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View Full Version : Went to Westlife Gig last night - thoughts on singing


Prinia
02-28-2007, 04:35 PM
Now the support act was the fella who came second on 2004. Great voice. He actually came first, really - it was so obvious that year it had been rranged. The actual literal winner Casey did the usual for Australia, brought out the winners single and the album all within arouind 10 days - between mid November nd CHristmas. But the 2nd place getter who had a HUGE following and made a HUGE splash when he sang a particular song, was permmitted to bring out THAT song before Christmas which successfully squashed any real gains for the winner. I'm talking - the single that smashed the records that Guy had made (except Guy's Angels Brought Me Here was only a limited edition - it still holds te record for the FASTEST sales in a week of a new song).

Anyhow - great voice. Superb voice - in fact the tallest of the Westlife boys has almost the exact same voice.

And here's my point.

Both of them use the dynamics of the voice - nonstop!!!

I've come to the conclusion that some of these singers with great voices are so fully aware of that, that they use the dynamics without pause. There are no 'quiet' times - softer, yes - but no quiet times.

Neither of those singers tantalised with their voices, they didn't 'stroke my soul', they just let fly with this great voice.

Now that's fine if its a good song, but I did find that for the support fella almost every song of his was the same. I suggest that if three had just run into each other, the listener wouldn't have been aware there was a change of song.

I know there are very few who can use the stage like Guy, and I was reminded very much so, that he's a unique and funny entertainer with a charisma you could cut large slices of and he'd still have enough to spare for the rest of the world's entertainers (LOL - but true).

However - what I WAS reminded again was his absolutely musical sense of how to use a song, what was required to get the best out of the song. There are songs to lick your lips with, and songs that grab your spine and shake the whole of you. In between there are songs that run the gamut of the whole.

But these two great voices were inclined, instead, to show off their voices and rely on only that fact. I'm actually a little p****d off really. How can you not see and hear (the support has a few videos/dvds out - we are STILL waiting for anything from Guy / Sony -and yet EVERYONE else has them) that it is just toooooo much, continuously. How could they not see and hear that there is more to singing than just lambasting the audience? The support act has soooo much potential - but this far down the road from 2004, I don't know that he has evolved much more than then.

Meanwhile - I'm trying to upload a fun Guy one from Parramatta last year. Cross ure fingers

Oh yeah, and the two great voice fellas well, the Westlife fella had all his stuff on the stage mapped out, so I really can't comment - but the other has improved, however he is not a 'stage user'. Again, it might be the fault of this great voice. He's probably never had to use the big stage, other than just moving along it.

Prinia
02-28-2007, 05:35 PM
the upload didn't happen.

I'll try again in about 1/2 hour.

Prinia
02-28-2007, 06:11 PM
What I mean is (Hoping I can get some things to demonstrate here)

Always - at Telstradome with Franklin Graham - Guy had lost his voice completely 2 days before, so you can tell.

http://rapidshare.com/files/18787789/Always_96.mp3.html

But this is, even though not the 'liplickin' quite, that I'm talking about - a demo that there are songs that must be gentle, and quiet and not sung with the aim the pin everyone to the floor with the 'great voice'.

Prinia
02-28-2007, 08:13 PM
Okay, so NOW
"Can't Stop a River" (this is the one that he got from Seal via Mushroom Records - who forgot to tell him that it had already been passed on to DUncan James)

Download- http://rapidshare.com/files/18796617/Guy_Sebastian_Can_t_Stop_a_River_Sunrise.wav.html

{I really should re-boot today - but I'm hangin' doors at the same time and very busy)

Now THIS one - this is a musician singing this song.

See how quietly it starts (oh, ignore the lousy music - they'd just opened their new studio for Sunrise and it sucked big time!)

Guy starts quietly, almost musingly... Just thinking....

but listen carefully - you see he starts to tell you that "you can't stop a river and you can't stop him loving you...."

Then he gets into the blues, in a big way. He starts to 'fly" as I call it.

THEN HE STARTS LIFTING IT.... This is where a musician's soul comes into it. A song should NOT just be sung

it should tell a story with music, timbre, dynamics WHEN APPROPRIATE (change key, fr instance)

start communicating with the audience.

(the video is actually on youtube - I put it in the other area re Opera).

Its a fabulous, glorious version - and another live one. One should never remain static, LIVE THAT BLOODY SONG, don't just sing it beautifully.
There's thousands / millions who can do that.