like that.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Happened with Dee Dee in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', who was so bad at singing that Dexter, after trying unsuccessfully to get her to stop singing and disrupting his work, attempted to use science to give Dee Dee a more pleasant singing voice... and instead wound up giving her an [[VocalDissonance incredible barritone bass]], which allowed her to join a barbershop quartet.
* As seen in the ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' episode "Hidden Talent", hitting high notes is one of the few things Kim ''can't'' do. (However, her voice actress Christy Carlton Romano is -- like many Disney Channel stars -- a trained professional singer.)
** Though otherwise, she's a fantastic singer.
* ''WesternAnimation/JaneAndTheDragon'': Both straight and subverted with Jane Turnkey. One episode shows she can't even perform scales without screeching like a sickly cat. Yet that's her singing the show's theme song.
* In ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'', Jazz's singing is yet another misuse of the term tone deaf. But not as severe as Tucker who ''abuses'' this trope.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'', the episode "Sonic's Song" has Robotnik singing horribly off-key. Considering his voice actor is famed Blues musician Long John Baldry, this qualifies as a meta-joke.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': Carl and Sheen. Compared to Sheen's singing, Carl's is angelic. No really, Sheen's singing voice is really horrible. However, in ''Attack of the Twonkies'', Sheen's singing voice proved useful in stopping the horrible beasts the eponymous creatures turn into from exposure to music. His singing merely put his Twonkie to sleep because it was so bad that the Twonkies couldn't even register it as music. In the end, as reward for helping save the town, Sheen gets the solo for the school play, and finally gets to perform his singing...from inside ''a soundproof glass booth.''
* In ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', the Scotsman's bagpipe-playing is ''really'' bad. This actually comes in useful in "The Scottsman Saves Jack" when his playing proves an efficient counter for the Sirens' enchanting singing. In addition, the Siren's singing can't hypnotize the Scotsman because he thinks it is ugly and he can't stand it.
* Peewit (from ''ComicBook/JohanAndPeewit'', Harmony Smurf, and Sassette in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs''.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/RubyGloom'' episode "Unsung Heroes", Ruby and Iris sing in off-key, off-rhythm shouts that, although still not totally realistic, are not as overdone as some examples of this trope. Misery (while awake) does sing in the top-of-her-lungs, randomly-pitched shrieking wail that exemplifies this trope, but it's [[JustifiedTrope justified]], as she appears to actually ''be'' [[OurBansheesAreLouder a banshee.]] They still produced a ''Ruby Gloom'' image single in Japan, though, with a professional singer portraying Ruby. All three eventually develop into fine singers, so their early stumbles can be dismissed as rookie mistakes. Or the No-Talent Ball. Whichever.
* Clash from ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' is a groupie who really wants to be a part of The Misfits but can't actually sing or play instruments. "One Jem Too Many" has her masquerading as Jem to ruin her reputation. Her disguise was perfect until she was challenged by Jem to sing. People outright threw tomatoes at her.
* Happened in ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' when Francine attempted to play the drums while singing. What ensues resembles nothing so much as a sick eagle wrestling a cat in a tumble dryer. In the end, it turns out she can sing just fine; she just can't do both at once. In another episode, she sings "There's-Nothing-to-Do-Today Day" in an ImagineSpot. Cut back to the real world, she tries to reprise the song and it comes out... a little off, but believably so.
** Arthur himself also reveals be his in ''Elwood City Turns 100!'', so much that Francine actually tries to help him (with little-to-no success).
* In an episode of ''Disney's WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', Doug and the gang discover that Patti is a terrible singer when she tries to perform her entry in the "Bluffington anthem" contest. They spent the rest of the episode trying to stop her from performing it at the contest without actually letting her know she can't sing. Sadly, this casually disregards a few episodes of the original series in which Patti sings passably. Of course, given the reception of the Disney version, we might [[FanonDisContinuity disregard the retcon]].
** In one of the Nick episodes, Doug, Skeeter and Porkchop heard Mr. Dink howling in agony. They run to his house to find a video of Mr. Dink singing rather horribly.
-->'''Mr. Dink:''' I made it this morning. Do you like it?\\
'''Skeeter:''' Like it? We thought you were dying!\\
'''Mr. Dink:''' ''(stops the tape)'' What was that, Skeeter?\\
'''Doug:''' He said we were ''dying'' to hear your song.\\
'''Mrs. Dink:''' Right you are the first time, boys.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR'', Coop uses his mediocre singing [[MakeMeWannaShout as a weapon]], "The Jammer". To specify, it's the one weapon Megas has that Coop considers cruel to use and has more safety measures preventing its activation than Megas' NUKES!!! Although Coop's singing isn't all that terrible, more flat than horribly off-key. The extreme sonic amplification is what makes it devasating.
* [[WesternAnimation/TheHuckleberryHoundShow Huckleberry Hound]] ("Oh m'darlin', oh m'darlin', oh m'daaaaaaaaaaaarlin' what's her naaaaaaaaaaaaaaame...") and WesternAnimation/QuickDrawMcGraw are both examples, since they were voiced by Creator/DawsButler, who could sing rather well.
** WesternAnimation/YakkyDoodle was as well. An episode even revolved around his lack of ability to sing.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyGymPartnersAMonkey'': "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! (Glass shatters) I'M A FRIENDLY ARMADILOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I'M A GENTLE PUSSY WILLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!"
* Henry on ''WesternAnimation/KaBlam'', especially if you compare it to June's singing (which is angelic, even if she's kinda devilish).
* Invoked by Creator/SethMacFarlane as the plot demands on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. One of the characters he voices can be a stellar singer in one episode and totally amateur the next. Seth has perfect pitch in real life and is freakishly good at staying just out of tune enough to sound believably bad; see episode "The King is Dead" featuring Brian (fantastic) and Peter (awful) back to back. Even better [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI3IHahHQIg the actual episode version of Peter's ''I Need a Jew'' (off-key and mediocre)]] vs [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5ODzIylqKg a live performance (perfect)]].
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** In "The Show Stoppers," Scootaloo's singing voice is so horribly off-key it helps her team unintentionally win an award for best comedic act in a talent show. She does a rather better job in "One Bad Apple".
** Pinkie Pie, whose talent for singing random songs out of nowhere is legendary, throws pitch and meter out the window when she sings about Zecora in "Bridle Gossip".
** Sweetie Belle, normally the best singer of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, screeches her way through a campfire song in "Sleepless in Ponyville". Justified in that she's singing a G-rated version of "99 bottles of beer", which is supposed to be sung as terribly as possible.
** Sweetie Belle tries to conduct Scootaloo and Apple Bloom in "On Your Marks" and grows annoyed that neither of them can carry a tune. In what could be seen as an animated take on GameplayAndStorySegregation, about a minute later Apple Bloom is given a solo song and pulls it off perfectly.
* Leela is such a bad singer on ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' that when she tried to sing Whitney Houston, she convinced the Omicronions that Earth was launching a surprise attack. Katey Sagal, as mentioned earlier, is a very good singer.
* Invoked by the producers of ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'' with the character Bloberta Puppington who was played by Britta Phillips ([[WesternAnimation/{{Jem}} a Truly Outrageous! woman]]) known for her powerful vocals, she was directed to sing loud and off-key when it came to Bloberta's enthusiasm for singing even though she couldn't sing.
* The ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' episode "The Crimson Binome" has Bob singing along wordlessly and horrendously off-key to his music player. It's hilariously dreadful.
