Renown for her fiery melisma, multi-octave range, and overall soaring vocals, Grammy winning singer Christina Aguilera took to her own platform to tackle a song made famous by another singer who shares those very same qualities – Celine Dion. Joined by Chris Mann, the two powerhouse vocalists took center stage on ‘The Voice’ to sing Dion and Boccelli’s hit duet ‘The Prayer’.
With such top billing to live up to, did the two do the song justice? Or were they in need of a prayer? Find out after the jump:
Amazing! In all honesty, when Aguilera announced via her Twitter that she’d be tackling the number, some of us quickly assumed it would be the audience who would be praying for mute buttons (see: excessive runs, oohs, and yeah yeah yeah yeaaaaaaaaaah).
This, however, was surprisingly great and a great refresher of how awesome Aguilera can be when she shows restraint! Here’s hoping more of her performances remind peeps that she’s learning how to control those killer pipes!
Studio version:
OH YEAH!
Christina nailed the s*** out of this song! They sounded sooooo beautiful together!
I’m literally bawling. I am loving this more than the Celine and Andrea Bocelli version. Her voice is perfection and I just bought the duet on iTunes. The studio version is great too.
yes this was beautiful. i love this song.
awful
LEGENDTINA OWNS THE THRONE !!!!!1 She’s COMING b******!
@ Kevin-
Did you mean flawless? Bless your heart child for you know not what the f*** you are talking about!
i like this version, but i like how Jessica Sanchez (American Idol) sang it more
Chris did awesome….. Christina had some hits and misses….she didn’t nail this in my opinion. But overall they did a really good job.
AMAZING. LOVE IT . VOTE FOR CHRIS MANN ! 1 855 864 2304
They sung the whole building down!!!
F***in’ awesome!!! And Christina’s voice is so damn goood again!!!!
Compared to her other hot mess performances, she was actually decent. I liked the studio version better though.
Wow!! LEGEND <3
I Just love how she use her voice in it… No extra acrobatics all over the place. Kudos for her! & Chris Mann did the best at Final.
Like all greats Christina Aguilera has had her highs and lows, but one things for sure, she is the greatest singer of today. Beyonce nor Mariah can shine on a duet with this woman. Her vocal power is unmatched.
I loved it. A few strains but I love that she held back and showed restraint.
Scream, Scream that’s all she knows how to do. She can’t ever just hold a note without covering it up with screams.
N#1
A fantastic performance, its a shame she doesn’t show this degree of vocal control all the time (Fighter on the Voice anyone?). Its no good having what is probably the best voice in pop if she doesn’t use it properly, glad to see her back on form. Not at all keen on that dress though ;o)
Listen to Afrodisiac by Teni! She’s the new Sade!! Hot!!!
Waah, I don’t like it when she restrains herself, I don’t like this song either! But she never decieves me vocally!
Wtf does Mariah/Beyonce have to do with this. ou are kidding if you thik that Marih couldn’t soar past this. Sh can alot higher with much greater technque than Chistina. ou sound foolish. Being restrained is the best way to go for her.
You*
Don’t you just love how people actually hate on a real singer lmao amazing
I LOve her voice so much and im sorry but i love a little scream from Xtina it’s straight from the soul it’s those moments that get my heart racing she SMASHED IT!
IN YOUR FACE HATERS!
FATyonce , WHORiah , Sluthanna , MR. Rat Face .. will NEVER sing like that EVER
STRONGEST voice of our generation .. HANDS DOWN!!!!!!!!!
bye
Fail….Screams and more Screams!
She did GREAT! She was sick & had the flu if you watched the voice you lastnight you would know! The voice of this generation in music. Who can sing the song like that in todays music?… Oh
I like how she kept it simple. She sounds nothing like Celine though you all need to stop.
Y’all should mention that she had a flu !!!!!!!!!!!
her speaking voice what different also .. BUT , look what she have done?!
DAMN, GURLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL .. THE VOICE , YOU R THE VOICE
@OLB please don’t bring bey and mariah into this cuz they are far better vocalists technically than christina will ever be. Running and riffing every syllable is not propering singing. Not to mention that national anthem was a laughing stock of the year. Let’s NOT.
