If you were hyped about Mariah Carey's performance at the 2013 BET Awards, I'd advise you to modify your expectations now to avoid unnecessary disappointment. The vocals themselves- especially on that intro- were FIRE but it's a shame that Mariah was lip-syncing for her LIFE throughout! She did look gorgeous though, but I'm not sure how much more I can say about this considering it wasn't live.
Now if she had managed to recreate those vocals for reals on the night, then this would have been a totally different story. I possibly wouldn't even have survived to have written this post, so overcome with pride I would have been. But I'm guessing Mariah chose to go with the (poorly done) ventriloquism act because she wanted everything to be perfect after the, let's just say, less than polished previous live versions of the song [here, here]. Here's hoping it has the desired effect of boosting sales.
Thoughts?
it was the timing, not the tuning- since it was lipped. Just check out 32 seconds where she forgets what she's doing and once again does the same at 0.38. But yep, this version isn't a patch on the original. I'm just a sucker for the intros she likes to tack on- like this one for "I'm that Chick"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzeEZ44foPw
I think she just really wanted to deliver the goods with this performance, so didn't want to risk any mistakes. But we've seen she can still blow when she wants!
ReplyDeleteI was extremely disappointed. She look very gorgeous i almost didn't care about her performance but i did. she should have just used a heavy backing track and her mic set on a low frequency to lessen the scrutiny she'll get.
ReplyDeleteI am a sucker for that song too, it's just so nice. That's like my third favorite song from E=MC² behind Touch My Body and I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time.
ReplyDeleteHomygod how could I have not noticed the one at 0:38 it was so obvious. Gosh. I meant she wasn't out of tune with her ventriloquism as in she lip-synced just fine.
I loved the stage, though.The ending where it turned around was totally fab. Oh yes. With all the golden sparkles reflecting. <3
Mariah and gold go together so well!
ReplyDeleteThats what I'm saying. I think she might be on rest.
ReplyDeleteProbably because her skin fits gold really well. I am somehow really jealous now. LOL.
ReplyDeleteWill she ever give a truly live performance again? Sad day to be a fan.
ReplyDeleteI knew that pretty ass low note at the beginning was too good to be true.....oh well, no disappointment here considering I never like her.... :-)
ReplyDeleteA few things about this performance:
ReplyDelete1. Mariah Carey won't walk anyones stage I guess lol (American Idol, GMA...)
2. She is probably resting her voice since the 4th of July performance has more viewers.
3. Miguel wasn't singing, and Jeezy wasn't rapping. So this performance was all fake lol
4. Mariah Carey still looked stunning.
5. Miguel was forced to sit down during this song so he won't have anymore lawsuits lol
That is one of her best intros! :D
ReplyDeleteI'm always in two minds about great singers like her lipping - she has quite inconsistent performances (Always Be My Baby on GMA recently was messy as) so should she just sing live and prove she still can (as bad as she might sound) or lip it (badly) and save/rest her voice? I don't know... :/ I mean, surely she could have had least sung some of it live? She unfortunately has a delicate voice that can be really powerful when rested and warmed up or just weak when it isn't - compare it to pre-1996 Whitney and Christina nowadays, both who are/were still nearly always powerful, but still carry on and sing live 90+% of the time even when sick, but at the cost of their precious voices in the long-run.
ReplyDeleteLmao, "ventriloquism"
ReplyDeleteShe's been a hit and miss live performer for years. I think it really does all depend on how well rested and warmed up she is, but unlike most singers, because her vocal cords and nodules, her voice is even more delicate and needs that extra care taken. Lipping an entire song that isn't even that vocally challenging for her isn't good though.
ReplyDeleteShe has. I agree. She apparently drinks a lot and doesn't rehearse before performing.
ReplyDeleteI am thinking she is on vocal rest or something. I watched a brief clip of her singing America the beautiful for her macys fourth of july performance and she sounded great. She is also recording an album and singers take breaks then to I believe. Overall I don't know though.
