Mariah Carey hit the stage for her first live performance since the birth of "Dem Babies"- yes, I'm purposely ignoring the T-Mobile "holographic" performance from November of last year. Part of an eight song set for Jimmy Kimmel‘s "Plot Your Escape", the performance of Shake It Off was nabbed from Ustream by a Youtuber- Facebook and MSN noises included. The full set airs tomorrow [Saturday, March 3rd] on US television.
The thing that really struck me about this performance, other than the brilliant arrangement, is how much Mariah played with the melody of the song. Usually Mariah sticks as rigidly as possible to the recorded version, but here she seemed less concerned with recreating that vocal, and more about what felt right at that moment. To me this is a really exciting development, and I hope the subsequent songs from this set shows her expanding on this!
Let's not beat around the bush though, the top notes at the end were lipped, you could see at 4.08 where she starts lip-synching too early, and the subsequent annoyed look shot in someone's direction off camera. Also there was that classic Mariah trick of turning away from the camera, when miming the notes, at 4.25. However, she hit a resonant D5 effortlessly at 1.01 so I'm not worried about the voice.
I can not wait for the full set to be aired, especially considering how at ease and relaxed Mariah appeared on stage. This feels to be the start of an interesting period, and growth, in Mariah Carey and her career.
Viva La Carey
Ahhh the 'Diva Supreme' returns! Sooo glad she is back on the old singing saddle. Have totally missed her! Can't wait to hear her new stuff! too! Welcome back MC
ReplyDeletewhere is the effortlessly D5 hitting? I don't hear it.
ReplyDeletesorry, I noted the wrong time. Amended!
ReplyDeleteTotally agree! Really excited about seeing the whole set tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteMeh I was expecting more. But oh well. She was a bit off key towards the beginning but improved a lot which actually had me questioning the credibility of the performance until I heard the D5 which led me to believe it was entirely legit minus that one note. I guess I was expecting too much from Mariah so soon. Its just with her new album supposedly being more like her older albums I was expecting THE SONGBIRD SUPREME rather than the Emancipated Mimi of Hiphop. overall a decent performance with a lot to keep us waiting for.
ReplyDeleteit seem so faded and her breathing support is a mess
ReplyDeleteShe was not lipping, baby. I was talking with some friends, and we all agree that she forgot the lirics. She looked at the backing vocal, because she almost lost the timing.
ReplyDeleteThere's no way the note at 4:00 is live. With how resonant Mariah's vocals are even holding the Mic at an odd angle wouldn't diminish the audios quality to such extremes as it did. The note blended too perfectly with the music. Plus she did the classic look away and hide your face thing Mariah does when she lip syncs. Because she is awful at selling fake vocals she hides when doing them which is even more obvious.
ReplyDeleteHer voice sounds so weak. She should consider getting her nodules removed by the same doctor who did Adele, maybe she would be able to sing more solid notes.
ReplyDelete22 years later and she still can kill you with her hand.
You don't knoe Mariah Carey. LOL
ReplyDeleteHow would forgetting the lyrics mess up the power and projection of her belt? If she didn't lip it then why would her powerbelt sound less projected than her whisper singing? Really now. It's quite obvious.
ReplyDeleteSeriously? I do not hear nothing wrong there. She was a little bit lost? YES. She forgot some of the lyrics? YES. But She was not lipping.
ReplyDeleteDD, did you manage to catch the full set? I only got a view of her doing Hero (the quality was bearable at best) but I liked how she deviated from the usual with her rendition of it.
ReplyDeleteHowever whilst some parts sounded live she did the whole turning 180 on the audience making me suspicious! Either way as I said I am just glad to have her back!
You're seriously telling me that her belt is not as resonant as her whispers. Seriously. Check your ears.
ReplyDeleteI never said that she forgot the lyrics. I didn't even say she was lost. I just said that with the quality of her projected note at 4:00 to be less than the rest of the singers trade mark whisper singing is preposterous. Meaning that she did lip that one note. I didn't say she lipped the entire performance. I just said she lipped that one note.
ReplyDeleteI said that she forgot the lyrics. I said the she was a little bit lost.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm telling you that YOU should check your ears, because there's nothing wrong at 4:00.
"Mariah Carey hit the stage for her first live performance since the birth of "Dem
ReplyDeleteBabies"- yes, I'm purposely ignoring the T-Mobile "holographic"
performance from November of last year..."