@prettigurlrockD
AWWW! bless your heart B****
you mad?! Xtina FAR >>>>>>>>>> vocalist than beyonce!
Beyonce sound like any other n****
Xtina’s tone >>>>>>>>>>>> Flopyonce’s career
When its come to technique… i definitely think Beyonce has it over Christina…. but when it comes to soul…imma give it to Christina. (but why were Mariah and Beyonce even brought up in this post)….
Christina is definitely one of the strongest voices of our generation. And if she touched up on her technique, she would be one of the greatest… If she keeps doing what she’s doing, im afraid she may lose that voice….
Mariah should never be compared to anyone of this generation…. this woman has one of the greatest voices of all times. And even though she struggles now, she has a discography that will sit almost everyone….
And is a Christina fan calling Beyonce a flop????
“Christina has always been a joke …and the punchline is Bionic” …..lmfaoooooo.
You laugh at Bionic but it had a better content compared to “4”.
Birds Of Prey, Stronger Than Ever, Monday Morning, Glam & many more…
Dreadful. Their harmonies are off pitch and they are off rhythm with each other.
The woman is musically retarded, and she was trying to oversing the poor guy
And can talk about her boobs pretty much falling out of her dress? the clearly visible indentation of her implants is NASTY.
The studio version is better though, but the mix was done really badly, the voices too forward compared to the music.
XTINA is a voice that will be remembered forEVER!
Flopyonce willl only be remembered to her FAT ASS! her voice? NO!
nothing special about her voice … Mariah? well, yes .. I have to admit ..
Whitney .. Celine .. Mariah .. and Xtina are the ones who called THE VOICE
#FACT
#BYE
Whitney about Xtina: The best rendition of “I run to you” beside myself ..
Celine on Xtina: The best vocalist on planet
LEGENDS ON A LEGEND
#Bye
wooooow
she really have passion and emotion in her voice
one of the best voices i ever heard
her voice is very special
i liked it ….
i think we can really say that she is the voice of our generation
she killed it
and she would kill beyonce, pink, adele, mariah or even celine with that voice on the stage
@MR.M
Delusional b****, Jesus himself could come down and praise Christina but unless she fixes her pitch problems and constant straining, she’ll always be a lesser!
XADAX
May 8, 2012 at 8:37 am
You laugh at Bionic but it had a better content compared to “4″.
Birds Of Prey, Stronger Than Ever, Monday Morning, Glam & many more…
____________________________________________________________
yeah s** for breakfast was deep….so was woohoo….. bionic was pretty thought provoking….prima donna was enriched with culture and literary references….and not myself tonight was by far the greatest piece of art known to man……. GTFOH
You named 4 songs outta of the 20-something that were on the album….
And that comment I posted, I got that from this Youtube video…. I liked Bionic and was one of the few who bought it….
MR.M
May 8, 2012 at 8:47 am
XTINA is a voice that will be remembered forEVER!
Flopyonce willl only be remembered to her FAT ASS! her voice? NO!
nothing special about her voice … Mariah? well, yes .. I have to admit ..
Whitney .. Celine .. Mariah .. and Xtina are the ones who called THE VOICE
#FACT
#BYE
____________________________________________________________
But right now, no one is talking about her voice….no one. And the reason is because she’s a hit and miss… sometimes you will get a great vocal….well good vocal…and other times she sounds like she’s straining…
All Im saying is that while i think she has one of the strongest voices of our generation, she needs to be more technical with her singing….
Not tryin to compare her with Beyonce or Mariah….or anybody.
LMAO at her demanding respect from Tony Lucca when she is the kind of person that shows up with her tits out at a funeral. When one behaves like a sociopath and low-class trash, no respect is earned.
this rendition was nice although being a big Xtina fan Chris Mann was the exceptional one on this duet. Its good to see Xtina tryna show control but she was also tryna not to be upstaged and it didn’t work out in her favor.
that final note was very disappointing from her as she had to catch for breath to complete it.
