Who doesn't love Kelly Clarkson?
Funny, down to earth, kinda goofy and awkward, but with a voice that can crumble mountains.We fell in love with the gutsy singer on season one of American Idol back in 2002, and since then not only has she managed to maintain grounded and normal, but has also held on to a successful music career- unlike fellow season one runners up Nikki McKibbin and Justin Guarini, (remember them? I sure don't). As if to mark her decade in the music industry the singer just scored her latest Billboard number one with single Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You).
Here's to another decade of success!
Watching the performance I now have two more reasons to add to my "Why I love Kelly Clarkson" list. Not only did she cover, and profess love for, one my favorite singles of last year -Britney Spears' Till the World Ends- but she also shared her pathological hate of exercise and the gym at the end of it! attagirl, Kelly! A woman after my own, cholesterol covered, heart!
Instead of covering the song in the dance style of the original, Kelly opted to take the arrangement in an acoustic, stripped-back direction. If I'm honest, it wasn't doing much for me, with its hammy piano chords, and decrease in tempo, which stripped the song of the addictive energy of the original . Still, it was a light and fun take that gave the song a new spin.
The vocals were as exceptional as ever from Ms Clarkson- she is rarely ever anything but that- hitting, slightly raspy fifth octave chest notes with ease, and confidence. I would have loved to have heard her sing it over the Britney Spears production, but it may just have led to some sort of seizure from which I never would have awoken [much like the effect of this image times a thousand: epileptics beware], so I guess she did me a favor!
Take a peep below!
MariahJournal just posted this video of Kelly Clarkson and Tamyra Gray covering the Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston duet When You Believe, so I thought I'd bundle it with this post.
Good try ladies, but, erm, no. This song was too wide, range wise, for either singer to truly sound comfortable, ultimately leading to tuning issues cropping up throughout. But credit to them for trying; it takes a brave duo to cover this song with the original vocal melody relatively unchanged.
Note to all and sundry: If this song can show up a vocalist like Kelly Clarkson it helps you realise just why Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey are in a league of their own when it comes to vocal prowess and musicality.
Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston sing When You Believe live, how it should be: flawless.
Thoughts?
I loved the Til The World Ends Cover.
ReplyDeleteI'm indifferent about the "When You Believe" cover
I felt first off the song didn't suit Kelly's voice at all, sure she can knock out some power ballads here and there but "When You Believe" just doesn't fit her vocal styling at all. It's more for the sweeter and cleaner vocal styling of Whitney and Mariah, And Tamyra kind of put me off because she sounds a bit like Whitney yet she's singing Mariah's part so it kind of threw me off the entire time xD
These are more up Kelly's alley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zM5IkUlD6s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH0cQQpDuWE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twqowzJKaKY
She's much more at home with the rougher, more rock-ish vocal styling.
Even though she get's a bit strained at times, She's probably my favorite singer to emerge from the previous decade, there is just so much passion behind her voice and in the same hand has a pretty good technique.
Well, when Kelly coverd Mariah's "Love takes time" I almost died. Now, on "When you believe" I think she did a good job.
ReplyDeletewoooie, when it rains it pours! lol. Thanks for those extra vids!
ReplyDeleteI'll check it out!
ReplyDeleteDid you hear that awesome note Kelly hit at 4:18 in the cover of When You Believe???? Haha, just kidding.
ReplyDeleteHey DD, what do you think about this? It's a cover of "Vision of Love" by a contestant on The Voice.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUMGmcbZThc&list=PL05898CAE16957472&index=4&feature=plcp
Lol....DD you are awesome! 'a woman after my own cholestorol covered heart' lmao!!! Anyway anything I say here would be unfair and extremely bias (Kelly is prob my all time fav diva - next to Mimi) But I thought all the covers were immense, she just has that kind of voice that can sing absolutely anything. So for my round-up, all I will say is that she f*****g rocks man!!!!
ReplyDeleteI did think of you when writing that! Was worried you might blacklist me if i went in too hard on Ms Clarkson....lol
ReplyDeletehmmm. I hope shes not a favourite of yours because that sounded like not so great karaoke to me. She was incredibly shaky, I'm guessing due to nerve, and it led to an overall pitchy rendition. She even came in out of tune...not a great sign. Christina Is looking great though, I was listening out for her gnashing teeth, what with it being a Mariah song, but I'm guessing her mic was off...lol
ReplyDeleteLOL well done! You are learning...hehe joking aside, I agree about the 'When You Believe' cover....that should never really be touched by anyone now at this point, there were notes in there that were a tad uncomfortable to listen to. She is truly fearless about tackling tough songs though. Loving your work as always! ;)
ReplyDeleteWow nice vid Hannah! I thought that was a pretty good rendition, a bit shaky at the start but I like how she played with it.
