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Post by millring on May 29, 2015 8:46:36 GMT -5
also, if you say "Harry Connick coaches" fast enough, it sounds like "harry connacoaches"
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Dub
Administrator
I'm gettin' so the past is the only thing I can remember.
Posts: 19,872
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Post by Dub on May 29, 2015 9:31:43 GMT -5
I wonder how many folks who have started to appreciate the Postmodern Jukebox videos are aware of the number of AI alum who are performing in them? What the hell are you talking about?
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Post by Lonnie on May 29, 2015 9:31:59 GMT -5
Maria Carey has a brain the size of a finch.
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Post by AlanC on May 29, 2015 10:20:33 GMT -5
What I don't like about AI is that they go all over the country, listen to a 100,000 people (maybe more), winnow them down to a dozen, and some of them can't stay on key. WTF? Their selection process has always been seriously flawed from start to finish. If you like that sort of show, watch The Voice. Much better vocalists and process. Just like AI, however, the "winners" quickly fade into obscurity never to be heard from again.
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Post by Russell Letson on May 29, 2015 10:34:22 GMT -5
Well, reality TV isn't about reality, is it? AI's decision to air tryout failures tells me a lot about what they're really interested in--a certain amount of toe-curling humiliation. It's not enough that the "best" singer win--we must also watch the biggest losers lose.
I hear a lot of amateur singing, and there are plenty of people (with and without training) with very respectable chops--decent pipes, good pitch control and time, and a fine sense of the song. Some of them have come up through church or school choirs and some of them are just natural artists. What I don't hear among these singers is showboating and vocal gymnastics, though that might be a matter of demographics and subculture(s)--I also don't hear any rap or death metal.
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Post by RickW on May 29, 2015 10:45:03 GMT -5
There are a lot of fine singers out there. The folks who get picked can sing. But they are constantly pulled out of their comfort zones. Someone can pull off a Mariah Carey number, and fall flat on American Songbook. Amateur singers sing what they are good at and interested in.
The show is interested in big voice numbers mostly, because that's what makes the average listener go wow, and come back. Metal singers need not apply, it's not the market.
The jazz singer in the commercial had the benefit of no audience, retakes and overdubs, and no audience of millions waiting for them to blow it.
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Post by RickW on May 29, 2015 10:47:53 GMT -5
Maria Carey has a brain the size of a finch. I think you're being generous. However there were a number of other things, including her voice, that everyone was interested in. My favorite quote of hers was when she took a piece off Britny Spears for dressing like a tramp. Really?
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Post by Marshall on May 29, 2015 11:20:24 GMT -5
. . . , But as to Harry Connick and his advice: I don't disagree with him in the clip. The contestants are trying to stand out in a talent contest and Connick is, instead, conceiving a well-made recording. To some extent the wiser contestant just nods their head graciously at Connick's advice and then goes and gives the voting audience what they expect to hear and what will win them another round, given the context of the contest.As a judge, Connick is sometimes brilliant and witty, but more often (too often) stealing the spotlight from the contestants (and everyone else, for that matter) with untimely joking and hamming it up. As a judge he more often than not comes across as a hammer in search of a nail. He tries to show off his musical expertise (and few are as expert as he), but even I who have only a cursory knowledge of music can recognize the many times he's making up shit. Nicely said. I don't watch the show; for all the pro-populace/anti-artistic reasons you mention. And the Connick rants I've seen strike a chord in my musical sensitivity. But, at the same time, I realize he's in it to promote Harry Connick Jr as much or more than he is to shape a young talent before him. And for that, I'm skeptical of what he says, even though artistically he speaks some truth. As you know I just spent 4 days in the company of Darrell Scott. Talk about a man who is genuinely there for the encouragement of others ! ! !
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Post by Russell Letson on May 29, 2015 11:45:49 GMT -5
Did Connick comport himself all that differently when functioning as a judge? In the clip I stumbled across, he gives exactly the kind of advice I've seen teachers (voice and instrumental) give repeatedly, and in very much the same manner.
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Dub
Administrator
I'm gettin' so the past is the only thing I can remember.
Posts: 19,872
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Post by Dub on May 29, 2015 12:06:34 GMT -5
I see the blessings of not having TV are even greater than I imagined. I didn't know who Harry C. was and, though I've heard the name, I've no idea what Maria Carey sounds like… and that's OK.
I think Harry is giving the singers good advice. I don't know whether they won their contests but if they pursue singing careers we'll all be well served if they take his advice.
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Post by Russell Letson on May 29, 2015 13:17:25 GMT -5
Most of Harry's career has nothing to do with the telly, though he's a good enough actor to get movie parts and continuing roles on a of couple TV series. But he's a highly competent musician with a lot of range.
BTW--Somebody on Djangobooks posted this example of Harry turning the beat around to get a French audience off 1-3 clapping. Watch right around the 40-second mark--and note the drummer's response.
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Post by millring on May 29, 2015 13:49:09 GMT -5
Maria Carey has a brain the size of a finch. But I LIKE the song finches sing.
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Post by millring on May 29, 2015 13:55:46 GMT -5
What I don't like about AI is that they go all over the country, listen to a 100,000 people (maybe more), winnow them down to a dozen, and some of them can't stay on key. WTF? Their selection process has always been seriously flawed from start to finish. If you like that sort of show, watch The Voice. Much better vocalists and process. Just like AI, however, the "winners" quickly fade into obscurity never to be heard from again. I do like The Voice better. But even then it becomes increasingly more and more embarrassing as the season wears on to listen to the judges (who started OFF with hyperbole) trying to come up with something meaningful to say after they've already piled it deeper and wider than they should have to begin with. It's excruciating. But, yeah, the voices are better and more interesting because they didn't do an age limit thing AND the first audition is a blind audition (a GREAT concept, by the way). But even The Voice devolves into showmanship -- even though the very CONCEPT was supposed to have been "voice only". So you have these really, really goofy productions by Pharell that are reminiscent of the 60s TV specials wherein folk musicians would share the stage with go-go dancers. I enjoyed The Voice this year, though, because I'd already been a big fan of Josh Davis because of his Michigan band "Steppin In It"
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Post by millring on May 29, 2015 14:09:32 GMT -5
Maria Carey has a brain the size of a finch.
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Post by millring on May 29, 2015 14:14:43 GMT -5
This recording came on my pandora station the other day. Donny Hathaway has a voice like very few others in the history of that nexus of R&B, Soul, Gospel, and Pop. And when it came on I must have recently been thinking about The Voice because my mind immediately began to imagine a regular looking guy simply standing at a mic with his hands behind his back or relaxed at his side and simply singing this. I wonder how quickly all four chairs would have turned? I wonder how quickly the rest of the contestants would have simply quit?
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Post by Doug on May 29, 2015 18:48:14 GMT -5
So you have these really, really goofy productions by Pharell that are reminiscent of the 60s TV specials wherein folk musicians would share the stage with go-go dancers. Why do you hate go-go dancers.
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Post by Village Idiot on May 29, 2015 21:24:52 GMT -5
I don't watch the show, but Kim does, which means I hear clips coming out of the living room. The absolute worse I've heard, honestly, is when the judges sang. I had to google up the names and match them to pictures but three examples I'm thinking of are Maraiah Carey, Niki Minaj and Paula Abdul.
Good Lord, if their performances had been done by contestants, they would have been tossed off the show, and here they are judging.
I do like Harry, however, and have actually heard of him. Kim thinks he's the dreamiest.
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Post by Cosmic Wonder on May 29, 2015 22:24:15 GMT -5
What I like best about AI is when the AFLAK duck comes on. He cracks me up.
Mike
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