She has the VOICE but its about time she learns how to use it correctly #JustSaying
B******!!!!!!!!
Stay PRESSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That was amazing. I love her belting, riffs and melisma, but when she holds back and lets her tone shine, she just slays! Can’t wait for her comeback!! Bring it on! 😀
@ MRDIVABITCH You’re accusing Christina of not controlling her pitch, but it seems you have trouble controlling your negativity. Oh well, nobody’s perfect 😉
Someone sang this on Britains got talent.. probs will win the show too
Are you all f****** serious??? Who the hell said he/she prefers this (awful for the most part) version to Celine Dion´s original?????????????
I swear these nowadays kids are f***** up. Haven´t you got ears? That was not even beautiful except for a few moments. Go and listen to the original and learn how real belting sounds
I´m so done with this, yeah of course Xtina is a better artist than Rihanna and all that crap, but it stops there. She is no damm Celine Dion, Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston. Hell it makes me sick some people actually believe that. Same with Beyonce stans. This last decade has been the “delusional stans decade”, I don´t have any other name for it since musically it was mediocre compared to previous decades. Hope the 2010´s bring us better things again (it´s not looking good)
LMFAO FLOPTINA NEEDS TO SING AND PUT OUT HER OWN MUSIC
ITS BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE THE CATOSTROPHE THAT WAS BIONIC AND THE B**** HAS YET TO RELEASE A SINGLE OR ALBUM OUT LMAOOOOO
FLOP IRREVLANT B****.
SCREAMTINA DESTROYED SUCH A BEATIFUL SONG. SHE IS STILL STRAINING AND REFUSES TO TAKE VOCAL LESSONS. HER ARROGANCE AND PRIDE WILL LEAD TO HER ULTIMAE DOWNFAL
FLOPTINA CANNOT SELL HER MUSIC ANYMORE #HASBEENBITCH
VOICE OF THIS GENERATION= ADELE
ADELE> PIGTINA
ADELE IS THE VOICE, AT LEAST HER MUSIC IS AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL AND CAN SELL BAHAHAHA
B****, BYE. I speak tha truth. Deal wit it, h**.
that was at Mr. M. F****** f*****. Get a life. You probably don’t know s*** about great voices. LOL at you.
Christina is ALWAYS over singing, and this is from someone who adores her. OKAY. We get it! You couldn’t show you could sing on your first album–since then, she’s been singing her pipes away. The reason she can’t hold a note as well as she used to is because she stays screaming.
One of the best voices of our generation, but she’s ruining it.
Mrdivabitch,geez get over it,she ain`t singing for your nobody ass,u are so sick in your mind,knew i would have found your leezy lame ass trolling on this post
To tell you the truth, I like Christina but this song was horrible!!! I was not feeling it at all, something was missing!!! “The Genie In The Bottle” Christina was the s*** back in the day!!! That was singing!!!! Now not so much, Christina needs to stop being over the top and sing naturally to get the message across. Not feeling it at all!!!
i thought the sound was awesome but the look was awful. the dress was ill fitting with straps buried in major back fat. she’s got her makeup in order now she just needs to fire whoever is giving her advice on what to wear.
Haters better check their faves’ performances and see if they could compare to these legendary tributes:
http://www.critics-choice.info/2012/04/legendary-tributes-brought-to-you-by.html
I LIKED CHRISTINA UNTIL THIS SEASON. SHE HAS BEEN THE ULTIMATE HATER & B**** ESP TOWARDS HER OLD MOUSE-CA -TEER PEER, TONY LUCIA. IT IS SO OBVIOUS THAT BACK IN THE DAY WHEN THEY WERE ON THE SHOW THAT HE EITHER HIT IT & QUIT IT OR HE RAN INTERFERENCE BETWEEN HER & JUSTINE TIMBERLAKE SO BRITTANY COULD GET HIM. IT IS ONE OF THOSE SITUATIONS B/C SHE HAS BEEN HATING & FAKE FROM THE JUMP!!!! ITS KINDA EMBARRASSING FOR HER AT THE LEVEL SHE IS AT. SHE SHOULD CONCENTRATE MORE ON LOSING WEIGHT, GETTING HER BODY BACK TOGETHER THAN HATING ON TONY………………JENNY JONES!!!!
