Lip-syncing was once banned in Turkmenistan. In 2005, the country’s then-dictator, Saparmurat Niyazov, cited its “negative effect on the development of singing and musical art” and outlawed it (along with gold teeth, ballet and beards).

Niyazov was fighting a losing battle: 2005 was an auspicious year for lip-syncing, arguably the moment at which this form of cultural expression ascended to the mainstream. It was the year that Google acquired YouTube after its CEO was won over by a grainy homemade video of two Chinese students passionately mouthing along to I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys. They had recorded the video on a webcam in their university dorm room and then uploaded it to YouTube. Viewers were gripped—watching it by the thousands and sending in requests begg...