Very much the Emeli Sande of tonight’s Paralympics 2012 Closing Ceremony, Rihanna performed not once, not twice, but three times during this evening’s festivities. And while her ‘Princess of China’ performance showed promise, the model could not keep up the momentum with subsequent turns in the spotlight.
Peep her performances of ‘We Found Love’ and ‘Run This Town’ (which featured Coldplay and Jay-Z) below to see what we mean after the jump…
Rihanna, swinging in the air, while singing stripped-back is a surefire recipe for vocal disaster – which is exactly what this performance was.
Seven years deep, it’s clear Ms. Fenty is still unable to tap into the uniqueness of her tone, an inability that births all sorts of nasal inconsistency. Indeed, it’s dumbfounding that she’s able to deliver some of her best vocals one second only deliver some of her worst five minutes later.
Thankfully, her joint showcase of ‘Run This Town’ with Jay-Z was markedly better – and actually saw her demonstrate more vocal confidence (see: belts and growls). Yet, the lack of any stage presence re-affirms her position as an absolute non-event live.