ReplyDeleteMy only issue with the vid is that of Christina's chest....she couldn't obtain a higher level of cleavage if she tried....lol very distracting, and thats not even my thing... :S
Lol I get you, I think its a tad unfair to expect anyone to sing any Mariah song to be fair....just trying to make it sound decent is a mission in itself!
ReplyDeleteHave you been watching the UK version? I am pleasantly surprised I must say...
Wow, criticisms on Kelly Clarkson!! you better hope she doesn't read that response, might revoke your stan card. And thanks for the compliment. I'm over with trying to be overly clinical and balanced-bar the profile posts. This is a blog, darn tooting, and I shall speak my truths loud and proud!!! I shall hence forth be using Julie Andrews as my role model [see Image].
ReplyDeleteI think it'll ultimately make for more debates! :D
http://s3.amazonaws.com/rapgenius/4db77_ORIG-look_at_all_the_fucks_i_give.jpg
I watched last week! Was pleasantly surprised. Loved how they didn't have any mean, joke singers. It was genuinely refreshing. The guys were especially great.
ReplyDeleteNoooooo not my card!!!! Have a kidney, but don't take my card lol I LOVE that pic! Exactly, you should be able to say what you want, people should be able and open to accept the opinions of others...thats what makes for interesting debates!
ReplyDeleteI know!! I hope that they concentrate on the talent though, and dont go all X-Factorish only to make the judges more relevant than the contestants....
ReplyDeleteAnd I expect you guys to be just as blunt!
ReplyDeleteI can 'always' do blunt...some folks on here prob know me for that already lol
ReplyDeleteHaha, she's not a favorite of mine. That was her "save me" song and she was eliminated.
ReplyDeleteDid she pick it herself? Because if she did, then #fail.
ReplyDeleteOh and here is one of my favourite of her covers ever....not often does a song move me on a massive level but this cut right into my soul! Beautiful, stunning, magnificent....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6464zXWX5rc&list=PL06E0430ADAC28377&feature=mh_lolz
HAHAHA, she did pick the song herself! Here's another video you may be interested in. It's after the same contestant's first audition and Christina joins her on stage and they sing together.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmzB-Nd90gA&feature=related
i agree i get mad whenever singers try to sing mariah or whitney songs similarly to the original arrangement - i mean if u cover a whitney or mariah song, you should make it your own because if u do it like the original you will just pale in comparison
ReplyDeletehaha i would like to see christina try to sing vision of love
ReplyDeletethat would be an epic fail
and i agree sera was shaky but i think it was her nerves because she was on the verge of elimination
and for the video where xtina goes on stage to sing with her - i am so confused now idk if i should be okay with christina straining and if i should take it as just one of her artistic nuances
It was just a cover for one date, not for releasing purposes. Do you know how much time takes create a new arragement for a song. It can take weeks, and these songs were only sang in LA for one single date. It's a waste of time make a new arragement for a single date. They were kinda karaoking the songs, is not a real cover.
ReplyDeleteChristina has sung Vision of Love and quite well. There is a clip on Youtube of her on Youtube of when she was very young at either a talent show or audition and sadly all there is is the last belt but it was spot on and no strain is present in her voice.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8ahveOX0eg
I agree with you about it probably being a very hastily put together duet, hence the choice to remain close to the original melody. I've tried--and failed-- many a time to sing that song at karaoke, so I have respect for anyone who attempts it, especially in a public place!
ReplyDeleteWow, that was beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI love that Mary J Blige song, and actually think it would really suit christina if she released that as a single.
ReplyDeleteI can't help thinking that lighter tone is more like what her voice should actually sound more like today
ReplyDeleteIf we're talking about Kelly Covering songs
ReplyDeleteHear her cover for "Heavy in your arms"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYUxIshu68E
Here is a link to every song she covered in her Stronger tour so far
ReplyDeletehttp://music-mix.ew.com/2012/04/09/kelly-clarkson-covers-stronger-tour/
My fav is her version of Paramore's 'The Only Exception'
I enjoyed both covers. Yeah, the tempo kind of got away from them once it picked up, but it was still very good, in my humble opinion. And let me say I STILL think it should have been Kelly/Tamyra in the American Idol finale back in 2002 lol. Tamyra should so have a bigger career, but that's another topic for another day lol.
ReplyDeleteJust saying to the last piece of the article, Kelly was giving Mariah a run for her money when she was covering her songs on Idol :P
ReplyDeleteHay hay hay, rmbr me? I'm Ahmin author of the Jessica Jung video, ANYWAYS, I wanted to share my favorite cover of the song by Sunye and Yeeun of the Wonder Girls, definitely got a long way to become like em divas, but still showed so much potential
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMRoOgT_Epk