@RICH86
G3rl, f*** you! I would love to sing this song with Christina, I would sing the b**** to FILTH! Just listening to her vocal line one can hear she incapable of delivering a clean elegant, beautiful legato line…it’s always unsteady, switching between unsupported and pushed, like she can’t control her breathe support…well, not “like”, because she CAN’T control her breathe support. Awful.
@ASAP
That I tell it like it is doesn’t mean I’m being negative
If she were to deliver a stellar performance I would admit it, but so far she hasn’t
She keeps doing the same tired s*** as always. Even if this performance had less straining (though it did have) musically it was a mess, they were off pitch and off rhythm with each other, and she was trying to outsing him, it was ridiculous.
^Always focus on the negative instead the positive. KUDOS BRO! 😀
i don’t know exactly who started what when; but i noticed the sharp edges after he sang his rendition of britney’s ‘hit me baby”.
the smirky back and forth between adam and blake after the song seemed to give the impression it was done to needle with the christina vs britney competition that’s still bubbling under the surface. if so she should have taken the high road and not be pulled into there petty little game.
since she’s always been the one the media loves to hate she better understand she can’t win any fight on their surf. she’ll come out much further ahead as ‘christina the good witch’.
don’t fall for it christina, honey, they’re just waitin’ in the weeds for the attack.
MrDivaBitch oh you’re so perfect. Oh you’re so full of your self. I wanna see your album out now! Show me what you got. Nagger
legend!!!
the only time i will stop loving christina aguilera is when i found a link where in rihanna, katy and britney can sing the hell of this song,,which is i guess impossible..
and i bet all the monster”wannabe” are into another scheme of hating aguilera..
btw..christina is looking beautiful, but who cares if she gained weight..her voice is the one who truly matters:)
@JohnVidal
STFU, you son of a b****!!!!!!! kids my ASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
I’m 24 and I respect Celine, Whitney, Mariah’s voices
BUT, B****!!!!!!!!!!!! Xtina is on their level!!! YES, she is!!! DEAL WITH IT ..
Just because they were singing their asses off in the past .. no one will come after tham!!??
Go listen to Xtina’s version of ‘It’s Mans World’
NO ONE can sing that song like her!!!!! and Go listen to Celine’s version!!
Celine herself said that Xtina is the best singer in the world.
SO STFU, and stay mad bitchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
HATER!
@ XADAX
Baby, if you wanna pay for me to release a full album right now, you’re more than welcome to 🙂
Meanwhile here’s a little 1-take acapella recording for you to delight on:
http://soundcloud.com/anyello-vox-absolutus/anyello-emotions-live-1-take
Call me when your g3rl can belt out C6, hit E7 with pinpont accuracy, and project a deep bass E2 as I did in it *files nails*
@mrdivabitch,blah blah blah thats all that comes out of your ass,u run to all her videos chanting the same mantra,guess what darling,she don`t give a flying f*** and niether does any1 of her fans,soooooo…………stop wasting your time and go find yourself the record deal that u will never get,yeah?:-) oh probably carry all your little recordings with u and see if u will get a deal LMAO.U may have the technique but thats all u got nothing more when infact it takes more that just technique,so stop running around the place acting like u are the best thing since slice bread sweetheart,muah(and thats a big fat wet juicy kiss towards u)love u darling lol
mrbitchdiva, aka hudson morrigan, still on his j-o-b as the #1 ‘christina shadier’ .
@irene46 he actually have a channel on u tube under the name primohomme which i think he said stands for a male diva(lmao) he also goes by some name agnello or anusgello or sth like tht , he`s just 1 of those type who ain`t going nowhere beyond u tube or jis bedroom so he shades on others,he has gr8 technique but when time to use it on a recording, all u hear is look at me i can hit this note and that note which makes his recording bland to the ear,forgive him he`s paranoided and jealous that xtina probably stole his man,heals,tight dress and wig last but not least HAS THE RECORD DEAL THAT HE WILL NEVER GET lmao
She brought her A- game.