* Eddie in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Birdz}}'' sings so badly that his entire class begs him to stop. As does his family after he breaks some dishes.
* Girl racer Ninki in Creator/TheBBC's pre-school show ''Kerwhizz'' sometimes breaks horribly into song, causing her canine companion Pip to howl in agony.
* Angelica from ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' is inconsistent about this. It's justified seeing that most kids at age three don't really know how to sing well yet. However, it's revealed in ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp'' when she's not tone deaf for the sake of comedy or the plot, her singing voice is actually decent.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePebblesAndBammBammShow'', Bamm-Bamm had a thoroughly awful singing voice -- unless he was taking a shower, in which case his voice suddenly and inexplicably became gorgeous. Chances are, Jay North voiced ''both'' versions of Bamm-Bamm's singing voice. You can imagine the exaggerated bad notes of the "bad" voice....
** That episode was basically a {{recycled|Script}} episode of its [[SpinOff parent show]], ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones''. In the episode "[[http://www.avclub.com/article/flintstone-canaries-gave-barney-chance-croon-tune-234764 The Flintstone Canaries]]", Fred forms a barbershop quartet with Barney (and two other guys), but soon discovers that Barney can only sing well while taking a bath. Like father, like son?? (Wait a minute, wasn't Bamm-Bamm adopted?)
* Whenever Elmyra in ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' sings, it usually sounds very goofy and childlike. Cree Summer is actually a very good singer and has released an album. Unlike Elmyra's, her singing much more mature and perhaps menacing.
* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo''. Made even funnier considering his voice is basically an Music/ElvisPresley [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed impersonation.]]
* A ''WesternAnimation/DudleyDoRight'' short has Nell having such a bad singing voice, that it puts the audience to sleep, giving Snidely the idea of making her a "star" so he can pickpocket the sleeping listeners.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' episode "[[Recap/DuckTalesS1E17LaunchpadsFirstCrash Launchpad's First Crash]]", Launchpad plays his harmonica, and Scrooge says the sound is "torture". This leads to a {{Flashback}} story of the time they first met, where he's able to use it to confuse some giant bat monsters who use echolocation to fly in the dark.
** Regarding the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' reboot, in what's probably a predictable move, Donald's nigh [[TheUnintelligible unintelligible]] voice isn't any better when he sings...which is ''exactly'' what they needed to kill a [[ManEatingPlant duck-eating plant]]. Still, that doesn't stop [[WesternAnimation/TheThreeCaballeros Jose and Panchito]] from side-eyeing Donald while he sings.
-->'''Huey:''' Uncle Donald, your voice is terrible! ''Keep singing!''
* Sticks on ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'', depicted by her cacophonous nonsensical singing in "Sleeping Giant". Knuckles compares it to bagpipes being eaten by a woodchipper. Amy's singing is only slightly more tolerable, particularly in "The Sidekick".
* Kahn Souphanousinphone on ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' sings '80s pop songs in horribly off-key fashion every chance he gets. There's even an episode where he becomes a karaoke star, much to his father-in-law's dismay.
* In Episode 89 of ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'', almost the entire cast of characters is shown to be wonderful singers... but most other episodes show them singing horribly off-key.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' has Timmy having a singing voice so bad, he can't even be in the school's play. He then uses Cosmo and Wanda's help to have a voice like Chip Skylark--[[GoneHorriblyRight with disastrous results]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' has Stimpy portrayed as this in the Games Animations-era episode "Hermit Ren", where he butchers Kumbaya, despite having previously appeared on the "You Eediot" music CD where he sings quite well.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBeatles'' episode "I'll Be Back," three outlaws try to steal the boys' thunder and are immediately pelted off the stage with rotten fruit and vegetables. Their "singing" was actually a Beatles recording of "Ticket To Ride" distorted on purpose.
* In one ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'' short, Shannon sings a commercial {{Jingle}} for Boxmore. [[StylisticSuck She sounds just as bad as you would expect a teenage girl with zero vocal training to sound]]. Her actor, Creator/KariWahlgren, can sing perfectly well, but is quite good at sounding believably out of tune.
* ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'': In "Duped", the shape-shifting criminal Marvin Roper/Replikon fancies himself an awesome singer and tries to break into the music business, but everyone agrees he sucks.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In one of the voiced dramas for ''VideoGame/RivieraThePromisedLand'', Serene's singing ability comes up. She's supposed to be a very bad singer, but when she actually has to sing part of a spell to save her friend Polly, she performs it without any screeching. Her voice isn't particularly strong, but she's not tone-deaf, so it's something of a subversion.
* ''An entire tone-deaf band'' makes an appearance in ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend''. Kabagge Boy, the NuMetal BoyBand that Eddie starts out roadying for, is made up of posers with a tween demographic who blend rock, pop, and rap into something so bad that all three musical styles would disown it, then beat it up and take its lunch money. They suffer a KarmicDeath for their terrible music (and [[NoHeroToHisValet their maltreatment of Eddie]]) when Ormagodden shows up. The God of Metal simply ''screams'' at them, and their heads ''fall off.''
* ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'', The female assassin posing as a singer in the Dance with the Devil mission sings this way.
* Edy Nelson from ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'', when she actually attempts to sing Rosie's song. The results? She ends up flooring everyone within earshot of her, and not in a good way. Even Homer, who normally can take her usual punishment, can't take her singing. She'd better stick with just acting.
** Her sister from ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChroniclesII'', Anisette, is also tone deaf, which might explain why she's the only person ever to be able to tolerate her sister's singing. Despite that, she's actually good at singing.
** Vario, also from [=VC2=]. A celebrity wannabe/ CaptainErsatz of Elvis, this guy has quite the horrifying voice when he attempts to sing. He does improve, however.
* ''VideoGame/SaintsRow''
** In ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'', the player has has 6 different voices to choose from when customizing [[PlayerCharacter the Boss]], and each gets two songs they sing along to on the radio, each one [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9BoIEY4xA4 sharing "Take On Me" by A-ha]] and getting one other unique song per voice. The songs range from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKdV7aMMK10 The Final Countdown]], to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVgDXg9Wnf8 Sister Christian]], and your character can not sing worth a shit to any of them.
** The male voice that sings to "Sister Christian" actually semi-raps it, occasionally improvising spoken word nonsense like "cuz you're a bitch!" and "aaah! Man! Guitars and shit!" at the end of lines. Not even trying.
** Pierce, similarly, can't sing well. At all. This is played for laughs throughout the series, although he and the Boss generally get better by ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' and ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' when they sing "What I Got" and "[[Music/PaulaAbdul Opposites Attract]]", respectively. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AJH4rcOlG0 "Generally" being the operative word.]]
** The key example is in ''The Third'' when Pierce sings fictional pop diva Aisha's "Bounce Like My Checks" from the [[VideoGame/SaintsRow1 first game]], while dressed in drag as her to lure out a mutant Johnny Gat clone. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QruT8Pw6hA It has to be seen to be believed.]]
* Guybrush Threepwood in ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'' sings incredibly off-key while trying to convince the three Barbary Coast pirates to join his crew. Voice actor Dominic Armato described trying to intentionally sing badly as 'interesting'.
-->'''Edward van Helgen:''' I'm afraid [[SuckinessIsPainful your singing is so bad, it's caused me to have a seizure]].
