The Grammy organised tribute to Whitney Houston aired on US channel CBS, and thanks to the magic of Youtube the performances have hit the internet. The tribute I was most excited about hearing was that made by fellow member of the vocal trinity: Celine Dion.
Celine Dion started her tribute with some touching words about the fallen Diva and an a cappella rendition of Saving All My Love For You. It was followed by the main attraction, Whitney Houston's classic, Greatest Love Of All. Though the performance showed how Celine's voice has lost some of its gusto with age; the smoother, softer tone that can be heard on the top notes here is actually something I quite like.
The video has generated accusations about the performance itself being lipped, but I'm not getting into all of that. This was one great vocalist paying tribute to another, and I thought it was stunning.
I bloody love Celine...
ReplyDeleteShe always gave good tributes and covers IMHO. Even if her MJ tribute was campy, she sang it well. She'll belt out a gospel hymn, do a bit of R&B, and of course, her power ballads. Tasteful.
ReplyDeleteIt was live and great, but... sometimes I don't like her atittude on estage. The arms, the forced face expressions and drama. Less, Celine, less! It was not a Vegas show, it was a tribute, Girl!
ReplyDeleteThere were a few moments where I feel its lipped but heck...I don't really care. It was a great tribute! Celine always does so well. I think Celine was holding back a little because although I hear less "ring" I hear less throat too.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, she tends to border on cheesy quite often. It's part of her charm for me. She doesn't seem to take herself too seriously, which is unsurprising. If she did she would probably be suicidal from singing all those power ballads constantly lol
ReplyDeleteHere come the lipping arguments...
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, DD, how about that Paradise review????
Paradise is quite simply an A+++ bloody brilliant...American is my fav song so far followed by Ride and Bel Air...fantastic stuff!
ReplyDeleteI favorites are Cola (which was a pleasant suprise- I didn't know how I was gonna react to it when I heard the first snippet/teaser hahaha) and Gods & Monsters. Even though of course I love all of them!
ReplyDeleteparadise is so good ! i cant wait to see her live next year, Bel air is beyond beauty
ReplyDeleteShe sounds great as always. But also as bland as always. Seriously; her voice is so... unspecial.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing ! Cola killed it, her head voice there is ultimate killer, Gods & Monster, Bel Air, Ride are my favorite ones. A little disappointed with Body Electric though, i prefer live version. She is very good songwriter, her lyrics on Paradise are flawless !
ReplyDeleteIt'll just be a sycophantic review. I love It so much!
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was lipped. Dubbed perhaps.
ReplyDeleteI found this a disappointment after reading the review and comments. A very lack luster interpretation for Dion.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't help that I never liked the song anyway and can't help thinking of the reality when I hear someone sing these lyrics at a Houston tribute.
I never been a Celine fan or nor followed her music. But she
ReplyDeletedid great; I honestly can’t think of really many singers who can have the
correct voice type tone for execute Whitney songs. Especially her early songs
before 1992, No she did have the slay the song as Whitney did early in her
career. But she still quite impressive, and wouldn’t expect anything less than
great from Celine, she really channeled Whitney body movements and all. If
there was mimic part, I couldn’t really spot them. I would assume it was the
end belt if there was any.
She lipped the shit out of this. I've always hated this song, and the lyrics are the epitome of cliched.
ReplyDeleteGod's & Monsters is my current fav!
ReplyDeleteI think the cheese is what sometimes (actually, often) puts me off celine. But at the same time I love her for being that way because it's her and she's not ashamed of it. Overall I'm just so conflicted over her. Always have been, always will be!
ReplyDeletehttp://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdawzhQwmS1qmmdvf.gif
I didn't know that she'd sung it before! I don't often (okay, pretty much never) enter "Celine Dion" into Youtube, so there's probably loads of covers I haven't heard/seen.
ReplyDeleteGot drunk and sang it at Karaoke once. It was in this drunken stupor that the lyrics all made sense to me. It was like I was having an out of body experience... http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m199f2DkSD1qfprxc.gif ...I'll stop typing now...
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, the head voice in Cola!!!! I was not expecting that and it went so well with the song! It was a pleasant surprise.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna kill myself:
ReplyDeletehttps://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-18RU32HBN4Q/Tv2jRJTABqI/AAAAAAAAMg4/1ZYKVDgWQbk/s350/suicidio.gif
LMFAO I know the feel. For me it was Build Be up Buttercup. A song that I do not listen to on any other occasion and detest lmao
ReplyDeleteFair point, I do remember her being totally ott when doing an interview in regards to Hurricane Katrina and her being totally inappropriate lol but again it was hilarious..
ReplyDeletehttp://i1069.photobucket.com/albums/u472/Paigeturner76/nervous_zps57cb236d.gif
I agree 100%
ReplyDeleteI have heard shirly bassey singing this song but noone fits it like Whitney to me
ReplyDelete