BBC criticised for omitting LGBT lyrics from Let's Sing and Dance performance of Born This Way
The lines were removed for the second time in a month as The One Show presenters sang a truncated version of Lady Gaga's hit
Let's Sing and Dance for Comic Relief has been criticised for failing to include LGBT-positive lyrics in a performance of Lady Gaga's Born This Way.
The pop hit was sung by reporters on The One Show as part of the charity talent contest but the group belted out a truncated version of the song which omitted, among other lyrics, the line "No matter gay, straight, or bi/Lesbian, transgendered life/I'm on the right track baby/I was born to survive".
The performance went on to win the third and final heat and The One Show team – made up of Angelica Bell, Dominic Littlewood, Michelle Ackerley, Iwan Thomas and Alex Riley – will go on to compete in next week's final.
But some viewers were not impressed by the omission, taking to Twitter to air their complaints.
The BBC has since addressed the backlash in a statement, saying: "It is standard procedure to edit down music tracks to fit into the running time of the show."
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But last night marks the second time in a month that the broadcaster has aired Born This Way without what many argue are its most important lyrics. The Let It Shine finale saw group Iron Sun perform the tune without the LGBT lines, a decision which the show's production team later explained in a statement to Gay Times: "All the tracks were edited for length, musical beats and crucially to ensure the boys each had a section to showcase.
"Therefore, typically sections came out of all of the songs performed for the show. In this case, to get a dance break in, we did what we often do which was to repeat the first chorus as opposed to putting in the second one, especially as in this version of the song we had a slow version of the first chorus.
"It made sense therefore musically in an edit, to go with a repeated chorus with a faster tempo the second time around."
Last night's Let's Sing and Dance heat also saw performances from Alison Hammond – who made it through to the final, too – as well as actress Sally Lindsay, comedians Pete Firman and Ellie Taylor, and Gogglebox's Steph and Dom, who entertained the audience with Dead Ringer for Love dressed as Meatloaf and Cher.