Almost perfect. She is a super vocalist when she mixes subtle with the power.
She used to have it 100 perfect but this is near that level of amazement she had.
She did a really great job
Oh wowwww Mr.DivaB!tch!!! That’s sooooo effin awesomeeee I’m so floored by your showcaseeeee OMG!!!! can’t breatheeeee… I WOnder why Simon Cowell dare to not give you a golden ticket… Why SImonnnn WHYYYYYY!!!!!
btw, I love you stanning for Xtina with your “You Lost Me” single gravatar 😀
on a serious note:
check this out….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUc7IRrleiQ
I thought that was the worst (female part) version of The Prayer. Just sounded bad. She probably should have quickly gone to youtube first to check out how Celine, Heather Headley, Angie Stone or Charlotte Church sang it. artOne of my favorite songs, and I couldn’t even finish listening to her and Chris Mann sing their duet.
@ rich86 May 9, 2012 at 9:31 pm….
i went to mrbitchdiva’s link as he advised to listen to him show off his technique. until then i didn’t understand what was meant by technique isn’t everything.
christina’s technique may not always be perfect but her tone is outstanding (example: i love you porgy).
technique looses out to tone by a looong shot.
@irene i won`t say technique looses out to tone,i think they both go hand in hand,he has gr8 technique but for some reason his recordings don`t grab your attention neither does anything to the human satisfaction,xtina have bad technique but her voice is so beautiful and her tone is so outstanding she makes the song sound good,but he is just a mariah wannabe always trolling christina videos if he`s so good and have so much hate and dislike for her ,i dare him to go audition for the voice and get on her team.
@ rich86 May 10, 2012 at 4:26 pm…
saying technique loses to tone may be a stretch but imo good techniques accompanied by a flat, dull, uninspiring tone wipes out a performance completely.
i’m not a voice expert but i think you’re right about christina. the tone in her voice is totally ear pleasing.
Timbre/Tone is entirely up to personal opinion
Some people think Christina has a gorgeous voice, others (such as myself) find her singing simply disgusting except in a very small area of her voice.
Some people think my voice is horrible, like a walrus…while others think it’s masculine, elegant, full of color and expressive.
That’s why timbre is subjective.
Most people who do not know anything about music will talk only about tone
While people who are musically trained and knowledgable will talk about phrasing, dynamic control, vocal coordination, vocal versatility and color variation and many other things…
That’s how someone distinguishes the lessors from the real musicians 🙂
And about the record deal…I just finished my demo in december and I already got to perform at SXSW in march, so things are moving along…in any case it took Christina 4 years to get a record deal. A whole year more than Britney Spears. So suck on that 🙂
Oh and @LALA – I auditioned for AI when I was 16, before I learned to really sing 🙂 so I was quite bad…kinda like Christina in “Just be free” demos, but even worst. Lots of things have improved since then, because you know, people can improve as vocalists with study….just as Christina’s vocals have declined because of her constant bad singing 🙂
But if you wanna know, all he said to me was “Houston, we have a problem” and what did he say about Christina’s national anthem in 2010? “It’s like someone sat on a cat”. You pick which one is bigger shade 😉
Oh, and no honey, my purple eye is the eye of Jabulon, not the eye of X.
Again, let me know when X can belt out at least G5 without strain 🙂 maybe then she’ll have half of the vocal ability I’ve developed 🙂
Your 1-2 paragraph is really the truth… (except the “disgusting” part). & funny you find her “disgusting”, but stalk her every damn day, listening to her barking/scream/whatever… & even watch her Burlesque movie. such a dedicated STansss. haha…
but really… why bring britney into this? suck on what?? not really though, coz she (Xtina) came out 1st with “Reflection”. <— but ofcourse alot of people gonna ignore that.
& fyi.. I'm not expecting Xtina to belt g5 g6 or g10!!! Her long range is not my fav… so chill out with your range & technicality ramble. & PLEASE eat a lot of HUMBLE pie. & Do you really think you can success in music industry with your B*tchy attitude????? Pfffhhh~ You are not Naomi Campbell nor even Floptina.