* In ''VideoGame/YakuzaDeadSouls'', Majima can sing at karaoke clubs. His singing is off-tempo, off-key, and peppered with his unique combination of KansaiRegionalDialect and yakuza accent. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooFoNwoMxjY It must be seen to be believed.]]
** What's more, ''Yakuza 0'' proves that Majima ''can'' sing well if he wants to - it's just that, 20 years onward, he stopped giving two shits.
* Wei Shen in ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs'', if you play the karaoke minigame badly. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1TM9dQLR8I Observe.]]
* In ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'', the bar in Meryod has a dancing girl who sings just like the other dancing girls except horribly off-key and off the beat.
* In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'''s Chao Garden, if a Chao learns to sing from being given a parrot their singing will upset other Chao nearby, compared to if they learned how to sing from being taken to the Chao Kindergarten.
* As one of the Japanese promos for ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'', Nintendo made a version of Jump Up Super Star featuring Toad, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o31YJDrnWb0 which sounds exactly like this.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Miitopia}}'', one skill the Pop Star has is “Out Of Tune”, which causes them to sing so badly that it damages enemies (and teammates as well).
* Muse from ''VideoGame/DemonGaze2'' begins singing over the radio. The singing is so bad that it causes the radio that the characters are using to explode!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/TheBradyBunch'': In real life, of the younger four, Mike Lookinland was a very good singer, and as Barry Williams (also a very good singer) said, was the most musical of the six kids, but he had two left feet when it came to dancing. On the other hand, Eve Plumb and Susan Olsen were varying levels of tone deaf, but Chris Knight was the most obvious one; by his admission, he cannot sing a note. This worked perfectly into the Season 3 episode "Dough Re Mi," where Peter's voice is going through puberty and begins to crack just as the kids are rehearsing Greg's newly written song. Still, Chris did record an entire album of duets with Maureen [=McCormick=] (who is a decent singer) and got a solo on ''[[Series/BradyBunchSpinOffs The Brady Bunch Variety Hour]]'' (covering The Carpenters' "Sing"). If you are familiar with the lyrics, "Sing" is the perfect song for the worst singer in the group.
* In the "Just Move Your Lips, Sergeant" episode of ''Series/GomerPyleUSMC'', Sgt. Carter, who fancied himself as quite a singer in his youth, decides to coach some of the troops when they're singing, but his voice is so raspy, he thinks that someone in the group is off-key, failing to recognize that he's the one whose voice is so bad, the other Marines go sour whenever he insists on singing along with them, and they try to rehearse in secret without him, until he gets laryngitis and the others have him join the group and lip-sync to cover for his hoarse throat.
* Justified in ''Series/GrangeHill'': When the school auditions for the school play of ''Theatre/JosephAndTheAmazingTechnicolorDreamcoat'', there is a scene of a boy (successfully) singing badly. Later, when Andrew Stanton who normally sings well is rehearsing, Mr Sutcliffe whispers that he's completely flat.
* ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie'': Both the Oleson girls. With Nancy, it's funny because her portrayer, Allison Balson, is a very talented singer. Alison Arngrim, who played Nellie, will be the first to admit she is a very bad singer.
* A prime example of this is Madame Edith from ''Series/AlloAllo'', who fancies herself a cabaret singer, and insists on singing to the customers of her cafe. (Some customers jam cheese in their ears to avoid the horror.)
* Lilly in ''Series/HannahMontana'', London on ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'', a subplot on ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'', Paolo was exposed by Gordo, Isabella, and Lizzie to put a stop to his lip-synching in ''The Series/LizzieMcGuire Movie''....is there a Creator/DisneyChannel show that hasn't featured this?
* Echo in another Disney series, ''Series/MrYoung'', is a very off-key singer. Naturally, she believes otherwise, and the episode we find out is, of course the one where her friends try to stop her from embarrassing herself at the school talent show. Though unlike others, Echo doesn't learn she can't sing by the end, even attacking Adam for admitting she can't sing seconds after telling him he could tell her honestly.
* That one episode of ''Series/FullHouse'' where Jesse gives Rebecca singing lessons. Becky is shown to be a horrible singer when she joins Jesse, Danny, and Joey in singing Nicky and Alex to sleep. Jesse attempts to surreptitiously give her singing lessons and HilarityEnsues. [[spoiler:However, it's later shown that she's a wonderful singer when she's singing them actual lullabies.]]
** Another example from ''Full House'' is Kimmy Gibbler, as exhibited during the 1989-90 season. One episode where D.J. is having trouble with her first babysitting job leads to Kimmy showing up early in the episode where the kid doesn't go to bed and Kimmy volunteers to sing (or more accurately, scream) a lullaby to him. Later that season, after Stephanie somehow backs the car into the kitchen window, she walks in nonchalantly. At that point, we hear Kimmy singing a little bit of the chorus of "Straight Up", sounding much better.
* Hyacinth in ''Series/KeepingUpAppearances''. Fits this trope to a T because Patricia Routledge is an accomplished stage actress with a more-than-adequate singing voice.
* A non-singing example is Klink's violin playing in ''Series/HogansHeroes''. His violin playing is hideous but he's the only one who doesn't seem to notice. Of course, in real life Werner Klemperer was a concert-level violinist.
* In an episode of ''Series/MamasFamily'', Mama has to audition to sing the town's anthem "Raytown, O Raytown" for a Founder's Day event and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYzv5YpLSvs&feature=related mangles it rather badly]] before getting the part anyway [[AnAesop and refusing it]]. The actress, Vicki Lawrence, had a #1 hit in 1973 with "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia".
* ''Series/TimAndEricAwesomeShowGreatJob'' gives us Casey, who is (or appears to be) a severely mentally challenged young adult, who suffers emotional breakdowns on stage, in addition to having poor singing talent. Note that Tim Heidecker is actually a skilled musician. In fact, ''most'' singing on the show isn't that great, but considering Tim and Eric's [[SoBadItsGood pool of actors,]] [[PoesLaw it's a mystery as to which singers are faking it and which ones are genuinely bad.]]
* Any show on the "TNBC" Saturday-morning block had at least one episode dealing with someone who's "tone deaf" (and usually a love interest who's lying to them, saying their singing is wonderful.) Fun Fact: The ''Series/CaliforniaDreams'' episode of this trope (in which the girlfriend of the lead guitarist tried to join the band so she wouldn't be a "groupie") was named... "YokoOhNo!" (No bands were disbanded, however.)
** Subverted on ''Series/CityGuys'' as the gang is concerned Cassie's bad singing will humiliate them at a public contest. They let her go on stage alone...at which point, Cassie reveals she's a great singer and faking being bad in order to get the spotlight solo. Rather than be upset, the others have to give her credit for fooling them and the fact she is the best singer.
* This was a running gag on ''Series/ILoveLucy''. Creator/LucilleBall was a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y1UEMU1gBk decent, if not quite stellar]], singer in real life.
* Beautifully averted in an episode of ''Series/{{House}}'', with a little girl singing along -- only slightly off-key and off-rhythm -- to a CD as she gets dressed in the morning. As a bonus, the fact that she wasn't singing quite right took the scene from overly-cute to realistic and affecting.
* Averted in ''Series/PeepShow'' when Mark decides to sing "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" to Sophie, in a romantic moment. He's in tune - he just sounds nervous and as if he isn't putting much breath into it.
* Scully in ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Detour", after being cajoled by Mulder into singing despite warning him that he wouldn't want to hear her singing, as she "can't carry a tune".
