When she's not glammed up, she can look ordinary.
Posted on 05/08/2006 4:22:13 AM PDT by silent_jonny
When she's not glammed up, she can look ordinary.
They should turn the cover into a poster for all the middle-aged women to scoop up for their private moments. It would sell millions.
Rats. Didn't know there was one. I was hoping they would run it again sometime this week. I almost never watch CNN. Unbearable. I know they do run some of the Larry King shows at different times through the week. I see them when flipping through the channels. Hope this will be one of them. Sounds like it was an interesting show.
I never wsatch CNN either. I had to find the channel thru tv guide channel!
The point is the music industry can't figure out why sales are slumping. They blame it on Napster and piracy. The truth is they abandoned true musicians for eye candy. Here's a great article in the Houston Chronicle that sums up why Taylor won over McPhee, even though all the PTB still thinks she's the most marketable.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/3900304.html
Houston Chronicle
McPhee took joy out of the song
By AMY BIANCOLLI
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
Armchair quarterbacks may be startled by Taylor Hicks' triumph over
Katharine McPhee in the finals of American Idol, but I, for one,
wasn't surprised. Beyond question, the sultry femme from California
had a better set of pipes — cleaner, more brilliant and well-trained —
than the rough-edged belter out of Alabama. But she wasn't the better
musician.
How could that be? How could McPhee's knockout mezzo and near-flawless
renditions come in second to Taylor's idiosyncratic dance moves and
gravelly voice?
Because art and perfection aren't the same. Because music and
technique aren't interchangeable. Because McPhee, for all her slick
turns of phrase and gymnastic melisma, didn't celebrate the music when
she sang. She celebrated herself.
Look at me, she seemed to say. Look at this trick. Watch me juggle
cats (or Kats) in the air.
McPhee's performances often generated "Wows," but viewers wowed the
instrument in her throat, not the songs she performed. At times her
interpretations turned me off a song. Before she sang it, I rather
liked Black Horse and the Cherry Tree; now I'll be glad if I never
hear it again.
Hicks' performances, meanwhile, reminded me why I loved Stevie Wonder
or the Doobie Brothers to begin with. He shook up Takin' It to the
Streets with such unembarrassed joy — and truly, how else should it be
sung? — that I wanted to climb on stage and sing it with him. He
earned his own "Wows." Wow, that's a fun little nugget of pop candy.
Wow, what a blast it must be to sing it.
And he sang it well. As popular as it is to criticize Hicks' awkward
gestures (the elbow crunch; the agonized grimace; the spastic head
jerk) and totally bananas footwork, there's nothing wrong with his
technique.
Simon Cowell confirmed as much in one of his softer comments from the
judges' table. The guy has a good ear — in Idol parlance, he
isn't "pitchy" — and an intuitive feel for phrasing, combining well-
judged dynamics and punchy rhythms to take a song right where it ought
to go, but no further.
With Hicks, technique is a tool — not an end but a means.
When it becomes an end, as it so often did with McPhee, the result is
a virtuosic pyrotechnic blow-out in which the performer's skill
overshadows the composer's art.
How often I wanted to scream, "Get out of the way!" I yearned to hear
the melody under all that lacy accessorizing.
Cowell repeatedly urged her to simplify, and when she finally did — on
Somewhere Over the Rainbow — the stripped-bare beauty of the song
emerged with exquisite tenderness.
All great music has something to communicate, and all great musicians
communicate it. That's the gist of performance: not to show off, but
to reach out to listeners in an intimate and powerful way. This is
true of all inspired performers in all ages and musical genres, from
Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen to Enrico Caruso.
A wise musician friend of mine, commenting on a young pianist who had
just ripped some Liszt to shreds, observed, "He plays the piano, not
the piece." Different instrument, same problem: McPhee has the pipes,
but she seldom sings the song.
That's a really good article that truly does sum up Kat's problem and explains why Taylor is the better singer and performer.
It is a great article. It also should be an eye openener to the A&R execs to abandon what they have been doing for the last few years and find real musicians. America spoke loud and clear that we like musicians not pop tarts.
Meant to tell you, that link is a real hoot! :)
I was hoping not to know what political persuasion either, but really, Clinton IS a good politician and I hate to say it, more conservative fiscally than many current year republicans. If Taylor bashed Bush, that would be another thing, and he has not done so.
Randy may have a 20 word vocablary but he knows music. Not sure if you saw LK last night but he is Mariah Carey's "Musical Director" for her upcoming tour and he has produced all of her records. The "dawg" knows music.
I'm giving it a first listen right now. The biggest surprise for me so far is just how good Melissa McGhee's studio version of "What About Love" is. Who knew? Elliott and Bucky translate to CD very nicely. I'll definately buy anything more they produce. I think the Chris and Taylor pieces were lacking a wee bit - but that's probably because I love seeing them perform so much. Chris because he is soooooo darn yummy and Taylor because he makes me want to jump up and dance. My favorite? Paris' "Midnight Train to Georgia". I think I'm going to be humming that all day.
I once bought some music by Mariah Carey. I ended up giving it away, so, considering I can't stand Mariah Carey, I would guess that there are other people out there that also know music.
I listened to it about 5 times yesterday, was out driving to PGH. I like Bucky's Superstition.
That is the best article I've read explaining the difference. Extremely well written and dead on accurate. Thanks for posting.
Randy likes Mariah Carey music. I don't. So, why would I see the value in him looking for more Mariah's. I don't. He isn't going anywhere so it doesn't really matter. I'm just not that impressed by him.
So is Paris Hilton a product of her environment. That excuse doesn't do it for me any more.
I hope Katherine mellows with maturity; she's beautiful and talented and loses nothing by being gracious and generous. All of the others (except maybe Ayla) recognized that AI was the most incredible opportunity of their lifetimes.
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