Ciao!
@ lala may 11 1103p…
maybe i’m wrong but i was thinking ‘reflections’ was released after britney hit.
@ mrbitchdiva 11 1243p…
if britney did come out first, that means what? that the industry was more into dance and bubblegum. christina wanted a song to showcase her voice but she
may 12 157a contd….
christina wanted to first release a song showcasing her voice but she lost out and ‘genie in a bottle’ was released instead. britney’s ‘hit me’ was a good song but ‘genie’ was better.
mrb, most fans( even of opera singers) know little or nothing about musical techniques, but they know what sounds pleasing to their ears.
there’s a particular artist that you give kudos to as being technically a better singer than christina but my ears strongly disagree. i won’t mention her name so as not to ignite a savage mud slinging war. as a matter of fact simon had good things to say about this artist so that tells you how much credence i give his opinion.
i don’t think christina’s voice has declined. it’s seems she does things such as growling and screaming that i don’t remember her doing in her earlier days.
she still has the ability to hit high notes and sound great without screaming.
@Irene46
“Reflection” was released on June 2, 1998
“Baby One More Time” was released on September 30, 1998
🙂
@ lala may 12 358a…
reflection was a beautiful song. still is. can’t believe it wasn’t a big hit. no explaining public taste sometimes.
thanx for the info.
@ mrbitchdiva may 11 1243p
ok mbd, you admit that some think christina’s voice is gorgeous and yours, not so much. you say there are small areas of her voice that passes your stringent vocal guidelines.
those who love her voice find these areas outshine all of those vocal technicalities you focus on. those who say your voice is horrible and you sound like a walrus are obviously not the least impressed with all the elements you say qualifies as great singing.
i saw on another post you were shading the audience for voting jermaine paul as the winner of ‘the voice’. his voice sounded every bit as awesome as all the other contestants so he must have failed one or more of your qualifications of technique.
if you can get a tight grip on the fact that the music loving public is not made up of musical experts judging as you say “dynamic control, vocal coordination, vocal versatility and color variation and many other things…” you should realize that having all these qualities in a voice is not a necessity.
i’m guessing you feel you have all of them but your voice still gets hated on, so mbd, you should give christina and jermaine a major break.
@Irene46
Indeed. Reflection is the song that made me a fans…
even though I didn’t know who is this Aguilera is back then.
But it’s quite a hit right here & even until now, Radio stations still Play it.
your welcome Irene46.
& Now Mr.DivoWise know another FACT of Xtina.
Back to Basics came before Back to Black
Reflection came before Baby One More Time
but sure he wont knowledge them…
or even say sorry that he mistaken. haha…
@ IRENE46
EVERYBODY’S singing gets some hate, don’t act like I’m crazy defending my vocal ability when the rest of the universe absolutely disagrees. There are people who genuinely like my vocal quality for how different it is. I mean, how many male voices do you know that have a strong low chest voice and a dark cavernous middle and easy extensive top notes? it doesn’t happen very often at all.
Britney got a record deal before Christina. I’m not talking about who released a single first, I’m talking about who got a record deal first. Many times in documentaries about Christina her team said they were getting worried because they knew Britney had signed a deal before Christina did, so they were hurrying to finish her songs in order to land a deal.
Being a good vocalist is not a necessity for being popular or being a big pop star. Being a good vocalist is a necessity for BEING A GOOD VOCALIST. Understand my point? As I said, I don’t deal on opinions, I deal on facts. And the fact is that Jermaine was not the best vocalist in the competition, he had enormeous problems with his breathe support and a tendency to scream.
Your comment such a triple standard. You hating on Xtina (+ Adele)… & yet got no problem with other female artists who have an awful weak ass voice, just because media or themselves not proclaimed themselves as vocalist?! C’mon DUDE. That’s perry perry rihdiculous. lol
“Being a good vocalist is not a necessity for being popular or being a big pop star”. & to counter your comment: Being popular or being a big pop star is not a necessity for being a good/flawless vocalist. *You should know this if you are smart enough*
So. Stop rambling the same things about Xtuna Flopilera’s Voice. Coz we get it that she’s not your type of vocalist. If you don’t like it, Ignore it!!! that’s an easy step right?