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Averted in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E7OnceMoreWithFeeling Once More With Feeling]]". Creator/AlysonHannigan was a self-admitted poor singer and requested that she be given minimal singing lines in the episode to the point where "I'm Under Your Spell was changed from a duet between Willow and Tara to a solo for the latter. Creator/MichelleTrachtenberg also requested that Dawn's singing be minimized, and was given a ballet number to perform instead.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'':
** "There's three things I don't do: tan, date, and sing in public." When forced to do the last at Lorne's karaoke club in the second-season opener "[[Recap/AngelS02E01Judgment Judgement]]", Angel's completely monotone, and badly off-tempo. (Then the outtakes of David Boreanaz that close the episode turn into one huge [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] of this trope.) This was later lampshaded as being because of shyness and being self-conscious about picking love ballads every time.
*** However, when Creator/DavidBoreanaz sings on ''Series/{{Bones}}'', (which he does in a couple of episodes) he has a perfectly respectable voice.
** In "[[Recap/AngelS02E17Disharmony Disharmony]]", Cordelia takes Harmony to sing for Lorne. After listening to her butcher "[[Music/BarbraStreisand The Way We Were]]" he comments, "I think your friend should reconsider the name Harmony." (In truth Mercedes [=McNab=] sings a bit too well in that scene.)
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' justified it in "No Rest For The Wicked". Creator/JensenAckles is known to be a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuACuW519Zo very good singer]] yet when Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead Or Alive" comes on the radio, Dean (and later Sam) sings it obnoxiously loudly and badly. Why? Because it's his last day alive and he wants to cheer Sam up like the awesome big brother he is, that's why.
** Dean seems to alternate between being completely unable to sing a note and not being all that bad. He's not awful doing the REO Speedwagon tune, but when he sings a Christmas carol at one point, he's awful. Jensen Ackles actually said in an interview that he thinks Dean is the kind of character that couldn't carry a note if he tried, so he makes a deliberate attempt to sing badly.
** Jensen also confirmed at a convention that the writers wrote on his copy of the script, "JENSEN--DON'T SING ON-KEY."
** Averted by Creator/JaredPadalecki, who plays Sam and genuinely can't sing.
*** Not necessarily. Jared may not be the best singer in existence, but he's not [[https://youtu.be/Hgt81jAr_88 tone-deaf.]]
* Barney Fife had a whole episode devoted to how bad of a singer he is on ''Series/TheAndyGriffithShow'', even though he had sung with Andy on earlier shows, and Don Knotts had a fine country tenor voice.
* Averted in an episode of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', featuring someone who is superior to Frasier in many ways but is a somewhat realistically awful singer.
* Played straight in ''Moesha''. Professional R&B singer Brandy has [[IronyAsSheIsCast a terrible voice]] in the show, to make way for the talents of her co-stars.
* Averted in ''Series/{{Dexter}}'': When he's singing his girlfriend's children to sleep, Dexter's voice isn't horrible, just a little off-key. In real life, Michael C. Hall's a trained singer and Broadway performer with a very good voice. Jennifer Carpenter, on the other hand...
* Averted in ''Series/GilligansIsland'': Dawn Wells by her own admission is a terrible singer, so whenever an episode called for her to sing, her voice would generally be dubbed in by a professional singer. However, the episode "The Second Ginger Grant" called for an amnesiac Mary Ann, believing herself to be Ginger, to sing badly. Rather than faking a bad singing voice, Wells, knowing her own restrictions, made an earnest attempt to sing the song properly. The result ended up being just off-key enough to sound believable and fit the plot at the same time.
* Creator/AndyKaufman's AlterEgoActing persona Tony Clifton, a LoungeLizard, averted this. Tony's problem wasn't that he couldn't hit notes, but that 1) his voice itself was incredibly nasally and unpleasant by nature, and 2) he was a usually grouchy {{Jerkass}} who picked on his audience. This aversion was probably one of several reasons many people (at least at first) were successfully fooled into thinking Andy and Tony were separate people.
* Subverted by Grace in ''Series/WillAndGrace''. In real life, Creator/DebraMessing has a perfectly serviceable, if not gorgeous, singing voice. Her character Grace kept to the tunes relatively well, but always started out way too high, and when the key of a song was supposed to change, she changed too far. A lot of poor singers actually do sing this way. Grace was also incredibly loud.
-->'''Grace:''' ''(singing)'' "My baby don't mess around becaus she loves me so and this I know for sure...''HEEEEY YAAA! HEEEY YAAA! HEEE--'' *phone rings* Hello? ...I'm sorry, I'll stop. Hold on, I have another call...hello? Yes, I'm sorry, I'll stop."
* ''Series/WorldsDumbest'' has featured quite a few musicians unlikely to ever get an award:
** One spot featured a Polish singer mangle the "Star-Spangled Banner" before a boxing match (including a mention of ''Madonna''), coining a word in the process
-->''And the rockets would glrrr''[[note]]Instead of "the rockets' red glare".[[/note]] (subtitled as "glure")
-->'''Danny Bonaduce:''' "Butterbean"[[note]]one of the fighters[[/note]] weighs ''four hundred ninety'' pounds, has an American flag and wears red, white and blue trunks. F**king up the national anthem, bad call.
** On another occasion, the show had had a song entitled "Goodbye", performed by a young aspiring "rapper" from England. The lyrics were basically out of rhythm, and the singer had serious issues with the Auto-Tune.
-->''Goodbye to the people who hated on me''
-->''Goodbye to the people who loved... me''
* ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel'' has Monica, who is also a bit self-conscious about this, because, as an angel, she loves to sing.
* Averted on ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', where Broadway star Jason Alexander was able to sound quite convincingly amateurish on George's musical answering machine message in the episode "The Suzie". But played straight when Jerry's girlfriend (Miss Rhode Island) tries to sing in "The Chaperone".
* In an episode of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', Broadway actors Avery Brooks and Rene Auberjonois sing "You Can't Take That Away From Me" together. Brooks' character has a good voice, but Auberjonois sings in Odo's gravelly monotone, even though he's appeared on Broadway in musicals like ''Dance of the Vampire'', ''Big River'' and ''Coco''.
* ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' has a recurring category that avoids this: the clues will be the lyrics to a song, which are read automatically by either Alex Trebek himself, or occasionally by TheAnnouncer, Johnny Gilbert.
* ''[[Series/ThirtyRock 30 Rock]]'' has Cheyenne Jackson's character Danny Baker doing this very intentionally during a duet with diva Jenna Maroney in the 2009 Christmas Special so as not to steal her spotlight. At one point, he slips into his natural (and excellent) singing voice and quickly switches back to tone-deaf after a DeathGlare from Jenna.
** Bonus points for knowing that Cheyenne Jackson and Jane Krakowski were both in the stage play of Xanadu before ''[[Series/ThirtyRock 30 Rock]]'' started (though not in the same cast. Jane was in an industry-only workshop performance of the musical with a different actor. Cheyenne joined the show later when the original male lead was injured and performed on Broadway with Kerry Butler.)
* In ''Series/{{Degrassi}},'' Hazel affects a terribly fake "bad" singing voice when she is trying to show off her vocal skills to Paige and Ashley. Further proof that the voice was fake came when Andrea Lewis released a music video on the same channel and sang just fine. In season 9, Fiona auditions for the musical and has a similarly fake failure.
