Getting your fans involved

[Dave W]

 

[westen44]

I think even the animals may have been more on key.   

[uwe]

Beyoncé sang live on this one. 

[Dave W]

Beyoncé sang live on this one. 

Unfortunately I heard brief clips of her Super Bowl performance. All melisma, no substance. Even worse was Jennifer Hudson with the Sandy Hook Childrens Choir. The kids were singing on key while she was caterwauling.

And all the media folks who think melisma and caterwauling are signs of talent think their performances were wonderful.

[westen44]

Unfortunately I heard brief clips of her Super Bowl performance. All melisma, no substance. Even worse was Jennifer Hudson with the Sandy Hook Childrens Choir. The kids were singing on key while she was caterwauling.

And all the media folks who think melisma and caterwauling are signs of talent think their performances were wonderful.

I'm totally with you.  I hate that melismatic crap.  Fortunately, I didn't hear any of this and don't intend to.  Jennifer Hudson may be the worst I've heard.  Her "singing" makes me cringe. 

[uwe]

Beyoncé has by now admitted that her national anthem performance for the President was dubbed.  Because she is such a perfectionist, she says. Wouldn't a CD have sufficed then?

Blame Whitney and Mariah for the caterwauling. They didn't start it, but sure popularized it to the sorry state of today.

And now for something completely unmelismatic and uncaterwaulish, the beauty of the English language sung unaccompanied with no frills or trills and in a non-squealish range:



Time to wave my Ritchie Blackmore Rumer flag again!

[westen44]

Suzanne Vega reminds me a little of Sarah Bettens.  Certainly, they both seem to have a knack for poignant lyrics.

[Aussie Mark]

Beyoncé has by now admitted that her national anthem performance for the President was dubbed. 

I'm cool with that.  In fact, I'd be cool if Beyonce mimed to a metal song, as long as I was watching it in full HD on a 70" TV in a darkened room by myself.

[Pilgrim]

I can't understand the concern over live vs. dubbed.  When someone is performing in public like Alicia Keys and is NOT hopping around on the stage like a frog on a hot skillet, then fine, do it live.  But when you're running all over the place, lip-sync it so the audience can enjoy it.  Makes no difference to me in terms of result.

[Highlander]

This guy made a career out of it... not the miming bit, just the out of tune stuff... kinda sums it all up with this little ditty... kind of adult themed to so I used the link rather than posting it fully...

[Dave W]

Blame Whitney and Mariah for the caterwauling. They didn't start it, but sure popularized it to the sorry state of today.

...

I blame the fans who eat it up as if it were a mark of talent.

The brief clips I saw didn't include Alicia Keys doing the national anthem. Saw an article that said a lot of people disapproved and some even want to take it out of the hands of celebrities so that it would be sung the way it was written, without all the godawful showboating. Same story referred to the "pathologically melismatic Christina Aguilera, who never met a syllable she couldn't make span several seconds and octaves." Yep.

[westen44]

I blame the fans who eat it up as if it were a mark of talent.

The brief clips I saw didn't include Alicia Keys doing the national anthem. Saw an article that said a lot of people disapproved and some even want to take it out of the hands of celebrities so that it would be sung the way it was written, without all the godawful showboating. Same story referred to the "pathologically melismatic Christina Aguilera, who never met a syllable she couldn't make span several seconds and octaves." Yep.

I admire your consistent criticism of this crappy type of singing.  I'm glad that others appear to be getting more and more displeased with this, too.  It's deplorable and truly painful to listen to.  Of course, I always change it to something else anytime I encounter this garbage.  That's really all I know to do, except maybe complain on message boards such as this one. 

[uwe]

I can't understand the concern over live vs. dubbed.  When someone is performing in public like Alicia Keys and is NOT hopping around on the stage like a frog on a hot skillet, then fine, do it live.  But when you're running all over the place, lip-sync it so the audience can enjoy it.  Makes no difference to me in terms of result.

I'm with you if a dance act sings, Madonna, Britney and so forth. Now Beyoncé might move around a lot two, but probably not during the National Anthem at the inauguration of the President she so much supports. Her doing it live would have befitted the occasion. And a few bum notes would not have hurt. Beyoncé can sing, I don't doubt that, it was probably more the perfection/nerves thing. Or maybe she didn't know the song that well. 

[Pilgrim]

I remember a columnist opining that when doing the national anthem, the best option was to do it straight ahead, not draw it out, and not to dress it up with alternate flourishes. In other words, just deliver it and get done.

I'm generally in agreement with that approach.  You're there to serve a function, not to show off your musical chops and prove what a stud / studette you are.  There's no real reason to draw it out and improvise.

I thought Alicia Keys' version strained this rule pretty far, but I did think she was tasteful and I generally liked what she did.  I thought she could easily have sped it up and gotten through it faster.

[Dave W]

That's why I agree that it should be sung by non-celebrities who will sing it straight. It's the national anthem, you don't get to "make it your own" with a bizarre interpretation.