Having given so many knock out performance in her mammoth career, I thought Beyonce was infallible.
Consistently delivering high octane choreography, along with world class vocals, the Bootlicious star had convinced me that perfection was her standard and it wasn't possible for her to deliver anything but that. Well, if you thought that too, check out her performance of Diva, Crazy in Love and Young Forever.
Pitchy vocals, clearly lacking stamina (vocally and physically), and sounding like her voice has dropped some of it's range, Beyonce was all over the shop in this set at the Barclays Center. Jay-Z wasn't much better either.
Perhaps (rightly) her priorities have changed since the birth of her first child, Blue Ivy, and rehearsing for a guest appearance no longer warrants the time and effort it once did. No shame in that. In fact this (totally fabricated by me) reason warms me to Beyonce: she is human after all!
I am sure that this isn't a sign of things to come from Beyonce, and she will in fact return harder, better, faster and stronger than ever before with her new project. But lessor performers (I'm not naming names) must be wringing their hands in glee watching this!
Check out the performances below!
I thought she sounded horrible as well, but everyone was freaking out, saying it was amazing.
ReplyDeleteI'll give her a free pass, though. She's been out of the came for a li'l while, so I'm sure she'll soon return to her former glory.
Poor Beyonce, she gave her all in these perfomrances its just that her voice wasn't there with her. She is the technicality queen and she should be back no time soon. And her low to midrange was good in the performance with Jay-Z (young forever). And lets face it, her most horrible performance still warrants a benefit of a doubts. Who knows, she probably screamed her voice out while giving birth. LMAO. But none the less, at least her technique wasn't completely off.
ReplyDeleteI dont think she was that bad. totally not her best but i was expecting to hear her voice cracking off key. love rihana pic btw, shes like haha now youre bad as me. lol
ReplyDeleteI should say it was bad by her standards. Which is still better than some people out there! lol
ReplyDeleteI suspect one of three things from Mrs. Perfect. 1. She could have been sick as she sounded a tiny bit stuffy at some parts to me. 2. It could be that time of the month lol. Female voices are less elastic and reach lower notes easier at this time (Whitney was definitely a preacher of this fact). 3. Her voice could have changed after giving birth to her baby. The entire female body including the voice changes and not just the cords themselves but the entire passage of sound (all the way from the diaphragm up to the Head). If her voice has indeed changed (she sounded much more comfortable singing the lower notes to me than the somewhat "Yelled" belts) she needs to relearn her body so she can keep on delivering. It was alright though. Still incredibly better than other singers on their "Bad days".
ReplyDeleteTotally.
ReplyDeleteGranted it was a bad performance, no once could do that run she does on 5:20.
ReplyDeleteYou guys make it seem like even world class singers can't have rough days! I can tell you...I have had some rough performances in my past: Notes that simply fell out, my lower range straining and becoming muddy, and overly shrill head notes. I think any musician, professional or amateur can and should have rough performances. This reminds everyone that they are human and not singing robots. People need to really view the voice as a dynamic instrument that is greatly affected my a myriad of conditions and variables. That said, Beyonce is known for being a stellar performer with a well-pitched voice so if this performance was messy, I feel she is entitled to have a few bungles.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, if this is considered the worst Beyonce's ever done, given how most singers don't sound as well on their GOOD days without any choreography, I think that it's a little sad how low the quality of our vocalists has fallen.
ReplyDeleteindeed!
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's got to do with her having the baby in any way more than the fact that she can't dedicate the time to preparing for low(er)-key performances like this one. She's sang since childbirth already and her voice didn't feature any of the problems present here.
ReplyDeleteI mean, watch the I Was Here performances at the UN World Humanitarian Day. Her voice was perfect, there.
ReplyDeleteYeah this performance was not it. I think one thing is that she is on break, so her voice is probably on that same break as well. Her voice is still there, I mean she got through her CIL run without issue, but all that growling during was not necessary. Plus she has been drinking a little more, so that might be a cause for her slight vocal decline (her I Was Here performance was dropped a little, the D5 were instead C#5's). Her voice has also been a lot darker post pregnancy; Revel her voice was considerably darker than it was in Roseland. Beyonce has always been one of the more vocally cautious singers of her generation so I think this break is just a one time thing.
ReplyDeleteAs for her, you can tell she is on break. I don't even think she was fully sober when she did this. It is not like Beyonce, at any condition, to be as bad as she is right there. As soon as she really gets back to work, she will drop her bad habits and (hopefully) get back into tip top shape.
I think it's a "technical" issue. ( don't know what you guys are on about with "had a baby" and all that. Seems to me bollocks as most singers who had a baby don't have such problems)
ReplyDeleteSounds to me like this is how she sounds if you don't add loads of reverb and auto tune and what else you can do these days to "live" performances. Sounds like she is actually singing live with just your basic mic. If that's the case I applaud her for it and also think that is not bad at all.
Nah, she's done a recent live performance completely acapella (well, an acoustic guitar, but no microphone) and her voice is just stunning in it. It's in a children's ward in a hospital in singapore. I'll find the link, definitely worth a watch - the second verse slow vocal runs are so pretty, and her head voice is gorgeous. I'm a B fan, I'll admit it.