** This trope was also averted in that same episode with Hazel's "bad singing". When the girls perform at a talent show, Paige sees her rapist sitting in the audience. After this, she grabs the microphone from lead singer Ashley and sings the song (which happens to be about rape) herself. Her singing was a little bit...rough, but realistically so.
* Creator/KateySagal is a good singer (she got her career start as one of Music/BetteMidler's Harlettes), but her character of Peg Bundy from ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' isn't.
** She fakes bad again as [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Leela]] (see below).
* Parodied in ''Series/HarryEnfieldAndChums''. When Lance makes a painfully bad attempt to sing "Who's That Girl Running Around With You", Lee attempts to put him right by inserting correctly-pitched noises such as "bing", "bong", "ding" and "dong" into the melody. Lance begins to get the hang of this, only to revert to his initial attempt when the noises are removed. He then remarks that he's only tone-deaf in English, and not in Italian, proving this by launching into an impressive rendition of an operatic piece.
* Played straight in the ''Series/{{Glee}}'' episode "Laryngitis", when Rachel gets sick and loses her voice. Kind of subverted earlier in the series when Kurt blows the high F in "[[Theatre/{{Wicked}} Defying Gravity]]". His voice doesn't slide so much as break, ''very'' realistically, even though Chris Colfer really can hit the note.
** Mike Chang doesn't think he can sing, so when he has to do a duet with Tina, they play this trope for laughs with a rendition of "Sing!" from ''Theatre/AChorusLine''.
*** He later proves himself wrong in season 3, when he auditions for ''West Side Story''. His singing is actually not that bad.
** Let's not forget Sugar's awful rendition of "Big Spender." Vanessa Lengies is a pretty accomplished singer (''Series/AmericanDreams'').
* On a ''Series/PrivatePractice''/''Series/GreysAnatomy'' crossover episode, Naomi (Music/AudraMcDonald) and Sam (Taye Diggs) were heard singing quite badly. - [=McDonald=] in particular is a ''six-time Tony winner!''
* The opening to ''Series/AllInTheFamily''. Jean Stapleton could apparently sing quite well in real life.
** [[https://youtu.be/nMBgRZMagHw Carroll O'Connor was no slouch, either.]]
* Galina Sergeevna from ''Series/DaddysDaughters'' screeches through a song in Episode 14.3. Her actress, Music/LizaArzamasova, can actually sing decently, so to sing badly, she has to caterwaul.
* There was an episode of the TV series "Film/{{Clueless}}" where Cher tried out for her school's Holiday play. Problem was, she couldn't sing to save her life ([[InformedFlaw or so we were supposed to believe]]). Of course, her "bad singing voice" was so fake that it was laughable to anyone who's heard genuine bad singing. This ended up being [[ReVision revised]] later in the series when the writers decided they wanted Cher to sing in her school's production of ''Grease''. Turned out, she actually had a pretty good voice once she learned the right technique (which was said to be something along the lines of squeezing your buns and breathing).
* In the KoreanDrama ''Series/TwinkleTwinkle'', Jung Won loves to sing popular music and trot tunelessly. I mean, ''really'' tunelessly.
* Averted in ''Series/TheNightShift'', when Olafur sings for a judge on the Icelandic version of ''Series/TheXFactor''. It's realistically weak - generally in tune but a little strained and with a trying-too-hard kind of sound to it.
* ''Series/{{Victorious}}'': Tori's sister Trina is a terrible singer compared to her sister and her real singing voice is closely resembling to that of a person shrieking. In fact the main reason that Trina was enrolled into Hollywood Arts was because Sikowitz had drank rotten coconut milk which made him have hallucinations during Trina's audition, and every other judge was out at the time.
* The Orgs in ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'' are this: They consider human music to be repulsive, yet Flute Org's terrible tunes are music to their ears.
* Averted in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', in the episode "The Vengeance Formulation", when Howard is singing a song for Bernadette. He actually sounds like he's trying to sing well, and while it definitely doesn't sound ''good'', it's still possible to understand why he doesn't get that.
** Played straight in the first season episode "The Loobenfeld Decay" with Penny's painfully awful singing to play as Mimi in ''Theatre/{{Rent}}''. It's implied that it's mostly that she did not have the talent for a boisterous stage solo number, in later episodes she sings a bedside lullaby to Sheldon "Soft Kitty" that, while not pristine, shows a passable singing voice.
* An initial plot point in ''{{Series/Nashville}}'' is that Juliette Barnes is a bad singer who'd be lost without [=AutoTune=], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA9YDpFd_vE as illustrated in this clip]], but it sounds suspiciously like Creator/HaydenPanettiere deliberately singing off-key as called for in the script. Ironically, while the show itself regularly claims Rayna Jaymes (Connie Britton) is more talented than Juliette, more than a few people find Panettiere to be the better singer of the two... and it's telling that the show's stopped pretending Juliette sucks.
* Aethelwynne in ''Series/{{Pixelface}}'' is constantly shown as this, and most of the cast appears to suffer from this in "Rock Star" (the only episode where most of them sing).
* Cleo in ''Series/H2OJustAddWater'' is revealed to be a horrible singer in the episode "The Siren Effect". Even the dolphins dive underwater for cover when she starts to sing. Rikki parodies the trope later on in the episode when she sings karaoke so dreadfully she's clearly doing it on purpose.
** The plot of "The Siren Effect" was that under the power boost of the full moon, Cleo's singing enthralled everyone around her. Someone even called a radio DJ who immediately recorded her. After the moon set, even the playback of the performance sounded like tone-deaf scales.
* This [[http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/wy96gz/macroeconomics godawful rendition]] of "One Love" by ''Series/TheDailyShow'''s Creator/StephenColbert, a very able singer who has performed in musical theatre.
* Gloria from ''Series/ModernFamily'' after she got a karaoke machine. Her husband Jay once dropped a metal spoon in the garbage disposal in the hopes of drowning her out with a more ''pleasant'' noise.
* Summer in ''Series/SchoolOfRock''. Her actress is actually a fairly good singer but in "Cover Me", she is awful.
* ''Series/StarskyAndHutch'': Most of Starsky's attempts at singing sound like this, although he manages to sing on-key in "The Avenger."
* ''Series/SesameStreet'': Downplayed in "The Golden Cabbage of Snufertiti". One of the many differences between Bob and his AdventurerArchaeologist brother Minneapolis Johnson is that Bob loves to sing but Minneapolis prefers adventure and being active. Minneapolis' singing voice on their duet "A Sibling" wavers and is often off-pitch, but it's not unpleasant. He's played by Creator/JeffGoldblum, who is best-known as an actor but is also a professional-quality jazz pianist more than capable of carrying a tune (as the masses found out a few decades later, when he began recording albums with his band after years of concerts in Los Angeles).
* ''Series/{{Workaholics}}'': In the episode "Menergy Crisis", Blake has a singing voice more reminiscent of screeching than anything else. His singing is so bad, Ders and Adam end up editing him out of their song.
* ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows'': Laszlo reveals that he had a career as a singer/songwriter dating back to the 1850's, though when we hear his records, he sounds ridiculous. Creator/MattBerry is actually an accomplished singer in real life, and there is a ''very'' stark difference between [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LDzBVxCugM his comedic singing on the show]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSEOOB3-gqQ his actual music career]].