For that RuPaul Link you get a A+ DD :)
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I am glad she lipped, I have yet to hear a fully brilliant live version of this particular song, which in itself is disappointing but hey, I still love her ;)
Not to troll Mariah but DD, did you see Eryka Badu and Kendrick Lamar's perfomance...All I can say is that Eryka slayed every belt between G#5-C#6...Don't care for Kendrick Lamar... Oh, and did you see Janelle Monae and Eryka's performance? It was something else...lol
ReplyDeleteI was cringing while watching this performance. She Lipped so BAD.
ReplyDeleteoh mariah WHY? WHYYYYY?
ReplyDeleteLOL. #B isn't challenging? It might not SOUND challenging because it's so laid back, but try smoothly transitioning from falsetto to full voice every other line. The song might not be very challenging, but it definitely isn't a walk in the park.
ReplyDeleteShe gave three in a row on GMA.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like Mariah actually performed it lived at the Macy's firework spectacular.
ReplyDeleteSo i'm assuming she was most likely on vocal rest at the time of the Bet awards and didnt consider singing live at Bet's program important enough to risk her vocal health before such a big event. Since the firework spectacular is/will reach a much wider audience while Bet is more or less reaching urban communities.
There's something seriously wrong if a singer can't sing one song live every what...like two weeks?
ReplyDeleteReally, these singers need to take stock and realize...if it's this hard to do live...it is beyond your abilities! They need to learn to sing within their actual abilities.
I assume she didn't perform it live (despite how she prerecorded an entire intro for it) not because of her vocal rest (I think she performed a lot more songs at the 4th of July spectacular) but because she wanted everything to be perfect at the previous performances with Miguel are kinda... unreliable.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, the amazing extended intro kinda proves the voice is still there anyways.
She cut out the alcohol significantly now that she has kids, and she does perform voice warm ups occasionally but she normally does all of her rehearsals weeks before hand.
ReplyDeleteSame answer applies really. :-)
ReplyDeleteBut like I specifically stated, this wasn't about whether excuses are made.
But this one I have heard so often already. It is a mighty fine example of my point: " she wanted it to sound perfect" so she decided not to like...actually sing it????
I hope that is not the best she can do now it seemed strained and sloppy
ReplyDeleteI really agree Opie its ridiculous that a singer a "Vocal legend" at that supposedly can not sing more then once week without "Damaging" her instrument i really feel like her fans are making up some "laudable" excuses for her (By laudable i mean crazy,ludicrous etc) but i guess this is what she has come to at this point in her career it's honestly disheartening. Im not saying there is any excuse for her behavior but her fans really need to stop enabling this, it its effecting her career at this point. The amount of comments i saw applauding her lip syncing at the Bet awards is just a taste of how delusional some of these fans are. Oh and Opie I love Anouk <3 i went through your whole playlist talented lady, her lyrics really speak to me.
ReplyDeleteTo be clear though..I have never heard Mariah Carey herself saying that. It's indeed fans who says these things.
ReplyDeleteAlso Mariah is not the only artist whose fans say silly stuff like that. I've heard it from the fans of many artists who disappointed in a performance by lipping, or using backtrack or any of the many technical tricks available today and whose fans could so not deal with that disappointment, they decided to go for a fantasy instead.
Seriously, one of these days somebody is going to go up on a stage , just stand there and we can all imagine she is singing the "perfect" song, with the "perfect" voice in the most " perfect" manner. And people are going to rave, write essays on why that person is the best singer... "Like EVEH!"
And buy empty CD disks. LOL
And yes, Anouk, in contrast, is real and can and does sing and, I agree, writes lyrics that speak to me too. :-)
Glad you enjoyed that playlist.
Well first she has nodules that imped her performance not her unwillingness to warm up. Also just because she is a lyric doesn't mean she needs less warmup due to her range she probably needs more time warming up. I agree she needs to return to singing live but the first half of your comment seemed "laudable".