LOL
Why people didn't undertand that T-Mobile performance was just a markting thing?
I'm really confused. Thought it was going to air on tv, so i was waiting for it to hit the internet in high def. I've seen her performance of "Hero" and "I'll be there" but quality was shocking!
ReplyDeleteIf you can't tell then im sorry. But its clear to any one with a good singers ear that the note is fake.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of whether or not it was just Marketing it is still a Performance that can be evaluated.
ReplyDeleteyou definitly do not know Mariah Carey. Watch her last performances of "I'll be there" and you'll see how she can belt high notes even with the mic far away from her.
ReplyDeletelets agree to disagree for now. Hopefully better quality versions of her other songs will be released. I saw some of the "I'll be there" and she sounded really good.
ReplyDeleteI mean, the performance was a promotional act. It was NOT live. Mariah NEVER told it was live.
ReplyDeleteIm just going to agree to disagree. And what do you mean I do not know Mariah carey? I've been a huge fan for many years. You're statement about her projection in I'll be there further proves my point. Regardless of how far away the mic is her projection is phenomenal. It should NOT I repeat Should NOT effect the sheer power of her voice. However when she belted in this video the quality of her note DIMINISHED incredibly. Im not speaking about her ability at all. You don't need to defend her voice. Im just saying that for some odd reason she Lipped that one Note. And I've already explained how I know.
ReplyDeleteHow YOU THINK you know.
ReplyDeleteLike I said she was a little bit lost, so I don't think she'd risk lipping a note. She didn't even rebember the lyrics, so I don't think she would rebember when to start and stop singing.
every body you should hear these two contestant from Arab idol.
ReplyDeletei'm saudi and i think (though i prefer american music) that arabian singers are way better the stay in their comfort zone and they are very good when it comes to runs and technique. and here is a professional singer her name is nawal she is a contralto with a very warm and angelic voice. diva or anyone else give me your opinion.
1-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQCPnMxozog&feature=plcp&context=C3d94fa5UDOEgsToPDskKjG0PkfdzK42gNl7z7G6Pq and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VthqfpITwpo&feature=plcp&context=C39baac2UDOEgsToPDskLuYve4MOb1_KmDyu1J6NZc first contestant her name is karmen.
2-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy_oyem6y4w second contestant her name is denia.
3-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm_3wqvStWs here is nawal the pro.
1-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQCPnMxozog&feature=plcp&context=C3d94fa5UDOEgsToPDskKjG0PkfdzK42gNl7z7G6Pq and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VthqfpITwpo&feature=plcp&context=C39baac2UDOEgsToPDskLuYve4MOb1_KmDyu1J6NZc here is a contestant from arab idol her name is karmen she is amazing.
ReplyDelete2-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy_oyem6y4w another contestant her name is denia.
3-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm_3wqvStWs here is nawal she is pro.
hear this then give me your opinoin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQCPnMxozog&feature=plcp&context=C3d94fa5UDOEgsToPDskKjG0PkfdzK42gNl7z7G6Pq.
ReplyDeleteOkay this is how I know. listen to her yelling "Do you LIKE THIS TELL ME!" at 1:00. It is a yell which anyone can do. very little carrying power and quite strained. Yet it sounds loud. A power BELT that is resonant should be able to carry vast distances and be amplified far beyond a standard "Yell". A power belt should be able to fill an entire auditorium with resonance. It should Be projected. Now compare it with the belt at 4:00. I just gotta shake yer off!!!! sounds much more comfortable but the audio INTENSITY is much smaller than her strained yell. Someone told me earlier that it was because of the angle of her Mic. But that wouldnt matter because Opera singers who use techniques similar to Mariah dont even have to be near their microphones to sound "Loud". Now any one with any type of vocal training should be able to recognize this. You're saying she wouldn't risk Lipping if she didn't know the lyrics? What sense does that make. I would think if you don't remember the lyrics that would pressure you to lipp even more.
ReplyDeleteIt's not making a big deal out of nothing. It's ensuring that people know that it was false so that a singers true ability isn't over exaggerated. Mariah did make a good performance. She was straining a bit and was off key at the beginning but later on the performance was much better.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with you. I'm a MC fan to the core, however she lip synced that note at 4:00. I don't think she lip synced the entire song though. As a matter of fact, the fact that she didn't lip sync the entire song makes it all of the more obvious she lip synced that note.
