Back in 2008/2009 she was hailed as the "UK's Mariah Carey" and had a huge voice with a very wide range, and was known as the voice of The Saturdays.

But this year she's been quite poor compared. Her voice is cracking on every performance, she's lost her range and the other band members (mostly Rochelle) have to cover all her lines. Look at her at 1:40 in this clip..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itNn5UcT5YU

Compared to.... (3:12 - 3:40)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtDiOXL5aTU

It's really unfortunate (and strange ) because they have another tour coming up and with her voice detereorating (sp), Una being six months pregnant by then and Frankie/Mollie having the "easy parts", it looks like Rochelle will be carrying the tour by herself.

I have heard stories about her smoking and drinking a lot. I know we all like a drink and a night out but i've seen quite a few pics of her smashed out of her heads on her hands and knees when out with the girls. Plus she doesn't sing heavily on songs anymore likely because of it.

It is a shame because she had a great voice and may of ruined a potential solo career.

I think the same as what happened to Sarah's (Girls Aloud) voice. She used to be one of the strongest in the group IMO and now she's all shrieky and crackly. Probably too much partying

Admittedly, the drinking and smoking don't help.

Her voice may just be going through a change though, it happens as singers get older (obviously she's still very young, but it happens)

She doesn't smoke that much, though, does she? There's only one picture online of her with a cigarette and there's never been any other mention/picture/clip of her smoking.

Fair enough about the drinking. Is there any way to "gain" a voice "back"?

Serious vocal training. The basics.

I think she smokes......a lot. Ive seen numerous photos of her looking worse for wear tumbling out of clubs etc, I think she just isnt looking after her voice, I notice instead of belting out notes she just sings them in falsetto these days.

For example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk2CKzehZu4

I've noticed that, too. ^ It's extremely annoying. She has a huge note during 'Here Standing' (Wordshaker album track) yet all the tour performances of it she just done half arsed falsetto attempts.

Does anyone think that Opera show she did last year could have had any effect? I mean, it was after that her voice started changing (she was alot deeper singing 'Ego' for example).

Do you have any videos that prove how good she was that arent just 20second clips from The Saturdays? I am genuinely interested in hearing what she was like.

Erm, i'll have a look...

Here's a live performance when she was 14....(pretty good !) at a concert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruw2Cvk9UYY

Here's her doing the Opera show...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSKZK9eL6xw

And here's her dominating a Saturdays acoustic session with 'Issues'...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn2AOKQ1K2M

Not sure if that's what you're looking for, though?

i like vanessa`s voice a lot. however, there does seem to be issues with her live vocals of late. there could be a number of factors that are to blame. she is lucky she is in a girl band in that respect. if she was a solo artist, there were be uncomfortable discussions going on behind the scene i suspect.

however, she is in a group and there is a wealth of talent in frankie and una vocally.

Dont forget Rochelle, she is carrying the group by herself lately.

Thanks. Yeah she definately has/had a great voice.

sh&t! i totally meant rochelle and not frankie!

LOL! Haha! Thats what I thought you meant, Frankie can sing of course but she isnt at Rochelle's level, I was like "SAY WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

yes, i had a blonde moment to be fair. imagine how i felt when i read it back!

I didn't realize something was wrong with her voice lately. To me it just feels like as the band is finding their feet, the girls are given bigger parts between them than before.
the tone of her voice has changed a little, I've noticed but didn't seem anything wrong with it. I wouldn't be surprised her short time in the Opera show has affected her vocals - but if anything it'd be in a good way with the training she got from it - and perhaps the diet she went on to be a bit more toned ( and not necessarily for the better). Also, she might have been lacking of vocal coaching to be in control of her voice or even looking after it, that's always been my feeling about her and the band in general.
The comments about her smoking and partying made me think about some singers whose voice became their trademark Joe cocker being one. His voice certainly changed with the smoking but that didn't affect its quality.

Bonnie tyler

What? She was surely never hailed as the UK's Mariah Carey? Even before she got worse she was no Mariah Carey. She was good but back in 2008 Leona Lewis was the UK's Mariah Carey (or was being hailed as such).

But to answer your questions I heard rumours she drinks and smokes a lot and unfortunately her voice has suffered.

To be fair to Vanessa, I've never heard of her smoking THAT much. I've heard of her drinking, though.

I miss her belting voice, but i also quite like her new deeper voice. Sure, she can't belt them anymore but thats opened the door for Una and Rochelle! (AT LAST.)

She's never been hailed as the "UK's Mariah Carey."

Even if she doesn't smoke that much, not getting enough sleep and drinking regularly has a big effect on the voice. Can Charlotte Church still sing like she used to, or has she lost that voice?

Plenty of web sites (including Wikipedia) have compared her to Mariah, as well as Alicia Keys and Beyonce.

Mariah? What? She's not even near the level of Beyoncé. She's just your average belter and people think she's better than she actually is because she's the only one in The Saturdays who sounds half decent.

Anyway, the references on Wikipedia seem to lead to opinions, and a kind of saying like "she's the bands own Mariah Carey" basically translates to "she's the bands best singer". They're not actually comparing her to Mariah, because not only is there no comparison, she's not even near Mariah's level.

apparently, she still keeps up her classical training. the last time i heard her sing live was on over the rainbow and she sounded fine there.

The voice constantly changes throughout your life. It's still maturing when you're in your late 20s. I think it fully matures when you're 30.
Look at Pixie Lott - her voice is so much different in such a short space of time. On Turn It Up she sounds high, but as she's crossed over the age of teenager to adult her voice has deepened so you no longer hear those luminous Cry Me Out belts that she used to be able to do.
Christina Aguilera sounds nothing like she used to - she actually sounds pretty bad. Mariah... well, the voice withers with age so whilst she still sounds great, higher belts have become courser and harder for her to sustain.