ReplyDeleteI agree that i might have been harsh but if she can no longer handle higher tessitura she should stick to sing in lower keys.
ReplyDeleteHer fans may be used to this wide ranged able to glide throughout with ease Mariah but this is no longer the case and if her voice is truly as bad off as people claim it to be why not go about doing the vocal surgery i know she's scared but its quite possible that if she continues singing through the nodules that she will lose her voice anyways so she has literally nothing to lose at this point.
One more thing lyric voices tend to take less time to warm up even with nodules compared to other vocal faches regardless of vocal range. 30 mins may have been a bit to little but i was just trying to get my point across.
ReplyDeleteI never said it was harsh I mearly pointed out what was wrong and she has proven before that with no intake of alchole and enough sleep she can manage the nodules. But at this point it isn't clear how bad it is because of her cut and past performances and lipped ones but I have faith that she doesn't really need the surgery. Also the lost of strength in belts, agility in runs, and stanima happens to many voices as they age the thing with Mimi is that this isn't the first time she has been in a vocal rut and there are fairly recent performances that show she still has the ability to do many of those things. But most of what you said is the choice of the artist not her fans.
ReplyDeleteWhat? Mariah Carey discussed nodules in several interviews. She even commented on how she thinks it keeps her lower range accessible.
ReplyDeleteagain am going to dissagree citing my schools chorus teacher the larger the range the more you have to warmup pluse the registers she has to warm up but as I said earlier that is not the issue.
ReplyDeleteDude, I have a feeling you are reading these comments in the wrong order. You should take note of the info above them like who responded to which comment by who and how long ago.
ReplyDeleteIn my comment the " that" in " never heard Mariah saying that" went to that fan excuse about not singing live this week because she wants to rest her voice so it sounds perfect for next week's performance.
Granted, I haven't listened to many mariah interviews so I do not know whether she used that excuse. I was saying I hadn't heard her say it.
As for the nodules, it still goes to my original comment and Jashgreen explained it quite clearly as well....these singers need to learn to sing to their abilities. Whatever those abilities are, for whatever reason... period!
OH. Okay. I definitely misread that. Oop @ Me. I agree that Mariah should sing live more often, but I feel like she's just used to an overly polished image that everyone has put her voice on so any slight imperfection causes everyone to act like the sky is falling and her voice is going to be gone forever/shot to hell. This speculation is, ironically, kinda proving her point. I think it's just due to nerves/stage fright which is unfortunate. I really think she should see some sort of therapist to work out these issues because, while she's never been an exactly secure person, singing does require psychological attributes. And there's no harm in seeing one for that reason.
ReplyDeleteI mean, when confident, she gives amazing performances (all three takes of her Idol medley, filled with F5s, prove this. She felt comfortable because she was surrounded by fans. She even sung underneath the stars in the original key!). When rattled, or nervous, she obviously falters. With her recent lack of success with Memoirs, maybe it's attributing to stagefright.
Strained and sloppy? Ehhh... I don't think so. The belts on WBT and ABMB seemed slightly strained, but they weren't bad. They were pretty good since she was singing in cold temperature and in the morning, which most vocalists struggle to do. Her performances on AI (the three takes for the Medley are out now!) are also pretty good and they're all live.
ReplyDeleteUhm I didn't make the point Mariah should sing Live more. I made the point that fans should stop making bizarre excuses for artists who don't sing live .
ReplyDeleteAnd that Mariah, and all singers in fact,should sing within capacity.
In Mariah's case, If she would, i don't think singing live would be any issue at all. There's plenty of video proof for that. Not even dare I suggest...several songs a week. ;-)
Your nerves story is another example of silly excuse making by a fan.
I cant debate jesus I want to get to heaven and if things go like some of the people on the blog said its going to go I need somone on the inside. :-) When I said that I meant compared to her usual but after re watching they weren't "that bad" but I had no clue all three takes of AI had leaked do you have links jesus.
ReplyDelete