Lady Gaga "Born this way" video

Lady Gaga in Born this way

I've just watched the video for Gaga's Born this way and don't want to make the same mistake I made by reviewing Britney's Hold it against me without letting the video truly sink in. Instead I'll post the video here, for you guys to check out, while I watch the video a few more times and ruminate on my thoughts.

Look out for the Madonna reference at the end!

Adele- Vocal Profile/ Range (in celebration of her number 1)

Adele

Vocal Type: Contralto
Vocal Range: 3 octaves and 1 note. C3- D6
Vocal Pluses: Full and dark tone with a crystal clear belt.
Vocal Negatives: (Suggestions?)

Review: Jennifer Hudson "Where you at"

Whoever choose Where you at as the lead single for Jenfier Hudson's new album needs a good slap and a telling off. A lead single should be something that shouts "Hey people, I'm back" and hits the floor running to create buzz and interest. Instead, Where you at ambles along like an album cut that is forgotten as soon as it finishes.



Where you at has some redeeming features though. The verses are strong and emotively sung, and the bridge has a classic Rn B build up that creates a nice tension in the song that leads you, falsely, to beleive something great is coming as the song climaxes.

However, after the bridge the song falls apart with a terrible key change and a lose of steam that is wholly the fault of the hollow backing track. Even the repeated chants of "Where you at" start to sound bored and uninterested with the song by this point. 

Where you at had the potential to be something good, especially considering the strong vocal Jennifer Hudson gives, but the production after the bridge- argh that keychange- and the boring chorus frustratingly clips the tracks wings and holds it back just when its ready to soar.

Listen to Where you at below:

Brit Awards 2011 Best performance: Adele "Someone like you"

Adele performing Someone Like you at the 2011 Brit Awards

Adele gave another spine-tingling performance of Someone like you at the Brit Awards yesterday. Adele forfeited any of the fluff and extravagance usually spent on a Brit Award performance, and instead kept it simple with only a piano and some sparkling confetti- that added to the magical feel of the performance- to accompany her bewitching voice.



Something that made this performance even more extraordinary and authentic than any other she has given of Someone like you was the obvious, heightened effect the lyrics were having on Adele as she sang. Because of this her belting wasn't as a crystal clear as usual, and there was some wavering in her voice, but all of that just added to the majesty of a performance that deserves to be noted as one of the best Brit performances ever given.

Later Adele spoke of the emotional performance to  ITV2;

“I was really emotional by the end because I'm quite overwhelmed by everything anyway, and then I had a vision of my ex, of him watching me at home and he's going to be laughing at me because he knows I'm crying because of him, with him thinking, 'Yep, she's still wrapped around my finger.'"Then everyone stood up, so I was overwhelmed."

Adele can do no wrong at the moment for me and every performance and interview makes me like her even more. Fingers crossed the whispers of her stopping  Lady Gaga's Born this way from reaching top spot of the charts this weekend come to be true because, in my opinion, Someone like you not being number one would be an embarrassing reflection on British musical tastes.

Review: Lady Gaga "Born this way" at 2011 Grammy awards.

2011 Grammy awards: Lady Gaga and her giant Egg

Lady Gaga toned down the weirdness, at least by her standards, and gave her hotly anticipated first performance of new single Born this way at the 2011 Grammy awards. But could the live performance be strong enough to convert me to being a fan of the song?

In a nod to the song title the singer started her performance being born as Lady Gaga- oppose to her human self, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta- from a giant egg  that she claimed to have been in for days. She'd also arrived on the red carpet being carried in said egg, much to the bewilderment, and I guess annoyance, of the other celebrities who had never been upstaged by a giant egg before.

Conceptually the egg thing wasn't a huge leap for the singer, the words "born" and "egg" are pretty much synonymous if you're a bird, and so even though it wasn't particularly weird or outlandish on the Gaga scale of weirdness- remember the blood and the hanging from the chandelier at the VMA's- it was the "weirdest" and "Gaga-est" part of the performance. From that point the gimmicks were ditched and Gaga focused squarely on dancing, singing, and playing the piano to gain the adulation of the crowd.

