Ryan Dunn

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Live or Memorex? Experts say very few people sing live at the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Kylie Minogue, Jessica Simpson, Kanye West, yesterday in New York City

Australian singer Kylie Minogue has responded to critics after her performance at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade yesterday.

The 42-year-old star was wrapped up in a thick fluffy coat as she boarded a giant duck float for the Parade in New York.

She then performed her new single, Get Outta My Way, for fans that lined the streets below.

After she was criticised for lip-syncing her performance, she later wrote on her Twitter page: 'Relax peeps, EVERYONE has to mime at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!!'

Smile and wave: Jessica greeted fans along the six-mile parade route as she took centre stage on Macy's own float

While the marching bands perform live music, the singers are understood to mime in order to avoid technical problems during the broadcast.

Other stars that performed at the event included Jessica Simpson who sang My Only Wish for Christmas from her new Christmas album and rapper Kanye West who did Lost in the World from his critically acclaimed new CD My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Jessica wrapped up warm in a wool trench coat, knee high boots and cute furry ear-muffs.

Jessica, 30, has a lucrative deal with the department store giant, Macy's, which stocks her complete line of shoes, clothing and bags.

She has previously appeared in television commercials for the brand and this year was chosen to ride on their parade float.

Spinning around: Singer Kylie Minogue donned a furry coat and turban style hat as she boarded her float which was in the shape of a duck

Keep warm: The singer added some sex appeal to her outfit with a pair of knee high black boots

Jessica's new fiancé, Eric Johnson, was no where to be seen during the parade but last night joined the star for a romantic dinner-for-two at Coppola's New York restaurant.

Eric proposed to the star on November 11 with a ruby and diamond ring from Neil Lane worth an estimated $150,000.

The Macy's Thanksgiving day parade is an annual event that started in 1924 and consists of a three hour long parade of floats and giant balloons through the streets of Manhattan, New York ending outside the famous and original Macy's store in Herald Square.

The route itself is over 6 miles long and over 3.5 million spectators line the streets every year to watch the action.

It is also estimated that up to 50 million people will watch the parade on television.

Many other celebrities and performers turned out to support the event.

Bad boy: Kanye West rides down the parade route on a float which passed just in front of the hosting station where Kanye's new nemesis Matt Lauer was presenting for The Today Show

Eccentric comedienne Joan Rivers and her TV host daughter Melissa Rivers dressed up as Ice Queens.

A high-kicking Kung Fu Panda and a diary-toting Wimpy Kid joined the giant balloon lineup.

Several college bands added to the musical line-up including the Purdue University Marching band and student musicians from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Frozen in time: Joan Rivers and her daughter Melissa came out dressed as ice queens

Another new balloon character was Virginia O'Hanlon, the 8-year-old girl whose letter to the editor elicited the response, 'Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.'

Returning balloons included Smurf, Pillsbury Doughboy and Spider-Man - the last with a new fan in Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

He said in a CBS interview that he had traditionally favoured Snoopy, but after the Marvel Entertainment character was involved in a recent event promoting city services for job-seekers, 'Spidey is my new favourite.'

Late night chat show host Jimmy Fallon joined his house band The Roots at the side of the parade route where they watched the floats go by and filmed a segment for tonight's show.