Options
It's time for the belters to belt up
ribtickle
Posts: 6,361 Forum Member
✭
Talk of this year's X Factor has been dominated by the "famous five", 5 girls out of which it seems the winner will most likely be drawn. All of them vie with each other for having the biggest, most prominent voice, in what has become an OTT diva showdown each week, and there are winners and losers in this decibel contest.
It seems like Laura set the benchmark on the opening night, her powerful voice made the other girls worry they would be overshadowed so they started to sing as powerfully as they could. Then Laura upped the ante, showing the effort she was putting into belting out high notes by her considerable throat movements. It must be getting headachy in that studio during rehearsals and performances!
The result so far is three of the other girls have each lost their voices in the early stages of the competition. First Alex then Ruth, and even a week after apparently recovering, Will Young noted that Alex's voice was showing signs of strain. Ruth's song last week had to be brought down a key.
Diana, though a different type of singer to the others, equally strains her voice with vocal effects and trying to reach high notes she is not comfortable with, so she too has lost her voice. The fourth singer, Rachel, is singing outside of her soul zone in order to compete on power terms, and can sound shouty because of it, losing much of her finesse.
Basically Laura is leading them all a merry dance, but even she might be overdoing things, and I wouldn't be surprised if she is the next victim of laryngitis or a "cold", especially after Mariah night.
It would be astonishing if the weeks progressed and all these famous five lost their voices and croaked on stage, being voted off, and they who have not overstretched themselves continued, with the winner being the tortoise not the rabbit, but it could happen if these 5 girls don't start singing in sensible volumes and ranges.
It seems like Laura set the benchmark on the opening night, her powerful voice made the other girls worry they would be overshadowed so they started to sing as powerfully as they could. Then Laura upped the ante, showing the effort she was putting into belting out high notes by her considerable throat movements. It must be getting headachy in that studio during rehearsals and performances!
The result so far is three of the other girls have each lost their voices in the early stages of the competition. First Alex then Ruth, and even a week after apparently recovering, Will Young noted that Alex's voice was showing signs of strain. Ruth's song last week had to be brought down a key.
Diana, though a different type of singer to the others, equally strains her voice with vocal effects and trying to reach high notes she is not comfortable with, so she too has lost her voice. The fourth singer, Rachel, is singing outside of her soul zone in order to compete on power terms, and can sound shouty because of it, losing much of her finesse.
Basically Laura is leading them all a merry dance, but even she might be overdoing things, and I wouldn't be surprised if she is the next victim of laryngitis or a "cold", especially after Mariah night.
It would be astonishing if the weeks progressed and all these famous five lost their voices and croaked on stage, being voted off, and they who have not overstretched themselves continued, with the winner being the tortoise not the rabbit, but it could happen if these 5 girls don't start singing in sensible volumes and ranges.
0
Comments
Two of the most solid, bankable performances came from Daniel and Eoghan. But the girls were all over the place, and one of them unable to sing because she's strained her vocal chords.
I'm a fan of Laura but that was a lacklustre vocal, the only wow factor came from her ability to multitask with a piano. Ruth hit some good sonorous notes (she often reminds me more of a Parisienne 'No Regrets' singer than a Spaniard) but her lower range at the song's beginning was extremely ropey.
IMO Alexandra ultimately screwed up, even if the panel tried to present it as a major triumph. Her voice was breaking at the top of her big notes, with the band helpfully rising in volume level to cover her, and she looked majorly strained by the end. It lent no real climax to the song, though hers was, apart from one wobble, better than Leona's version in the lower part at the start. And Rachel, again I'm a fan, but her performance, albeit due to the cracked Mirror's hit piece and all the rest, was off key many times over.
It should have been a ladies night, but it became a job for the boys.
It is about entertainment, not necessarily who can sing the loudest.
I completely agree - I thought Laura last week was completely ridiculous, she ruined one of my favourite songs by missing out whole lines of it and just belting one note over a few bars - I wish they'd just sing
Maybe I'm getting old:o
It seemed like Laura could not sing outstandingly well when she wasn't powering out her vocals like a blinding one-night-only at Ronnie Scotts.
It'll be interesting to see how her departure will affect the competition. Now that the most powerful voice has gone the other girls will be able to tone things down a little and sing within their normal frequency and volume ranges.