* ''Series/KirbyBuckets'':
** In the episode "The Gil in My Life", it's revealed that Dawn has an absolutely horrendous singing voice which only improves when she is looking at a reflection of herself, especially with toilet water. When she tries to audition to have her voice used in a commercial, the judges instead decided to use the toilet instead of her.
*** She gets another short song in "Battle of the Ballot" when she is happy she no longer has to listen to Kirby's chewing in the cafeteria, and everyone boos her and throws garbage at her.
*** Of course, this trope gets turned on its head in "Queen for a Dawn" when Dawn is treated like royalty in an alternate medieval universe. Kirby tries to get her to sing in order to convince her to return home, but it backfires because she actually can sing in the universe.
*** That being said, Dawn's singing was just fine in "All Hands on Dexter", which predated "The Gil in my Life", when she was auditioning for a spot on a TV talent show.
** In the episode "The AV Kid", Chip, the titular AV kid, is also a terrible singer with the short friendship song he dedicates to Kirby over the school intercom.
** The band in ''Series/HospitalPlaylist''. Song-hwa is ''quite'' tone deaf, while the rest of the band are a much milder example of this, [[https://soundcloud.com/thaovimuoiba/mido-and-falasol-me-to-you-you as heard here]]. The difference is very starkly heard in the [[https://soundcloud.com/thaovimuoiba/mido-and-falasol-me-to-you-you album recording.]]
* ''Series/MimpiMetropolitan'': Juna and Topan's bad and loud singing in episode 47 sounds like they're trying to hit the wrong note.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Minnie Driver's character in ''Film/GoldenEye''.
--> '''Film/JamesBond:''' Who's strangling the cat?\\
'''Zukovsky:''' [shoots Bond's chair] That is Irina, my mistress!\\
'''Bond:''' [[SarcasmMode Very talented girl.]]
* Cameron Diaz has done this multiple times in her films.
** In ''Film/MyBestFriendsWedding'', Cameron Diaz's karaoke actually sounds realistically off.
** Amanda in ''Film/TheHoliday'', also portrayed by Cameron Diaz. She's singing along with the radio. Badly. And inordinately loudly [though the reason she's doing it is a plot point].
** In ''Film/{{Gambit}}'', Cameron Diaz, as Puznowski, again delivers a slightly off-key and off-tempo performance in karaoke.
* Creator/AnnaFaris' character in ''Film/LostInTranslation''...who is said to be a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of Cameron Diaz.
* Faris does it again in the second ''Film/ScaryMovie.'' She butchers Vitamin C's "Graduation" so badly that the track on the radio stops and tells her to [[PrecisionFStrike "shut the fuck up and let me sing.'']]
* Summer, the band manager from ''Film/SchoolOfRock''. The DVD commentaries tell us (and prove to us) that Creator/MirandaCosgrove, her actress, actually sings really well, and she had to be taught how to sing badly.
* Averted in Creator/StevenSpielberg's ''Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' when Tom Cruise's character sings to his daughter. It toes the line between off-key and too-good-for-an-average-Joe nicely.
* ''Film/AmericanBeauty'': Kevin Spacey sings along to "American Woman." Terribly.
* Hammer in ''Film/ImGonnaGitYouSucka'', who sings a very poor rendition of "Grazing in the Grass" as it plays on his car radio. It's funny to begin with, but he's played by singer Isaac Hayes, which takes it into CastingGag territory.
* The singing girls in ''Film/DickTracy'' were coached to sing worse than they normally would so that they could have the nasal, squeaking sound that invokes recordings from the 1930s.
* Two words: Literature/BridgetJones. Especially in the first movie.
* Cacofonix in the live-action film ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}} and Obelix vs. Caesar'' (based on the popular French comic series) is portrayed by Pierre Palmade; the character is supposed to be a really awful singer, but Pierre Palmade had to ''practice singing badly''.
* Clarke and Rogers (Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty) in ''Film/{{Ishtar}}''.
* The nuns of ''Film/SisterAct'' are all hilariously off-key and screechy. A few pointers from Whoopi Goldberg's character, however, has them singing like a proper choir. All of the actresses playing the nuns are genuinely good singers--except for the novice, the nun who ended up with most of the solos; her voice was dubbed over for those parts.
** She essentially assigned each nun a part within her vocal range, and made sure the sopranos, altos, and so on were standing in clusters rather than scattered around the risers. That alone really can make a good difference.
* Cleverly averted in ''Film/CitizenKane''. In order to put across the idea that Kane's mistress, Susan Alexander, is out of her depth in the opera, they overdubbed the actress with a professional opera singer, but hired an alto and had her try seriously to sing a soprano part. As a result, her singing voice sounds realistically strained.
* OlderThanTelevision: One of Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer's trademark shticks in ''Film/TheLittleRascals'' was his (deliberately, at least later on in life) off-key singing, which Alfalfa was oblivious to. Subverted in that Switzer was allegedly a gifted singer in real life.
* Thomas Jerome Newton in ''Film/TheManWhoFellToEarth'' fumbles his off-key way through a simple church hymn. Subverted in that he was portrayed by ''[[Music/DavidBowie David freakin' Bowie]]''
** Bowie played a bad singer again in ''Film/MerryChristmasMrLawrence'', in which his character Jack Celliers sings noticeably off-key with the other prisoners when the group sing hymns. Celliers even lampshades this later in the film.
* A number of the students auditioning for the Winter Musicale in ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'' displayed this trope (in addition to other bad singing tropes...)
* In the film version of ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' the drama teacher has auditioning students do a group sing of ''Total Eclipse of the Heart'' by Bonnie Tyler. Most of the auditioners sound pretty much like what you'd expect from a bunch of middle schoolers, but one of the kids sings extremely nasally, and so off-key that it doesn't sound like singing at all. He also has a heavy foreign accent.
* Averted by Denise Richards's off-key, whispered performance of "You're Just Too Good to Be True" (tastelessly addressed to Jesus; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olA0ibvLyz0&feature=related watch here]]) in Film/DropDeadGorgeous. She may be actually tone deaf, at least if the video of her singing at the 7th Inning Stretch of a Cubs game is any indication.
* Randy Watson (Creator/EddieMurphy) in ''Film/ComingToAmerica'', who performs Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All" with his band Sexual Chocolate. In real life, Murphy is a very talented singer and even recorded a music album titled "How Could It Be?" which included the Top 10 hit, "Party All The Time."
* Frank Drebin from ''Film/TheNakedGun''. Made worse by the fact that he was impersonating a famous opera singer, Enrico Pallazzo, while the said singer was [[HumiliationConga tied up and forced to watch.]]
* In the film ''Film/TheLosers'', Jensen sings a painfully screechy rendition of "Don't Stop Believing" while infiltrating the computer security company in order to convince bystanders that they don't want to join him in the elevator.
* In ''Film/{{Ted}}'', John tries to [[SerenadeYourLover win back]] Lori by singing "All Time High", the theme song of ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'', their favorite movie. Unfortunately, John's singing is so bad that the crowd boos and an angry man tries to assault him. In real life, Creator/MarkWahlberg is a talented singer.
* Earlier on, Wahlberg also did some bad singing in ''Film/BoogieNights'', mangling "The Touch" in a scene in which Dirk Diggler attempts a singing career.
* Creator/DavidSpade and Creator/ChrisFarley have a scene in ''Film/TommyBoy'' that ends with them singing along to "Superstar" by the Music/{{Carpenters}} at the top of their lungs. They're realistically bad (i.e., not great, but not terrible either).