Trolling habit ain’t healthy baby.
You are not born that way.
@ MRDIVABITCH May 14, 2012 at 9:46 am…
i’m aware everybody’s singing gets hated on. and since you understand this i don’t get why you come down so hard on christina and now jermaine paul. you need to realize even though they scream there’s something about screaming mixed with good tone that makes many people like/love them. i know one can be popular without being a great vocalist. i remember ‘james brown’ screamed like a cat in a trash compactor and his career spanned at least 5 decades or more ( i loved him).
so you gotta know that with all your technical skills as a “vocalist”, there’ll be a measure (maybe even a large measure) of the public that will prefer jermaine’s voice over yours.
the only contestant on ‘the voice’ i thought was flawless was juliet even with her growling and screaming. chris’ voice was somewhat flat and failed to soar at times. i liked tony but i definitely don’t feel he sounded a single note better than jermaine.
mbd, if you cut everyone in the music with a not so great technique but are still considered great singers it would be a pretty vacant industry (i’m not talking about the britneys and the rhiannas…though i do like their studio voices and rihanna’s live voice has much improved).
out of curiosity give me a list of who lives up to your voice standards. as you know i’m not a muscial expert but i bet i’ll think a couple of them even with their techniques are nothing special.
@ mrbitchdiva…
here are some opinions of voice experts:
Describing Aguilera’s voice, singing teachers Phyllis Fulford and Michael Mailler said, “The low register is light and tired, the belting register is ample and full, but very scratchy because she screams; and head voice as well as whistle register are light, pure and bright. Her vocal range extends from G below middle C to C♯ one octave above soprano high C (G3 – C♯7). She can belt to F one octave and a third above middle C (F5). She possesses a good-sized technical arsenal. Her trill is solid, she has a big mastery of melismas, and can sustain very long notes.”[162] Los Angeles Times writer Margaret Wappler adds Aguilera can deliver “a well-executed legato.”[163] However, countertenor Philippe Jaroussky said: “She has no breath support and often sings out of tune. People say she can cover four octaves, but it’s not true because below A3, the low notes are forced, unsupported, her belting voice is throaty and forced, for her highest notes she doesn’t use head voice but falsetto or whistle register, they are disconnected registers. So, she can only hit good notes from A3 to B4. Her melismas are always show-off, they are almost never connected with the rhythm and the structure of the songs.
as you see, even expert opinions vary.
@primohomme aka mr divabitch,yes but xtina was doing alot unlike u and brit b4 she got a record deal.Even though she got it after brit guess what wannabe ,she had 3 #1 hits oppose to brit 1 #1 hit also xtina took the best new artist at the grammys and took the female artist of the yr at billboard leaving brit in the dark so suck on that,also reflection was nominated for a golden globe.So we all now see where your hatered stems from,U WERE A REALITY SINGING COMPETITION AMERICAN IDOL REJECT LMAO,so u run grab a vocal coach and learned to sing yet still sounds bland to the ear,were by xtina without any vocal training would have gotten picked on idol if she auditioned even at the age of 12,so TECHNICALLY she is a more natural singer than your TRAINED ass,lmao,take a rest girl and stop working up your v***** lol
@RICH86
You stupid c***. I’ve already said MANY times that I consider Christina to be more naturally talented than myself. Even her own stans who know her will tell you that I have said that. However, she did not become a better VOCALIST than me. You understand the difference? In other words, she had all the equipment but never bothered reading the instructions, and now her singing is a hot t***** ghetto mess. That’s the difference between being naturally talented and actually being a good musician/vocalist. So yes, she had a very talented throat, the problem was in her brain 🙂 So you see, voice lessons can cure problems in the throat, but stupidity is incurable.
