A voice is a musical instrument. If it isn't regularly used and taken care of, it deteriorates. I wonder how much vocal coaching Charlotte has been having over the past four years? If she hasn't had any, or has had very little, that (and under-usage of her voice) could explain her poor performance last night.

I quite liked the song she was singing last night, but I kept thinking how much better it would have sounded in the hands of a confident and vocally strong performer.

It was pre-recorded before the live show, and she had three attempts before she was happy with it (and TBH, she still didn't seem THAT happy but there was no time to do it again.)
She asked to do the short interview with Graham again too as she had forgotten to say something, so she had to simper "please don't judge me too harshly" at the Dorothys twice. How they didn't smirk back at her, I don't know!

Kept moaning that her impossibly high heels were uncomfortable too, as soon as she'd finished she kicked them off and walked off stage barefoot.

I liked the song, but it seemed to go too low for her.

Not just SOME in my opinion

I really loved the song, and I've never been a fan of hers before. I did enjoy the performance, but I think because the standard of the Dorothy's is so high, then I was comparing her all those great performances. I would say though she hasn't been taking care of her voice. All that being said, I thought it was great.

I really felt embarassed for her during that performance last night, it was well below par and I think she knew it


If you listen on Y.T .....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQf5EYLpuhw


and check out the time codes for 0.44, 1.43 and then 2.21



.... she has real problems with this note on all three occassions


A real pity but interesting that the words are "and left me stumbling on the stage"


Have listened to it quite a few times now and can say I feel it does grow on me rather well and am sure it will be perfect on the recording when it gets released but wouldn't be paying in to watch her live just yet, she really needs a bit more work to get back to her best. If thats possible.




Raven

Charlotte started nervously and failed to remember the need to use diaphragm support for her chest register to resonate. The second time around she had regained composure and performed better. The song is quite beautiful and would not be appreciated, the first time, by many listeners who may not be musicians. The cleaver minor change in the middle section was unusual and unexpected (the mark of a well composed tune) but it would throw the Simon Cowels of this world off at first hearing. Charlotte, by the way, is not a trained opera singer – purely a trained young soprano – her true voice not being a microphone voice. Her judging is good – in the main – though not always correct and she seems unable to correct most of the girls inability to use support when singing in the low (chest register) and this makes them all fairly inaudible at the start of many of their songs. But she is not a singing teacher – after all. This is a common fault if amateur female singers who feel is it not feminine to attempt to produce the more masculine resonance required to give enough volume in that area. Spanish singers, in the flamenco style and in some zarzuela are freely able to use their chest register and it would benefit girls to hear some of them to help them extend their vocal range. There is often a psychological block.

Charlotte did, however, produce some lovely tone in her mid register though she needs to work on finding a more even sound throughout her vocal range.

THREE TIMES??? Even then it was awful and didn't seem to have any memorable bits in the song!

Excusre me Raven, but she has no problem with this minor change at the point you mention, having just heard it only for the second time and she does get some fine chest tone at the start the second time around I realize. Her intonation is fine throughout the song.

I really didn't like it at all but it struck me as a difficult song to pull off.

My other half, a professional musician, masters graduate of RAM, says CC has never been considered anything other than mediocre by other music professionals - I see why. She was awful.

I hated the song - awful. That's what happenes when performers think they can compose as well - didn't she say she co-wrote it?? Terrible song, terrible.

I would agree with all of this - the song is lovely but the execution was below par mainly due to her not being on top of her technique.



I think her intonation is ok at this point, but she is running short of breath throughout this passage so the unusual chord progression is not clear through the vocal. It is difficult to take a breath during this phrase, but I think she would have loved the opportunity.

I remember when CC was a very young singer, singing a classical repertoire at concerts and in recordings, seeing comments about how this would not be good for her long term vocal development.

Someone I know has studied at RAM and apparently Katherine Jenkins is really not rated at all either. Though she seems to have done quite well for herself despite not being rated by students at RAM.

Might be something to do with the blonde hair and boob job LOL

I've never thought Charlotte was a particularly good pop singer, but that song was absolutely dire. The show was probably the wrong platform for it too, it didn't fit in with all the bright colours and incredible campness.

I thought it was a really boring song and think it would be whether she sounded good or not

I'm no singing expert but, in the days when I worked in an opera company, I heard a lot of comments about child-bearing having a bad effect on your ability to control the diaphragm. No idea if that's rubbish, but that's what they said and it would seem to explain the oddly breathy performance. Although not the bizarre tuning...

Really like the song, though - hadn't come across it before and the performance side of it was fine, leaving aside purely vocal issues, IMO.

Oh, and as far as 'expert opinion' from RAM students and the like goes, I've never heard a professional singer be complimentary about anyone who sells shedloads of albums. They may be absolutely correct, but surely there must be a touch of sour grapes if NOBODY successful is any good?? Bear in mind my five years in a major opera company - plenty of time to hear positive comments and I never heard one!

Could be child bearing, it can change the voice - but so does smoking, drinking and not keeping up training. Her voice is very breathy in her top notes, you could even hear that in her summertime a few weeks ago.

She was a very talented 12 yr old, who know where she could have gone - but she chose not to go there. On the plus side, I think she crosses over to pop far better than alot of classical singers.


I kind of agree about singers but I don't think jealousy is the reason for not rating Katherine Jenkins. She has an average voice (relatively). She claims to be an opera singer but isn't studying for it or ever been in an opera. She is what Anna Kournikova was to tennis, not untalented but if she wasn't so pretty she wouldn't have been so famous......all imo of course!

I think a certain amount of sour grapes is understandable if you have worked and studied hard and see someone else being celebrated by the media as being something you know they're not.

However my contact is not a singer so there are no sour grapes involved - was simply reporting what others had said. They might have sour grapes of course but I think there is a justifiable exasperation as well with the media promoting someone as excellent who isn't.

I'm sure I saw an interview a while ago where the interviewer asked if she practised when not performing and she said no, so that means she hasn't practised for 4 years, and it showed, funnily enough Barbra Streisand said the same thing

Sorry, didn't mean to accuse anybody referred to by other posters as exhibiting sour grapes - just a general impression that classical singers can be a bit snooty about other people's success. My experience was pre-Katherine Jenkins, so it was more about hearing people slagging off Lesley Garrett and Bryn Terfel. I've no idea if there's justification in that but, as I said, not one positive comment about a big selling artist over five years seems a bit odd.

Singing is like everything to be at ones best she has been out of the main stream for a long time, but I did enjoy her performance

I did not enjoy her performance at all or the music she sang - thought the song was dire. I preferred her before she crossed over. Her classical voice was so pure but, unfortunately that quality is no longer there. She is still the best judge though and she can certainly hold her own against the opinionated Partridge and she is a wonderful mentor.

I can completely understand people slagging off KJ (can't sing in tune and has the vocal range of an ant) and, to some extent Lesley Garrett - I don't think LG's awful, just massively overrated and got her career in the same way as KJ ie because of her looks. Bryn Terfel though is great. As a student, I worked at one of the main performance venues and was lucky enough to see him perform a few times live. Don't know any singers brave enough to slag him off for his singing... Would it have been because he was so loved in the music press, to the detriment of others? I know that such situations can be hard to take for others who are just as talented and working just as hard.