* In the beginning of Film/TheThreeStooges' short ''Brideless Groom'', music student Dee Green is rehearsing an ear-wrenching rendition of "The Voice of Spring" in front of her teacher, Shemp. Actually, Green was a classically trained soprano who taught music after retiring from the movies.
* Played straight in the film ''Film/FlorenceFosterJenkins'', a {{biopic}} of the famously GiftedlyBad opera singer mentioned below. Creator/MerylStreep (who is of course a trained and experienced singer, as seen in [[Film/MammaMia some of her other film roles]]) does a spectacularly bad job at screeching and warbling entirely out of key and tempo, reducing several characters to [[{{Corpsing}} helpless giggles]]. However, the trope is {{averted}} a bit as far as the "Hollywood" aspect goes-- although it sounds completely over the top, the real Florence [[RealityIsUnrealistic really did sing that badly]], and Streep is doing a dead-ringer imitation of her recordings.
* In ''Film/TheComedyOfTerrors'', Amaryllis has dreams of becoming an opera singer, but she has no real talent for it. While Trumbull is repulsed by it, Gillie is too smitten with her to notice.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Lucia without her pearl in ''Anime/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch''. Accidentally averted in the same series with Caren, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c669tIMT2EE a genuine]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAoiylgrMKk terrible singer]].
* In ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' Yomi is [[InformedFlaw supposedly]] a bad singer, but when you consider that her VA is Creator/RieTanaka, another very famous actress known for performing anime theme songs, the "bad" singing ends up sounding completely fake.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIxRFoJURRc It's still hilarious, though.]]
* Averted in [[Anime/HighSchoolStarMusical StarMyu]] - the issues with Hoshitani's technique in his audition in episode 1 are real. Also, compare most of his diegetic singing - e.g. that audition, or his [[spoiler: attempts at Alexis' Shadow's song in season 2]] - with his non-diegetic "Hoshi no Stride" in the end of episode 1. (His diegetic singing is good when the song matches the mood of Hoshi no Stride).
* In episode 16 of ''Anime/MyHime'' Natsuki attempts to sing and does a horrible job of sounding like she can't. As a bonus for viewers, the song she's pretending she can't sing was sung by Saeko Chiba, who voiced... Natsuki.
* An obscure show called ''Manga/KoiKoi7'' features [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-91xDq42C-Y singing]] (go to about 1:50) by a character named Miya that is truly indescribably horrible and you can understand how it [[BrownNote knocked everyone out]].
* The otherwise angelic Aya Hirano's screaming/singing as Konata on ''Anime/LuckyStar''.
* ShowWithinAShow ''Anime/KujibikiUnbalance'' takes this to the n-th degree with [[DreadfulMusician Tokino's]] karaoke. Not only is her singing completely over-the-top tone-deaf, [[Creator/JojiNakata it's not even her own voice actor doing the singing]].
* A recurring gag in ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'' is that Gian/Big G is a terrible singer. One time he was on TV, his singing voice was so bad that it actually ''hospitalized'' several people.
* Several characters exhibit this trope in a karaoke-themed episode of ''Anime/DigimonAdventure''. It's present in both the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WT6YqXq6aY Japanese]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soy8rqmJs1o English]] versions.
* Eimi Date in ''Anime/PrettySammy TV'' (aka Anime/MagicalProjectS). Her classmates have to silence her whenever the class sings.
** In the soundtrack [=CDs=], Eimi's seiyuu sings her signature song straight, proving that she's at least a competent singer--except it sounds completely wrong and disappointing, because Eimi's song ''should'' be sung lethally off-key and with great gusto.
* Coco from ''Anime/{{Pecola}}''. In one episode, she was practicing her singing for Pecola's band, which was assaulting on the ears of everyone in Cube Town. [[spoiler: Towards the end of the episode, Coco's screechy voice became smooth during vocalization, and Pecola compliments her on it.]]
* Whenever Franchise/{{Kirby}} [[PowerCopying copies]] a singing ability in the anime, his own allies shudder in dread of his [[BrownNote apocalyptically bad singing]]. [[AllThereInTheManual The Manual]] stats this is how the enemy-erasing "microphone" ability in the game works. One of the opening sequences in one of the games even has him being attacked by his own music notes.
* Shinichi (and therefore Conan) in ''Manga/CaseClosed'' is tone deaf and can't sing worth beans. (His [[Creator/MinamiTakayama Japanese voice actress]], however, [[IronyAsSheIsCast makes up half of the J-Pop duo Two-Mix.]]) This isn't consistent; in a NonSerialMovie he has perfect pitch, but still sings terribly.
* Akira Nagisa in ''Chrome Breaker'' - so bad she scares [[spoiler: magical sidekick]] birds.
* In ''Anime/HidamariSketch'', Yuno's bad singing manifests as a completely different (but consistent!) melody line -- which [[DitzyGenius Miyako]] can subsequently sing back perfectly.
* Maya Natsume in ''Manga/TenjhoTenge''; she loses her karaoke "battle" with [[FriendlyEnemies Friendly Enemy]] Mitsuomi because she's a terrible singer. Since her voice actress in the anime was Creator/AyaHisakawa, they telegraphed this by making her this trope - in the karaoke scene, she basically just groans into the mic.
* ''Anime/MagicKnightRayearth'': According to WordOfGod, Hikaru Shidou has singing as her worst subject in school. Surprisingly, her seiyuu Hekiru Shiina was actually an accomplished singer. This is played around in one moment when Hikaru seems like having NoIndoorVoice.
* Some characters' renditions of the Zetsubou Sensei Drawing Song in ''Anime/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' delve into this, most noticeably with Kaere Kimura. Who is voiced by Creator/YuuKobayashi, who, like Creator/RieTanaka, is a fine singer.
* One episode of ''Anime/MapleTown'' has Puriprin picked for the lead role in a play. HilarityEnsues as everyone is kept up at night by her ear-shredding attempts at "singing practice". The kicker? The VA for Puriprin is none other than Satoko Yamano, who sings the opening and ending theme songs.
* Averted with Creator/TakehitoKoyasu, of all people, in ''{{Anime/Macross 7}}.'' Even though he's an accomplished singer, he manages to be very believably, incredibly off-key when singing the theme song. (His character, Gamlin, is tone deaf.)
* Both English and Japanese versions of female Ranma in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' belt out an off-key verse during the "Tendo Family's Christmas Scramble" OAV, where she's shanghaied into joining Kasumi, Nabiki, Akane, and Shampoo in a song to entertain the guests. Similarly, the [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] "Hot Song Battle Contest" album and OAV have her ''screeching'' out a cloyingly cute kiddy song about balloons. While Brigitta Dau's singing credentials are unknown, Music/MegumiHayashibara is actually an excellent singer, including her in-character performances as part of the [=DoCo=] supergroup (which is composed of those same five characters) as well as the rest of the ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' ImageSong collections.
* Rio in ''Anime/SoundOfTheSky'' -- played by the aforementioned Creator/YuuKobayashi -- sings a god-awful [[DiegeticSoundtrackUsage snippet of the opening theme song]] in one of the DVD-only extra episodes. Then again, the character is a trumpeter, not a singer, and is completely drunk at the time.
* ''Manga/KOn'':
** Although [[Creator/AkiToyosaki Yui's]] {{seiyuu}} is quite a talented singer, during a childhood memory scene, she sings an ear-grinding song about turtles, not only off-key, but mostly off-beat as well.