ReplyDeletehere: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq8tK1rGpog
by recent i just mean in the last five years tbh ahaha
ReplyDeleteBy watching Beyonce last DVD behind the scenes, I noticed that she's loosing some of her range and power. She sounds so hoarse nowadays. I didn't say anything before because you all know I have a bad reputation here... LOL
ReplyDeletelets forget Beyonce for awhile. See how cute Mariah is:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjas2Dq9zX4&feature=player_embedded
This was definitely not her best performance, but this has nothing to do with the fact that she had a baby.She was DRUNK during that performance! Look at how she behaves during the "Forever Young" performance. She never acts like so. She did Revel back in May, only 4 months after giving birth, and she was phenomenal. Anyways, I can't wait album #5 cause I know she's gonna slay again! 2013 is gonna be her year!
ReplyDeleteEveryone's voice is different just like everyone's body is different. Some people experience muscular deterioration while others retain their same muscle definition for years to come. Some people develope heart issues while others live healthy for most of their lives with little to no problems. Voices can be heavy, light, dark, bright, elastic, stiff as a board, strong, fragile, and they also change nonstop. Everyone reacts differently to different stimuli with a wide arrange of end results. Judy Garland who was definitely not known for Belting as much as Beyonce was, developed Nodules relatively quickly for a singer of her caliber. I'm not saying "For Sure" that Pregnancy changed Beyonce's voice, but it's a possibility. I mean everything changes when you're pregnant. Especially with all of those Hormones being cycled in the female body. Although Beyonce is known for her "Big Stage shows" her vocals are usually spot on.
ReplyDeleteLOL Thanks Brian. Always glad when a man explains my female anatomy to me. ;D
ReplyDeleteAnd Judy is actually one of the original "belters".
Like I said, I didn't think she sounds bad at all here. I think you guys are used to a certain sound of the kind pop diva performances usually consist of ( loads of reverb and auto tuning)and are thrown by a more natural sound.
Yes, I saw that one before ( I think you also linked to it in another thread). That was of course in a very different kind of room. Different size and way less people around and like you say, only an acoustic guitar. That is why I say, the FY performance sounds close to that.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I do NOT think she sounds bad at all. I in fact am impressed to hear a more natural sound and find this pop diva can sing for real.Though personally I don't think much of her voice in and by itself. :)
LOL No, forget both and see how good Alison is. Cuter as well
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XU3Yi74REc
I never said Judy never belted lol. Just that her technique was much more soft and traditional compared to Beyonce's fiercer technique which has truly "Belty" belts instead of Projected ones and she also does a lot of grunting and just a lot of "ugly" things with her voice in a nice way. I don't think she sounds "bad" but she definitely sounds off. She isn't projecting as much as usual and sounds a bit out of breath at certain parts. Something which she NEVER does so it is an off performance for her. Seeing as Beyonce never uses Autotune and has done acoustic singing before I don't think that our expectations for that particular stadium sound is the issue. As a matter of fact she does a lot of performances on her vevo channel that takes the stadium reverb sound out of it and uses the microphones feed for the vocal instead of the speakers.
ReplyDelete"Judy Garland who was definitely not known for Belting as much as Beyonce was"
ReplyDeleteSimply an incorrect statement as Judy WAS very much known as a Belter. Singers like her and Merman is where the term originated from.
If you are going to backpedal Brian, you should go all the way and simply edit what you actually said out of your original comment. That way other readers won't know you are back pedaling.
And I listened to those "live" videos on her vevo channel. Her vocals don't sound all that different there.
You're confusing true belting as In chest dominant belts (coarser and "rougher") with traditional mixed projection ( clear and classical in sound compared to the new "pop" form of belting popularized by R&B and Gospel music) which is what Mrs. Garland used. Im not "backpedaling", there was just a miscomunication which I dont feel the need to lie my way out of since what you took out of my statement is not what was meant to go across. Judy Garlands songs and singing style was that of a traditional sense where there was a balance of Pianissimo along with true projection in a well structured manner. Beyonce on the other hand belts ALL THE TIME. Sure there are songs where she sings lower and softer but that girl belts and grunts like crazy which Mrs Garland NEVER did. Older singers with a more of what todays generation would call a broadway style of singing such as Barbra, Judy Garland, Julie Andrews, and even Celine Dion use a well balanced mix which creates a crisp clear vocal color. Plus Im most positive that Beyonce has performed live much more than Mrs. Garland as strangely in todays time entertainment demands more and more than ever before. Her vevo video for I was here at the united nations sounded perfect with no stadium reverb.
ReplyDeleteAgain ....you posted "Judy Garland who was definitely not known for Belting as much as Beyonce was"
ReplyDeleteI responded with " Judy is actually one of the original "belters" "And the second time with "Judy WAS very much known as a Belter. Singers like her and Merman is where the term originated from."
You are now attempting to alter your original incorrect statement into something else. This is called back pedaling. Your original statement didn't go to who did what kind of belting. It went to who was known for belting.
I have no idea how many times Garland performed as compared to Beyonce but I suspect neither have you actually. Considering Garlands 40 year career in an era where playback was not done much, other than while making a movie, I also suspect you are actually wrong again.
What that statistic has to do with anything btw is a whole different question but I suspect it goes to your back pedaling attempt. Looks like now you are trying to add more changing of subject.
Never liked Beyonce LOLZ.
ReplyDeleteOkay, Beyonce is never "pitchy". I agree this wasn't her best, but you can clearly tell that she's drunk. But pitchy? Never that.
ReplyDeleteI've watched this video over and over again, and I believe this is more of thing with poor audio equipment than anything else.
ReplyDelete