The performance featured slick choreography, simple staging, a mini organ solo of Toccata and Fugue and a powerful, emotive vocal that communicated a passionate conviction, that is sorely lacking from the studio version, in the songs meaning.

Lady Gaga's performance of Born this way  may have been underwhelming for those who expected Gaga's usual antics, but to me it highlighted how the singer doesn't really need to rely on big production values to impress or amaze. Despite still not liking the song (see my review here), I can't deny Gaga her props as a world class performer.

Watch Lady Gaga perform Born this way live below

Review : Aretha Franklin 2011 Grammy tribute- Christina Aguilera the superstar vocalist is REBORN

Aretha Franklin tribute singers: Florence Welch, Jennifer Hudson,
Christina Aguilera, Martina McBride and Yolanda Adams

The most exciting performance, and the one I was looking most forward to, of the 2011 Grammy Awards was the Aretha Franklin tribute. Divas in training, well in comparison to Ms Franklin, Yolanda Adams, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride and Florence Welch all come together on one stage to honour the Queen of Soul by performing some her classic hits.

The Tribute began with a group performance of Aretha's Natural woman that was both lacklustre and flat but it was all change when it came time for the singers to give their solo renditions.

Christina Aguilera sang Aint no way and gave one of the most AUTHENTIC vocal performances of her whole career. It drove not only the audience wild but had the accompanying singers shaking their heads and clapping their hands in appreciation. Stunning!

Next came Martina McBride- who you had to feel sorry for having to follow Christina- and she sung the Areatha classic Till You come back to me. Martina gave a solid, and confident performance that stuck to the original melody of the song. Her voice showed her musical roots as it carried her country twang with it into the performance, but this was in no way a bad thing. Martina's performance was a nice contrast to the bombastic rendition Christina gave before her.

Florence Welch was next and she was the singer I was most looking forward to as I couldn't imagine how her voice would fit tan Aretha classic like Think. Surprisingly she managed to hold her own with a performance that didn't shy away from the big notes, or the original arrangement, but it had to be said the soul was missing. Florence was definitely the weakest out of the line up, but considering she was a last minute addition and who she was singing alongside, there's really no shame or real criticism in that.

Jennifer Hudson is an Aretha in the making and it was unsurprising they gave her Aretha Franklin's most iconic song, Respect. Hudson's vocal run at the end rode those upper-belted notes with so much ease that it makes me wonder how high that voice can go without degrading in quality. Effortless singing.

Yolanda Adams Started with some beautiful low, notes before taking Spirit in the Dark straight to the Church. Her performance as a whole, though perhaps the most understated, was the most impressive for me out of the ladies. It reminded me how that type of singing and voice is too often sadly missing from secular, mainstream music. This is real singing.

The tribute ended with a group rendition of Sisters are doing it from themselves. Ironically it had the "sisters" doing just that by the end of the song as they -minus Hudson who watched Yolanda in what seemed like awe- vied for the spotlight with the obligatory melismatic maelstrom that comes at the close of any self respecting Diva's performance. Good but not great tribute!

What did you think? Leave a Comment.

Christina Aguilera's best performances: lets all show "Screamtina" some love

There is a whole heap of hate surrounding Christina Aguilera (or Screamtina as she is now being referred to by detractors) after her not-so-great performance of the hallowed Star Spangled Banner at the 2011 Super Bowl.Over-singing and loosing the melody in a wave of unnecessary runs would have been one thing, but Christina added insult to already battered ears by mixing up the words for the American National Anthem. Gasp!

However, I'm not going to be posting the Superbowl performance but instead, to balance out the universe and spread some positivity, I thought I would send out some love for the singer by creating a post which highlights some of her better live performances.

Perhaps it'll remind people why she is considered the voice of a generation by many.


You lost me (live on Vh1 story tellers): This performance demonstrates, during the verses, how soft and sweet Christina's voice can sound in its low to mid range.

Beautiful Live at AOL session: A relaxed and dressed down Christina leaves it to her voice to impress.

(The following videos I've created separate posts for previously but as one illustrates Christina's best vocal and the other her best live routine they had to be included.)

