Whitney Houston can't sing (anymore)...

Yes, it's sad but true. The former diva can no longer sing. One of the greatest vocal performers of our generation is now running around stage speak-singing and dropping out to let the chorus singers sing all the high notes.

Whitney Houston is in the land down under for a short concert tour called "Nothing But Love" (when she arrived in Brisbane she threw a huge fit when her limo was 2 minutes late). Her show last night in Brisbane angered many fans however. Fans gave the performance mixed reviews with many saying she was coughing and taking breaks to try and catch her breath, and was sweating profusely. Many are expected to demand refunds. The negative reviews will surely hurt the tour as Brisbane was her first stop.

In an ill-guided attempt at damage control, the concert tour promoter, Andrew McManus spoke out to defend Houston. He said, "I saw the whole show. Was it an A? No, it was probably a B+. It was not a train wreck. She was hitting most of the notes. Yes, her throat was a little croaky. Her health is fine but she's also not 22 years of age anymore. She was on stage for two-and-a-half hours dancing, singing, running. Was she a little out of breath on a couple of songs? Yes, she was. But I don't apologise for that, she had a red-hot go."

Ouch! When your tour promoter says she hit "most" of the notes, that can't be good. Saying things like it was a "B+" and it wasn't a "train wreck" just make it sound like it was worse. He also added that Houston was surprised by the negative reviews saying, "she went to bed after the show giving a two-and-a-half hour solid performance. She was proud of it. She thought she gave her all and did a strong performance and I agreed with her. This was the first night of a tour after a long flight; she hasn't played for a while."

Here again he gives a compliment about the show ("strong performance") and follows up with an excuse for her ("she hasn't played in a while").

The unfortunate point is Whitney Houston threw her voice away with drug addiction and poor health. Hopefully she will stop ruining her voice further by doing more performances and either retire or get vocal help. Although it's OK to feel sorry for Whitney, it's not OK for her to be charging fans upwards of $195 AU for a performance that wouldn't pass on American Idol.



Quotes via Contact Music

The Taylor Swift can't sing Grammy saga...

As you all know, Taylor Swift can't sing. This was heard by millions watching the Grammy's as she shaked, wobbled, and missed all the right notes in a medley of her songs. Everyone can have an off night, but hearing her voice so raw and exposed revealed a huge lack of training and her performance left a lot to be desired. This point was solidified as Swift's idol, Stevie Nicks walked onto the stage to sing a duet with her. Nicks was calm, collected and on-point while Swift was jumping all over the place, her energy seemed to be a distraction from her short-comings.

As pop stars and teen sensations go, Taylor Swift does have singing talent. But as we all know, to be a pop star takes MUCH, MUCH more than singing talent. You have to be fierce, have an incomparable stage presence, demand attention, dance, connect with the music / crowd / band, and you have to sing. At this point, Taylor Swift needs to decide what she wants to be. A pop star? Or a singing artist? Because she doesn't have what it takes to be either right now, and she is stuck in the middle (it is a Grammy winning middle, but it is the middle none the less and will be fleeting).

The huge backlash against her performance has been heard from the major critics (The New York Times, Washington Post), TV News, Twitter, Youtube comments, blogs and more. The noise made its way all the way up to the big man at Taylor Swift's record label, Big Machine Records. His name is Scott Borchetta and he released a statement through the Tennessean which did not help her case.

"Maybe she's not the best technical singer, but she's probably the best emotional singer because everybody else who gets up there and is technically perfect, people don't seem to want more of it." Who are these people that don't want to see a technically perfect singer? Swift is billed as a SINGER.... shouldn't she be able to SING?
"This is not 'American Idol.' This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. ... It's not about that technically perfect performance."
She definitely did not sing the high notes... in fact she lowered all of them in comparison to what she sings on the CD, and she was still pitchy.
"I think (the critics) are missing the whole voice of a generation that is happening right in front of them. … She's an extraordinary songwriter and her vocal performances are getting better."
The voice of a generation?! Maybe. If the generation he is talking about is today's pre-teen girls. But does that equal staying power? True staying power? No. You have to have something. You have to be able to perform. In some sense of the word.

Kelly Clarkson has weighed in on this whole subject in her blog, and attacked Borchetta for his American Idol comments. "you know what, we not only hit the high notes, you forgot to mention we generally hit the ‘right’ notes as well. Every artist has a bad performance or two and that is understandable, but throwing blame will not make the situation at hand any better." 
Ouch.
"Instead of lashing out at other artists (that in your 'humble' opinion lack true artistry), you should simply take a breath and realize that sometimes things won't go according to plan or work out and that's okay." 
Thank you Kelly, for your words of wisdom.
She signed the blog "One of those contestants from American Idol who only made it because of her high notes "

In the end, Taylor Swift won 4 Grammys and is now the youngest artist to win the top prize of Album of the Year. But winning a Grammy does not equal staying power. To have that she's going to have do some major work.

Watch her Grammy performance below: