Christina Aguilera tackling her contribution to the The Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack, live, was something I've been itching to witness ever since hearing the mid-tempo ballad. However, her choice to turn We Remain into a duet for the finale of The Voice (USA) wasn't the greatest idea.
Christina, for the most part, was pretty great. Her voice sounded very much like the recording, with her coarse belt being beautifully suited to the song. However, there were definitely parts where she was out of tune- especially when attempting to harmonise on the held notes with her duetting partner Jackquie Lee- and where her falsetto sounded weaker than usual.
But my real problem was with Jackquie Lee, who, I admit, I've never heard of before. Her voice just wasn't up to the song, or being pitted against Christina. She also sounded pretty strained at the end, which makes me think Christina has been passing on that dreaded "technique" to those under her mentorship- which is not a good thing.
Still, Jackquie must have something about her to have gotten this far in the contest. It's just a shame this performance didn't do much to show what that something was.
Thoughts?
Well, Christina looks nice :)
ReplyDeleteNo the fuck she doesn't! Don't even give her that!
ReplyDelete^your name pretty much it all.
ReplyDeleteYes, the harmonies were pretty painful to listen to. Totally butchered an otherwise decent song for me. I blame the rookie for that, Usually contestants/singers from these kind of shows are dreadful.
ReplyDeleteChristina is very well capable of harmonizing. Her harmonies in 'Say Something' performances almost sounded like...uh...DNA! It was that perfect and easy on the ears. And yes, I also agree that XTina's falsetto sounded very weak, almost as if she lacked enough air and volume in it and she did fall off tune, but I blame it entirely on the mediocre arrangement for this song. It is not meant to be a duet to begin with.
OT: Fault her for her dreadful technique. At least Christina doesn't act like an elitist beeyotch, lipping every second live performance ('oh its just for the TV, so what?').
lol I just read on atrl that Xtina is performing with Gaga tonight on the voice
ReplyDeleteThis isn't working for me. I can't stand Christinas' straining.
ReplyDeleteLord, please give her neck the strength to carry on...
ReplyDeleteyeah it was confirmed that gaga and xtina will duet together - hope gaga does an acoustic DWUW performance and blows xtina away
ReplyDeletei dont mean to be rude but i dont understand why you keep posting about her live performances because even this one shows apparent straining
on the plus side she loooks smoking hot and takes me back to her back to basic era
Well, Christina...
ReplyDelete1) That 'Red Dress' is EVERYTHING and 3/4.
2) As for your voice... Only Jesus himself can save it now.
SOMEONE SAVE HER VOICE!!! IT'S THE ONLY "GOOD" VOICE WE HAVE TO SAVE THIS INDUSTRY!
ReplyDeleteThere's plenty of better voices than Christina in the industry, and there are far, far, far, far better vocalists around.
ReplyDeleteThe contestant threw her off. I think they lacked rehearsals...
ReplyDeleteLooking at other duets she had with other singers like Toni Benett, Aretha tribute, Blake, Adam, Etta James, Lady Marmalade, she is more than capable.
at least her strain sounds natural and much more effortless than the contestant's. that girl sounds like a squealing pig when strains.
ReplyDeleteI love how Christina just pulls out those coarse notes so easily and exactly like her studio work. Her voice and effects are in sentiment of the song. I, for one, like it. Don't wish that technique or style on others but I like it.
I honestly don't keep up with the contestants of the show but from what I have seen of this season, Christina is mentoring that girl as a tiny Xtina. I don't think her voice is up to handle the torture Christina puts her own through and definitely doesn't sound nearly as good. I have learned to like Christinas voice for the most part but the really harsh parts of the song were quite...hard to bear in this song. And what was Christina going wayyyy off in the harmonies in this? Weird. On Another note, her duet with Gaga was actually pretty good. As much as I wish it never happened.
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one amazed at Christinas ability to screech so loudly that she can pull the Mic all the way down to her Vagimus and can still be heard clear as day?
ReplyDeletedid you just edit the word 'vagina' to 'Crotchimus'? lol. I love it.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, you are not the only one amazed by her ability to do that. I have seen her do this a LOT of times, its like her signature thing. But I guess its a form of public service from her, cos she literally screams into the mic.
Just watched the show's finale and their duet was quite good. Hilarious, for my tastes but entertaining. Loved the lesbian romp, weird costumes and general disarray. I didn't like the song at all but they both made it work so much as a live performance. The vocals were pretty much on-point for my liking, except for a few patches that always exist.
ReplyDeleteThat is how 'real' singers entertain.
I wonder how harsh it is to be next to her when she does that if the Mic can retain it from such a distance. Im hoping one day someone dueting with her might feel it slapping them in the face and try to clean out their ears when she does it. XD
ReplyDeleteIm still in disbelief that the performance actually happened.
ReplyDeleteHi there... I am pretty much useless when it comes to vocal pedagogy, nor do I actually care for it, but could you explain tome why Christina Aguilera isn't a Dramatic Mezzo? I always thought she was but I know I could be very wrong. Thanks. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, here it is.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRd8D1ll7_U
I was going to actually type a whole seminar on the subject, but decided instead to send you this video that'll explain it more than I could. : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWVF469OLUo
ReplyDelete>Her voice is small
ReplyDelete>Weak lower register
>She lacks the tonal qualities of a dramatic mezzo.
For a dramatic mezzo, see: Tina Turner, Anastacia, Nina Hagen, Mina Mazzini, just to name a few.
The reason why is because:
ReplyDelete1. She lacks to vocal colour and timbre of a dramatic.
2. She lacks the volume of a dramatic. Though she can get incredibly loud, she warps her voice to do so which isn't healthy at all.
3. She doesn't have the lower register or ability to project her lows the way a dramatic can.
It's called a compressor :)
ReplyDeleteThis wasn't a great performance but it certainly wasn't bad - Christina sounded good (in parts) but there were areas where she didn't sound as good - her falsetto/head voice is nice but rather inaudible, but I'm not sure if it was meant to sound soft rather than piercing? I hear her "stylistic" rasp more than strain which a lot of people seem to believe it is (I'm not saying she doesn't strain but I do think she adds rasp for artistic purposes, especially on here). Jacquie on the other hand is given too many big songs that she can't handle (the song from Dreamgirls, for example and when she sang a MJ medley - don't know if DD wrote about that? Because that was a good performance by Xtina).
ReplyDeleteThen how come whenever Mariah belts with the Mic at distance she doesn't desire for the same effect? She just lets it drown out and dub it later.
ReplyDeleteChristina sounded good, she had a few parts that weren't all that, but the comments people are making about her voice are definitely doing the utmost, but what can you expect? This is nothing new. I don't agree that Christina is passing on her "dreaded" technique onto Jacquie, that's on Jacquie. Jacquie used to sound great from like the beginning to the middle of the show as Christina was coaching her, lately she just hasn't been up to par.
ReplyDeleteYes. I can name a few vocalists up on par with Christina's voice in the industry right now. The industry right now is lacking good voices apart from our debut artists who I hope will allow the industry to regain back it's Golden years. Christina's voice is one of the best out there in my opinion as of right now. I don't care what people say about her. That girl can SANG. Remember her Golden years?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlT26rr3CU8
Watch the whole thing or just start watching starting at 11:02
She def is one of the best out there....
ReplyDeleteHaters will pull out every voice theory under the table to discredit her, yet they are always on her videos secretly listening to her songs.. lol
You, COCK! can crawl back to the rock from under which you came and never leave!
ReplyDeleteYou forgot the 'maximus' lol! That was ridiculously hilarious, dude!
ReplyDeleteDivaDevotee, you HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO listen to Jacquie's version of "The House of the Rising Sun" and the Battle Rounds version with Briana Cuoco (yes, she is related to Kaley Cuoco. Briana is her younger sister)! You can tell that Jacquie totally idolizes Christina. I also recommend you listen to her versions of "Back to Black", "Stompa", "I Put a Spell on You", and Christina's "The Voice Within". She has great potential, and I think she's gonna stay under Xtina's guidance, even post "The Voice". I just hope she realizes how painful it is to do Christina's technique, and strays away from it in her own future.
ReplyDelete