Lift Me up (Hope For Haiti benefit): Perfectly executed vocals that keep Christina's chest belting almost entirely within her comfortable range thus creating a pleasurable and breathtaking listening experience.

Bionic/ Not myself tonight/ Woohoo medley (at the Mtv music awards): Finally here is Christina Aguilera the consummate performer. A crazy good musical production that should have lifted sales of Bionic.

Do you know of any awesome Christina Aguilera Performances. Tell the World about it, comment here!

Kelly Clarkson - Vocal Profile/ Range

Kelly Clarkson

Vocal Type: Soprano
Vocal Range: 3 octaves and 1 semitone. Eb3- F#6
Vocal Pluses: Powerful full tone and strong chest register. Earthy texture to the whole voice.
Vocal Negatives:Voice can sometimes be  brash and overbearing.

Requested by Uber!

"Born this way" Vs "Express yourself"

For those who can not hear the similarities between Lady Gaga's Born this way and Madonna's Express Yourself a kind Youtuber has created a video to aid the journey towards awareness of this fact.

Let me just say I am totally aware that pop music often borrows from what came before, but Born this way is just a lazy version of  a great song. I don't think I would have minded so much if Gaga had improved somehow on the source material but as it is it's just disappointing and anaemic.

Still, seems like I may be in the minority as Born this way has been getting good reviews and is breaking sale records. Just how much of the sales is hype will be evident as the weeks go on. I just hope this derivative, manipulative trash isn't a sign of things to come from Gaga...  

*skulks off to listen to the fame Monster* :( 

Do you hear the similarities? Comment here! 

UPDATE: PRODUCER OF KOREAN GROUP SNSD IS ALSO CLAIMING SIMILARITIES BETWEEN HIS TRACK BE HAPPY AND BORN THIS WAY! LISTEN HERE

Review: Lady Gaga "Born this way" So bad it's terrible!

The hype for Lady Gaga's new single Born this way has been building steadily for months. A hype I readily admit being caught up in, and finally today, after it's release date was pushed a week forward, we got a chance to hear a song that, according to Elton John, would "obliterate 'I Will Survive'". High- having now listened to it- unworthy praise indeed!

Alarm bells should have been heeded about the potential crumminess of the impending Born this way when the childlike lyrics were released a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, being a fan and wanting the song to be as epic as promised, I swept the bad lyrics under the "commendable message" carpet and trusted in Gaga's strength of melody and music to carry the song to the promised greatness.

Depressingly, Born this way doesn't just fail to live up to the hype, which to be honest was never going to happen, but more worryingly for what's to come with the album, it fails to succeed in even being a good song. The production and melody- which was going to be its saving grace- sound mediocre at best but even worse is how it sounds like a gayer- who would have thought possible- rehash of Madonna's classic Express yourself (listen to the similarities here)

Young fans may hear Born this way as something new, fresh and exciting and good for them, it can be their generations poor version of Express yourself. But to an 80's baby- like Gaga herself- this is a weak 1990s B-side of a track that doesn't live up to the hype or the best of the decade she's trying to pay homage to.

Oh Gaga, why have you forsaken me!

Comment here and tell the world what 
you think of Born this way

Listen to Born this way below

Review: Nicole Scherzinger "Don't Hold Your Breath "

Nicole Scherzinger in the video for Dont hold your breath.

Nicole Scherzinger is back with new single Don't Hold Your Breath and ironically its quite an apt title for anyone expecting amazing things from it.

The song is essentially an underwhelming, mid-tempo, electro-pop fluff of a track that lyrically deals with Nicole telling an ex-partner not to hold their breath about her reconciling the relationship.


The vocals in the verses find Nicole maintaining a pleasant, earthy mid to low range, talk-singing type technique; whereas the chorus has Nicole extending up in to the lower part of her chest register. It all amounts to a pretty flat vocal delivery, which disappointingly mimics the track production all to well.

There are glimmers of a good song in Don't Hold Your Breath, such as the melody and the lyrics but overall it just remains a ghost of a song that fails to leave any lasting impression on the listener. Here's hoping it'll be a song that gets better with every listen, a la Nicole's last single Posion.

