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Why the obsession of 'making the song your own'?
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I watched this weekend with increasing amusement as act after act churned out their own 'unique' takes on covers, some of which were abysmal. Fame and jealous guy in particular for me. I found the whole process somewhat tedious to the point that I found it difficult to watch. I don't have a problem of reinterpreting classic songs but it's getting to the stage where everyone is kicking out a song that bares little resemblance to the original.
Do the general viewing public actually want to see this? My mother in law is a huge fan of the show but for the first time ever she turned off midway through on the weekend because of the 'making the song your own' obsession
Do the general viewing public actually want to see this? My mother in law is a huge fan of the show but for the first time ever she turned off midway through on the weekend because of the 'making the song your own' obsession
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So they're trying to make it more 'credible'
Or hear one of the thousands of songs the mentors don't allow
All of these re-worked songs have nothing to do with a contestant making a song their own - the new version is invariably someone else's work and was introduced to the contestant by their mentor, who in turn was instructed by someone above them with a less pretty face.
There are no true artists on XF, just singers. I would be more impressed if some of them could do a decent version of a particular song and just add their own personal flavour, rather than changing the tempo and production.
there is no point of 'theme nights' , if all you are doing is taking a song and slowing it down so much that it becomes unrecognizable.
True. But are they supposed to producing covers or are they competing in a singing competition?
I agree with everything that has been posted in the thread so far. I was really looking forward to the live shows this year but this "making it your own" business plus the tedious VTs made me give up.
If you're going to rearrange a song, you should take a close look at the lyrics
I thought the idea was to judge how good they could sing ?
When was the last time you heard a song being sped up............
Good point. "Smile" and "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" spring to mind as possibilities.
'tis true. Most of the time when the judges go on about "making the song your own", what has actually happened is:
1) They have ripped off another version.
2) Slowed it down.
3) Mullered the melody.
4) Screamed or chucked a load of unnecessary runs in.
Alternatively, the aim could be sing the original songs in their own style, rather than entirely rearranging the song itself. Some of these "arrangements" would not even work with the original singers' vocals. That way the focus would be on the artist and their style. I love it when I hear a brand new song for the very first time but I know exactly who is singing it.
This however is just my suggestion, since as far as I know no-one has died and made me queen.
I genuinely think a lot of these songs are 99% of the time sung far better by the original artists, I think changing the arrangements possibly makes it easier on the contestants to sound better, rather than being compared to the original singers.
I remember years ago Michelle Mcmanus used to sing Celine, trying to sing/ sound exactly like Celine and brutallized every song she sang, it made her look remarkably average in comparison. Simon still threw his "hype" at us and sadly people bought into it.
Some people can sing, some can imitate, but a singer who has my idea of the so-called X Factor can sing a song, as it is, and their tone/timbre/vocal acoustics will be sufficient to make a difference. If they're very, very good, some of us (including me) will find ourselves wiping away tears for some weird reason!
Producing a really good cover with a different arrangement of an already great song is very difficult and requires some serious talent. Trying pull this off for so many acts, week after week, is simply an impossible task doomed to failure. Off the top of my head, two examples where this was done very well in my opinion are Will Young's "Light my fire" and Amy Winehouse's/Mark Ronson's version of Valerie.
It is a karaoke show though. It's fine to be distinctive but at times it's impossible to recognise the song. I am sorry to have to disagree with you but the essence of a song is in you being able to recognise it. In addition to that copying the way someone else changed a song\made there own is still karaoke. Let's not fool ourselves this is an entertainment program that claims to be about music.
Well of course they're suppose to be covering the song, they're certainly not suppose to copy the song to a tea like Stevi, Lola, and Stereo Kicks have been trying to do so far.
And yes while it's a singing competition it's also suppose to be about who can sell records, people doing karaoke versions of cheesy 80's classics is not what people would buy in this day and age.