@IRENE46
A list of great vocalists:
Whitney Houston (in her prime), Mariah Carey (in her prime and ocassionally now), Lisa Fischer, Lara Fabian, Aretha Franklin (till the mid-early 80’s), Mina Mazzini, Barbra Streisand, Judy Garland, Liza Minelli (earlier in her career), Donna Summer, Patti Labelle, Ella Fitzgerald, Caterina Valente, Linda Eder, Monica Naranjo, Vanessa Amorosi, Cheryl Lynn, Anggun, Beverly Knight, Anastacia, Taylor Dayne, Nikka Costa, etc.
And that’s just a few vocalists I consider particularly good.
What do they all have in common? Free open throat, resonance, proper breathe support, consistantly good intonation, musicianship, etc.
i think whitney’s voice was great even after it got husky from whatever abuse.
i can’t believe you left off celine. she has one of the most clear beautiful voices on the planet. some other favorites, gladys knight, barbra streisand, donna summer, vanessa williams, tina turner, kelly clarkson, faith evens.
good intonation is all i’m familiar with.
@IRENE46
Celine has excellent intonation, my problem with her is this “pinched” nasality she often uses, it’s a very french thing I guess…also her upper belting usually is unbalanced and too heady, resulting in an almost falsetto sound. For reference to a balanced upper belting check out Patti Labelle or Monica Naranjo or Aretha in her prime.
Kelly Clarkson…I think she is very talented, but she can be very hit-or-miss…generally I do like her, and some times it’s awful and strangled, so there are performances in which I’m impressed by her singing, and others in which I can’t listen to her (“Since you’ve been gone” at MTV Awards, for example).
Other singers I also find extremely overrated are Leona Lewis (shakey intonation, bad breathe support which causes her low register to wobble out of control) and Jennifer Hudson (messy intonation, singing sharp a lot of times, unbalanced register coordination – like Celine Dion but instead of too heady, too chesty- ).
I like Gladys, Vanessa, Tina, Faith, etc but I don’t know their repertoire very well…and Barbra and Donna I had mentioned already 🙂
@ mrdivabitch…
as much as i like patti labelle, talk about sounding like a cat in a disposal! mrd, all that screaming and yelling from patti and you keep stompin’ on poor christina!
let me repeat. i like patti a lot but there are times when she makes my ears pop. she ruins numerous songs with a lot of showy runs and screams. things you chastise christina for, except x2.
patti did a duet with mariah and all one could hear was patti. even if she doesn’t sing loud (which seldom happens) her voice carries.
i gotta come to the aid of my girl celine. in spite of all the faults you listed, to my ears she’s about the most beautiful singer (except opera singers) that ever poured out a note. i also think leona has a gorgeous voice. not a single note of hers offends my ears. this is why good singing is completely subjective i think you said that once and it’s true.
good singing is (i believe you once said) is subjective.
correct: scratch repetitive last line.
Yes, certain aspects of singing are subjective, mainly beauty of tone and depth of emotion…how someone makes YOU feel with their singing, those things are up to personal opinion. However, many other things are quite objective as they can be quantified. Pitch is the main thing…one is in tune or one isn’t, no in-betweens. Then we have rhythm, resonance, breathe support, register coordination, phrasing, vocal versatility, etc. All things that are quite technical and because of their technical nature they can be quantified.
As I’ve said, singing is not just an art but also a science, and like all sciences, it has a set of rules that can be more or less bent, but not broken, when one breaks the rules of singing it turns into NOISE instead of music.
Patti Labelle does have a very acidic, very metallic voice which is an acquired taste, but as a vocalist she is really great. If one can get past the innate sound of her voice, one can appreciate her musicianship and vocal ability, which goes far beyond the natural steely edge of her voice (dramatic soprano).
That’s why I don’t judge a singer’s vocal ability by how pretty their timbre is, but how well they sing. Yes, Leona has a very beautiful voice and in some things she can sing quite wonderfully (her cover of “Lovin’ you” by Minnie Riperton shows her voice quite beautifully) but as a technical vocalist she has certain flaws that make her subpar when compared to someone like Debelah Morgan, for example, who has a similar voice type.