Brandy- Vocal Profile/ Range

Brandy

Vocal Type: Contralto
Vocal Range: 3 octaves and 1 semitone. G2- G#5
Vocal Pluses: Powerful control over her dark, lower and midrange registers.
Vocal Negatives:Voice quality diminishes as it leaves the low to midrange and ascends the chest register.

Celebrity Plastic Surgery Makes Headlines

When I was a teenager no one I knew had a surgically altered face. Plastic surgery was practically unheard of while growing up in Oklahoma with the nearest city twenty miles away; the only people we saw were those from our small, farming community and the women there rarely colored their gray hair.

The popular celebrities of the day did not have surgically altered faces yet we knew they were thin and beautiful and we wanted to look just like them.

That desire to emulate celebrities has not changed as we see non-celebrities from every part of the world dressing and copying their styles of clothing, buying and wearing celebrity named fragrances and some wannabes have even resorted to plastic surgery to imitate their favorite celebrity's faces.

Celebrities have been considered our royalty and we usually put a lot of trust in them; in fact, there is an implied consent that whatever they do is probably ok so if the celebs are busy chasing the elusive fountain of youth using surgical enhancements and injections that plump and paralyze, the hanger-ons are probably doing the same. Consider this: when celebrities sport plumped up cheeks and big lips, it's not long before the fans are flocking to imitate the look. Whether the fans go for the Jennifer Aniston hair, Heidi's breasts, the Angelina lips or the lifted derriere of Kim Kardashian, you can be certain that these enhanced attributes will not go unnoticed by their adoring admirers.

Celebrity Plastic Surgery And The Collective Obsession With Youthful Perfection

Plastic surgery is all too obviously a big part of celebrity culture today. From reality stars to comedians to screen actors and stage performers. It seems that everyday we read about or see new pictures of some star that has gone too far and pushed the limits of what an ethical plastic surgeon should be willing to do.

The force behind this Hollywood celebrity trend to use plastic surgery beyond what is rational is a collective obsession with youthful perfection. That is, in American culture, youth is romanticized and physical perfection is idealized. The problem is that we are only young for a brief time in reality. Indeed, this evanescent quality is probably an ingredient of the fuel feeding this obsession. Combine this with the fact that very few, if any of us, are genetically perfect and you end up with a majority of the country somewhat unsatisfied with their appearance. Add to the fire, the pressure celebrities are under to be examples of perfection to those who consume their movies, TV shows, and music videos and you can imagine the desperate feelings these people have to hold on to this image of perfection or lose their celebrity status.

Further complicating the mix is that the personalities who go into that line of work tend to already enjoy some degree of narcissism with their coffee and you have a perfect storm. Nowhere do we see example after example of drastic measures taken by desperate souls to enhance or hold onto any shred of perfect youth that medical science might be able to offer. Likewise, nowhere else do we see so many sad cases of the fuel of this collective obsession with youthful perfection igniting the fire that ends in plastic surgery disasters, the likes of which we are all too familiar from watching late night TV.

Review : Rihanna's S &M Video

Rihanna isn't helping with the claims of her being associated with Illumanti
when at 3.20 "Rihanna Princesss of the Illumanti" is flashed on screen.

Rihanna's video for S and M, her third release from Loud, bypasses what could have been a risqué and provocative look at the underworld scene of S and M by approaching the subject matter in a playful, light-hearted and toothless manner.

The video does manage to include some imagery that is synonymous with the S and M scene- such as whips, bondage and PVC- but they are rendered ineffectual when contrasted with the "suggestive" way Rihanna "eats" a selection of fruit towards the end of the video.



Unfortunately the treatment of the video, and the sets it was filmed on, let the whole production down and give the video for S and M a cheap, low-budget feel that is at odds and unfitting of Rihanna's superstar status. Perhaps Mariah Carey started a new trend for; the low budget look with her Auld langs syne video from last year!

Overall the video fits in nicely with the bubblegum, sugary, 90's visuals that the Loud era has brought and is as such nothing special. Songs still good though ;)

Watch the video For S and M below.