ReplyDeleteShe lip synced it for three reasons:
1) As you said, the note blended too perfectly with the music.
2) The part where she sung "I just gotta shake it off." began a half second too early and it overlapped the note she was already singing.
3) As Diva Devotee pointed out, MC deviated from the original melody and the "I just gotta shake it off" part is the exact way it sounds on the studio recording. I own the CD, The Emancipation of Mimi, that Shake It Off is on. I played the note in Shake It Off from the CD on my computer and the note she hit in the live performance and they're exactly the same. She wasn't singing in the same key as the studio version so that note shouldn't have been in the same key unless it was lip synced.
I hate to say it, however some people will make any excuse for their favorite singer. The song came out 7 years ago and MC doesn't have the strength for that kind of a belt anymore. This is a solid performance from MC, however that particular note wasn't live and as a fan I can accept that. Singers all need a little help every now and then. I'm still not convinced that Beyoncé's (my favorite singer/performer) Love on Top performance at the VMAs was live, however if it came out that it wasn't live I can take comfort in knowing that she's capable of doing it live.
You should also look at W. Rose's comment above^. They explained it even further than i thought.
ReplyDeleteok, that's your opinion - a wrong opinion - but I have to respect it.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion is: there's no fake note there.
That's a far better analysis than "oh she just forgot the lyrics!"
ReplyDeleteIm using actual facts about vocal ability, projection, resonance, and I used examples from the clip to prove my point. All you have to say for yourself is I have poor ears and she forgot the lyrics. You have no proof that she forgot the lyrics. Because she did not say "I forgot the lyrics." Im not the only one who can prove this as there are several other son this page further proving my point. The belt is exactly the same as on the cd.
ReplyDeleteHey, babe, you didn't proove anything. That's just your dream. The note was totally live.
ReplyDelete"The belt is exactly the same as on the cd" LOL!!!! Now I have the proof that you don't know Mariah's voice. GAME OVER!!!
You have no proof that she forgot the lyrics. You have no evidence to support your delusional opinion. I know Mariah. I own literally every single record she has ever made. From Vision of love all the way to I wanna know what love is. I know of vocal dynamics and how their achieved. You know absolutely nothing besides the fact that you like her. Not only I but several others on this page have proven that it was a false note. Now if your too demented to accept this then fine. But don't start saying that I dont know anything because I have obviously proven my point with actual facts, data, and examples. Listen to the cd and play the note at the same time. EXACTLY the same. I've done it already. And dont give me the well shes that great of a singer crap because even if she hit the same note with the same accuracy and projection there would still be a major difference in its fullness.
ReplyDeleteI think there's someone here suffering from multi personality. There is a cure for that: medicine.
ReplyDeletethe more you try to prove something, the more YOU look like a lunitic.
ReplyDeleteWhen everyone is on the same page and your the only one speaking out against it with no factual evidence to support yourself you look like an idiot stan. And there is a cure for your delusion. Its called education.
ReplyDeleteagain: I think there's someone here suffering from multi personality. There is a cure for that: medicine.
ReplyDeleteYour comment doesnt even make any sense. Wtf do you mean multiple personality disorder. Ive been arguing with you about the same thing.
Delete*lunatic
ReplyDeleteIt's spelled "l-u-n-a-t-i-c". I'm just saying.
LOL!
ReplyDeleteIf you're not into internet slangs, so get lost!
Idiot.
DeleteHa he said "lunitic" was internet slang. No. Its an idiot not knowing how to spell a word. You don't know anything about vocal technique or production. You have no ear for music. Yes, Mariah is (was) a great singer...but even when she was great she lip-synced. You all gave this performance more credit than it was due. This was awful and a mess. I'm sorry, but Mariah Carey doesn't get to be off key. Her runs were flat (ie the word "can't") and she messed up the "sync" part of lip-syncing. I love that the arrangement should have catered more to her weaker voice (weak in comparison to Mariah Carey on this record--which in turn was weak compared to pre-Glitter release MC--and not in comparison to any other singers out there today--except maybe Beyonce lol). Mariah is MUCH better than this. Hopefully the rest was better (considering the rest she sang live)
ReplyDeleteHaving read this I thought it was very enlightening.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you spending some time and effort to put this
article together. I once again find myself personally spending way too much time
both reading and leaving comments. But so what, it was still worthwhile!
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