** Azusa can't sing at all.
* In the KaraokeBox episode of ''Manga/KannagiCrazyShrineMaidens'', some of the characters sing their songs pretty badly. The singing is made better for the ImageSong release.
* In ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'', Miho is nervous about Mashiro hearing her singing, because she says she's not very good. The first time she's heard on TV, her best friend Kaya laughs at her and Mashiro feels as embarrassed as he thinks she must have felt. Creator/SaoriHayami, on the other hand, is praised as one of the best singers among modern voice actresses, and sings fairly well. Eventually, however, Azuki gets better at singing, and sends Mashiro some of her songs on a disk.
* Once in ''LightNovel/{{Gosick}}'' Victorique singing was mistaken for her moaning in pain.
* Giroro from ''Manga/SgtFrog'' has ''no'' singing talent at all. Made painfully clear when he's ordered to [[ItMakesSenseInContext lullaby the temporarily age reverted Kururu]]. His screeching singing is so horrible, it drives Kururu to hit the self destruct button on his human suit to make it stop.
** However, his voice-actor is the ''lead singer'' on the show's first theme song.
* In the last episode of the first season of ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'', a sleep-deprived and delirious Keima sings [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQj4IswJA_E a beautiful song]] - with backup singers!
%%* Haruka in ''Manga/KotouraSan'' does this with the anime's OP and ED.
* In ''LightNovel/SasamisanAtGanbaranai'', the titular character sings the ending ''very'' half-heartedly. The fifth episode, she duets with Kagami -- the former sings normally and the latter sings half-heartedly and doesn't know the words.
* In ''Manga/RecentlyMySisterIsUnusual'', Yuuya cannot sing, at all. He even butchers something as simple as the "Happy Birthday" song. Even Hiyori, who practically worships the ground he walks on, cannot stand his singing.
* Tomoko Kuroki's voice actress sings the Ending Theme of ''Manga/NoMatterHowILookAtItItsYouGuysFaultImNotPopular'' with an exaggerated whiny, nasal voice and off-key and, as the song goes on, she starts to have an emotional breakdown, resulting in singing worse.
* In the seventh episode of the original ''Manga/SailorMoon'' anime, Usagi and Naru [[DiegeticSoundtrackUsage sing the title theme]], but are badly off-key. Usagi's Japanese voice actress, Creator/KotonoMitsuishi, is an accomplished singer who recorded multiple [=CDs=] both related to the show and not. Also, Naru's voice actress in the Creator/VizMedia redub, Creator/DanielleJudovits, has sung in theatrical musicals.
* The main protagonist Urno from ''Manga/DamekkoDoubutsu'' has a terrible singing voice. So bad that it can be heard throughout the entire forest.
* Mana Aida of ''Anime/DokiDokiPrecure'' has a singing voice so hideous that Rikka and Alice covered their ears and ran for cover when she tried singing a lullaby for baby fairy Ai-chan, also sending birds flying in terror. When she tries to sing again in ''Anime/PrettyCureAllStars Spring Carnival'', the entire ''Doki Doki'' team covers their ears (especially for Rikka, as she went concerned as she saw Mana got hold of the microphone and has her hands halfway up to her ears before the rest of her team even lifted their hands) and it catches pretty much everyone, especially the much more musically-inclined ''Anime/SuitePrettyCure'' team, [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/prettycure/images/d/df/Beat_Muse.png/revision/latest?cb=20161001115720&format=original completely]] [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/prettycure/images/2/2c/Music.png/revision/latest?cb=20161001115803&format=original off-guard]].
-->'''Mana:''' ''[completely off-key]'' THE WORLD IS LIKE A MERRY GO-ROUND!\\
'''Hibiki:''' T-This is ''music''?!
* Tomoyo Kurosawa has to deliberately sing badly in episode 4 of ''Anime/YukiYunaIsAHero'' during several scenes where Itsuki is struggling to sing in [[PerformanceAnxiety front of other people]] because of her shyness. The rest of Kurosawa’s vocal work for the series, [[spoiler:especially in episode 9]], shows that she’s actually a very good singer.
* Yuu Kashima of ''Manga/MonthlyGirlsNozakiKun'', despite being TheAce at nearly everything else, can't sing at all. When she demonstrates her ability to Seo, who she asked for voice training from, Seo reveals that she had earplugs in the whole time.
* In the Blu-ray version of the final episode of the first season of ''Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki'' Creator/HarukaTomatsu sings her own ending theme in character as Yatogame at karaoke. While she generally hits the correct notes, she manages to stay slightly ahead of the beat for most of the song, making it sound quite amateurish.
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!!Examples:

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]

* Shinichi (and therefore Conan) in ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' is tone deaf and can't sing worth beans. (His [[Creator/MinamiTakayama Japanese voice actress]], however, [[IronyAsSheIsCast makes up half of the J-Pop duo Two-Mix.]]) This isn't consistent; in a NonSerialMovie he has perfect pitch, but still sings terribly.

There's a very good reason for trained (or even just "decent") singers to do this: they have to ignore everything they've learned about singing (which is naturally hard for people who've trained for years). Even after just a year or two of singing the proper way, the physical mechanics of singing mean that it's genuinely hard for someone to return to their untrained or "bad" singing because trained singers habitually try to ''correct'' being off-key or off-tempo as soon as they realize it or someone points it out. Hence, the best way for them to consistently sing poorly is to make their singing so horrendously godawful that they stop trying to correct themselves. It's like a self-inflicted InformedFlaw. (Also, trained singers are quite sensitive to the stress on their vocal tract that most styles of bad singing cause--they shy away, voluntarily or otherwise, from what feels like it's doing damage.)

* In Music/{{Eminem}}'s early material, despite his usually confident rap voice, his singing voice is weak, even more nasal than his rapping voice ([[NerdyNasalness which is saying something]]), and usually out of tune. He exploits this, using it to play up the mocking, deranged cruelty of Slim on the wheedling, flat hook for "Kim", but also to play up his sincere, unironic joy in "Hailie's Song".

* Mumble from Film/HappyFeet was born tone deaf as a result of being dropped when he was an egg. Ramon compares it to the sound of a dying animal.

* Sticks on ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'', depicted by her cacophonous nonsensical singing in "Sleeping Giant". Amy's singing is only slightly more tolerable, particularly in "The Sidekick".

* Not likely. Echo in another Disney series, ''Series/MrYoung'', is a very off-key singer. Naturally, she believes otherwise, and the episode we find out is, of course the one where her friends try to stop her from embarrassing herself at the school talent show. Though unlike others, Echo doesn't learn she can't sing by the end, even attacking Adam for admitting she can't sing seconds after telling him he could tell her honestly.
** This ''is'' subverted on ''Series/LizzieMcGuire'' where Miranda, to make up for her [[BadBadActing bad acting earlier in the episode,]] does a decent job at singing.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': Carl and Sheen. Compared to Sheen's singing, Carl's is angelic. No really, Sheen's singing voice is really horrible. It's so bad that when Sheen gets the solo for the school play, they resolve the issue by having him perform it from inside ''a soundproof box.'' However, in ''Attack of the Twonkies'', his singing voice proved useful in stopping the horrible beasts the eponymous creatures turn into from exposure to music. His singing merely put his Twonkie to sleep because it was so bad that the Twonkies couldn't even register it as music. Carl's singing, on the other hand, was just decent enough to make his Twonkie transform.